Benjamin Franklin once said nine men in ten are would be suicides, which is an impressive insight from someone who was born in 1706.
We know now that in many respects he’s right, although we could probably change would be to slow. Whether it’s diet or sugar or any number of self-destructive behaviors, many people do damage to themselves.
And of course people in his day had no real understanding of addiction. John Adams despaired that his son Charles was a raging alcoholic but saw his addiction strictly as a character issue.
We know much more about the science behind addiction today and have many more exit ramps than we did even 50 years ago.