system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
CMV: Both drug addiction and mental illness are natural reactions to the mental contortions needed for dealing with the modern world

We live in a world of contradictions.

We know that other people provide our lives with meaning but our society worships individualism. As a consequence we are routinely encouraged to prioritise our momentary whims and discount other's long term suffering.

We're told that all humans are equal but it only takes a rudimentary glance at the world to see this is emphatically not the case and never has been. 

Having to deal with these mental contortions without necessarily being able to articulate or 'deal' with them leads to escapism.
gpt
Both have existed essentially forever. For example, Wikipedia says that "the earliest recorded uses [of cannabis as a drug] date from the 3rd millennium BC" and that "ancient civilizations described and treated a number of mental disorders. Mental illnesses were well known in ancient Mesopotamia, where diseases and mental disorders were believed to be caused by specific deities."

The only reason we have more drug use is because drugs are more easily available and the only reason we appear to have more mental illness is because we now diagnose them as such rather than as evil spirits or just strange behavior.