I&#x27;m an addict in long term recovery, and I hang out with lots of addicts trying to get or stay clean.  Obviously this crowd has problems!<p>But what&#x27;s interesting is that as I&#x27;ve been making friends who aren&#x27;t addicts, they have problems that are every bit as messed up as the recovery crowd.  There are two main differences, though: &quot;normal&quot; people are much more committed to hiding their problems (I feel as though I only learn about them because people assume I won&#x27;t judge them), and normal people don&#x27;t recognize that their unhappiness is a solvable problem.<p>Furthermore, most of them aren&#x27;t really into the solutions: a leveling of ego and pride, humility, rejection of desire and attachment, and living for something greater than themselves.  Addicts, of course, have no choice -- we either develop the skills and tools needed to be happy enough to stay clean, or wallow on in the misery of drug addiction, often to an untimely death.<p>It&#x27;s kind of sad, but I have no idea how to convince normal people that they can be happier by changing themselves instead of acquiring things or relationships or any other external thing they think will finally make them happy.<p>I feel as though erikpukinskis&#x27; comment about capitalism is a big part of the problem, but I&#x27;m not sure how to use that observation to help more people be happy.<p>Edit:  C&#x27;mon HN, we&#x27;re smart -- ideas on solutions to these problems are better than upvotes :-)