[gist]

> Apparently it turned out to be stress from work, his hours, his fear of failing. Who will ever know

You are saying that 'it turned out to be stress from work, his hours, his fear of failing' but then 'who will ever know'.

Also why does it matter that he was such an apparent (to stress) academic high achiever? That doesn't make you immune in any way to anxiety or making other life choices that could be detrimental to your health. Understand that you are adding color to your story but really the 'loved, funny, played a mean guitar' why does that matter?

Easy answer appears to be he was pushed by others (or himself) and went into a field that he was not (mentally) able to do. After all most Physicians are not killing themselves (high achievers who go to Harvard or a less impressive school). Literally the same thing could have happened to him if he went into any number of high pressure fields or had other mental issues.