I lived a a suburban, white, middle to upper middle class town in Connecticut until four years ago. There was a massive opioid problem in my high school. There were several overdoses a year. We even had a kid OD in the bathroom.

I am still Facebook friends with many of these kids -- none of whom really finished high school. I see them go in and out of rehab on social media all the time. More and more of my friends who did end up going to college are dropping out for various mental health issues. A lot of them are not rebounding.

It's all very surprising coming from a middle class suburban town in CT but it is the new normal I guess -- many friends of mine from other suburban / rural areas tell me their towns are facing the same issues.