Those so-called societal solutions should be expanded in scope to include making society a less hostile place in general. Most people tolerate it (with effort), some think it is fine. But then there’s the poor souls who can’t cope with it.
They may make futile attempts to grow a support network that ultimately ends up mocking them instead of supporting. Nobody wants to have their “vibes” ruined by witnessing someone going through a mental health crisis of any severity, though some may see it as an opportunity to win internet points. Understand that most places aren’t reasonably civil like HN or your local tech meetup group (maybe it is because they are addicts themselves in some capacity). In such a situation one might even make things worse for themselves by going through a phase of daring to fight back.
They may expand their search radius with a Google search but find nothing but SEO ghost towns and dejected, sterile walled gardens; instead of the thriving, curious, decentralized communities they remembered from their youths. Until nostalgia gives way to nihilism and then there’s no turning back. That’s assuming they’ve even lasted this long, crutching on that dev experience or what have you. A lot of hazards (not just drugs) can end a person if they lack a viable support network.
These are objective faults with society that should be addressed, because that’s where the disease actually is spreading from. I realize that’s an unrealistic goal, but we have been doing so poorly at it that any competent effort at scale would sow more optimism, and optimism is what they need most.