More stress or more money?

There are a lot of movies and books lately dealing with the drugs, alcohol, violence etc. Is it just the sign of our times or are things on the cusp of improvement? I read the other day that prescription drug addiction is one of the most common forms of addiction for middle class women, the kind that you'd never ever think of considering such a thing. I think some of the blame is to be put on our do-it-all and have-it-all lifestyles that push us into situations where we have no way to keeping up with expectations, our own as well as others.