Hey Stephen, sorry for the late response and thank you for your input!

At this stage, I do feel like people need healthy coping mechanisms to effectively deal with what's going on, but as long as it's not hurting anyone else, I respect the person's individual choice in how they see fit to handle things.

During the pandemic, social judgement was temporarily suspended due to the nature and severity of the crisis; I just think it's a shame that immediately after the height of that ordeal, everyone returned straight back to their old habit of casting judgement on whoever they viewed as unhealthy or anti-social.

The "we're all in it together" mantra meant that since it was a collective problem, it was ok to drink or do whatever you needed to manage it - as soon as it's an individual in crisis, they're disregarded as low-lives and outcasts and lunatics.

What more people need to understand is that, for millions around the world, life was already a crisis long before the pandemic hit. Inequality has caused suffering on a massive scale and just because the poor are hidden out of view, doesn't mean they don't exist.

I'm growing increasingly wary of people these days. The idea that the human race may simply be a failed experiment has occured to me more than once!

Thanks for your honesty and bravery in sharing your story. It's not an easy thing to do.