Eugen Leitl <eugen@leitl.org> quotes:

Why Young Hackers Are Killing Themselves

There's a far more likely cause: Security geeks/hackers tend to be INTP/INTJ MBTI personality types. This personality type is far more susceptible to depression than other types (see e.g. "Myers Briggs Type Indicator personality profiles in unipolar depressed patients", David Janowsky, Elliot Hong, Shirley Morter and Laura Howe, World Journal of Biological Psychiatry, Vol.3, No.4 (October 2002), p.207), as is the related Aspergers type (see e.g. "Psychological Disorder in Adolescents and Adults with Asperger Syndrome", Digby Tantam, Autism, Vol.4, No.1 (March 2000), p.47). So it's not so much the environment (any number of non-hacker environments are also not exactly warm fuzzies and hugs), it's a straightforward mental health issue. Peter.