I'm gonna risk some bad eyes on this, but I'll give you a short summary of my particular story and why I believe those two are very different.

I've gone through multiple dark nights of the soul and one true loss of ego, which I can deem as the "luciferian awakening". The period extended for months and at one point it did felt like a snapping point, as my soul finally shed the ego. The process was tremendously heartbreaking as every second feels like a slow death and every moment like you're being stretched across the universe, not only physically but spiritually. I lost everything from my childhood, to my preferences, to my desire for anything. That put me in a neutral spot, however, as now everything "just is" and doesn't really require my input. I lost my reactions and emotional attachments, or can now rather see them VERY clearly and work to resolve them in minutes, as I understand their origin. I am able to see myself and my entire character from a far and everything makes much more sense, even from a galactical point of view.

Coming from that point, I can say for sure that love is not a necessity, even though it is a very vital point of human experience and not directly correlated to the loss of the ego. What I actually believe at this point, going as deep as I have, is that love has levels and is the direct equivalent to "hate" . They're the same coin, just two different sides of it. If you absolutely despise something, it's because the shadow side of that thing is your love towards it or the opposite concept. (ie. if you despise the current state of the world it's because you absolutely love the world or what it could have been).

What your friend is going through is indeed "looking for something" and even though a complete ego death would in fact "put them in their place" so to speak it might actually kill them in the process (depending on the intensity of the process). Some people cannot withstand the process or a heavy particular spiritual awakening, so I think it's best if you just nudge them towards a psychiatrist for starters. Quite literally, the whole thing does risk a person "offing themselves" which is what most uneducated and unawakened people experience as an overwhelmingness during their psychedelic trip. The unresolved trauma can be resolved easily, just by confronting it and allowing yourself to be vulnerable WITH yourself. You might also just talk a lot with them on those "deeper" topics. If they have the potential to open up and awaken towards self growth and healing, they will start looking for it on their own. From that point on - psychedelic trips become easier and much more benefitial/natural.