Some people stay on the meds after a legitimate need. Some doctors misprescribe meds (in part misled by pharma reps) or are not aware of alternatives (if you're on some meds for 1 month it can take 1 year to safely taper off of them). There are some doctors who basically sell prescriptions (Netflix has a documentary on this).

The biggest issue is the lack of hope. Most people turn to these because they're tired of their shitty life and don't see any realilistic hope for improvement.

I mean, I got good grades, I worked hard, I'm an employed (not highly paid) software dev and I'm so disillusioned I completely get why some people turn to these things. I'm supposed to be at least in the top 25% of the current generation/my age group. Yet I feel like I'm barely making it to the same level that my parents were able to. Don't get me wrong, we aren't on assistance, we have good groceries, we have private/employer healthcare. But it's tough trying to save for retirement, healthcare, and stuff. There's no way 50% of the population will be able to retire at all, pay for Healthcare, etc as they get older or aren't able to work.