“The pressure of academia drove me to heroin”

I don't think there is simply one cause that makes some people able to handle pressure better than others, nor is this unique to academia. Life can be extremely challenging and stressful, but ultimately it's up to the individual to choose how to spend his time. If academia is so stressful you think you may end your life, it may be time to find another field.

Pressure is the wrong term to use because life doesn't have a difficulty level. For lack of a better term.. it's nonlinear.

Thought experiment: you're working at a charity for a cause you absolutely love. You're putting in 12 hour days, but you love it, you're happy to make the sacrifice. Everything is going well, your health is good, you're completely devoted to the cause.

Then, you make a discovery. Perhaps the CEO is embezzling company funds. Something like that, that you can't change and have no control over.

In an instant your motivation can disappear and you find yourself depleting willpower, forcing yourself to continue.

I personally think that ultimately it's a matter of people sticking on the wrong path for too long. If you find yourself losing faith, it probably is time to shake things up.

But the world makes this hard. We're not castles. Marriages, leases, etc, other people exist.

And so it goes.