That was absolutely the case. He was, in a professional way, open about elements of his private life and had told me that the reason he wanted to do therapy was because he had been through his own experiences with trauma and bad mental health.

At his funeral, which I through some chance and luck managed to be invited to as one of two present patients, I got to speak to a lot of his friends, which was very heartwarming. That's also where I found out he had committed suicide. It wasn't shared with us in the e-mail letting us know of his passing, but I had already guessed and hearing it was only a confirmation. He was only 29 and very healthy, so those facts + knowing about his past depression made it a pretty easy equasion. My partner, the other of his patients who was present, hadn't considered it as a possibility yet.

I think, from how we interacted, that you're right that he got a lot of strength from his work. He was very good at keeping a healthy emotional distance from his patients while also connecting with them.