Well, telling me I can't empathize is irritating, and isn't much of an explanation. But, I'm not sure what I was asking. Well OK, I think it's this: I don't believe that statistically, people saying "I think I'll try opioids because I feel terrible" can be a driver of the epidemic, because on aggregate people wouldn't. Sure, some people feel more terrible than others, and some are more persuaded by circumstantial effects than others (including somebody I know who picked up an addiction from her boyfriend despite being a super-rational psychology student who should have known better). But these things can't be the main cause, because people in general do know better than to begin, and to have an "internal voice that you can't make stop", prior to addiction, can't be very common. Statistically, it's got to be something else. I'll go with the medical pill-pushing theory for now.

> From conversations I've had with users, when you have internal voice that you can't make stop without the use of drugs then you look for anything.

I present to you the definition of sane: 1. : proceeding from a sound mind : rational. 2. : mentally sound. especially : able to anticipate and appraise the effect of one's actions.

Being over-dramatic about it doesn't change the fact that the person doing the self-harm is not in their best condition. Yes, I have been there with alcohol and drugs abuse, I have lost friends and family members too. Treating them as people capable of deciding with their best interest in mind definitely didn't help me help them.