It seems to me, though, that doing nothing is not going to help him get past this. At least if he had a different career, or even went to work every day, he might be able to cope better, but as you say, we don't know what he is dealing with. It seems telling, though, that he is the only first responder to not have returned to work, but perhaps it just hit him in a harder way.
It kind of reminds me of the families of the Chardon Schools shooting victim's families (I live near Chardon). For one year after the shooting, these families had all their bills paid (mortgage, utilities, food, gas, everything). They didn't work. After the first year, the "funding" stopped, and boy, did they have a fit!! They wanted the payments to continue, and they were not happy that they had to return to work.
I used to work at a "working farm" for severely, severely mentally ill individuals. The premise was the belief that getting out, getting fresh air, being active, could actually aid in the recovery (or day to day coping) in the patients. It's the difference between living and not living, imo.
