[Meatspace]

“So while you are technically correct, it’s more complicated then just the simple answer you provide.”

And it is far more complicated than the isolation killed him and the isolation killed him rationalization is far easier than her son was an addict.

[Robert DeLong]

You're missing the point. Yes his addiction played a part, but his mental illness coupled with his adopted coping mechanism for combating the addiction were taken away from him. We don't know what exactly led him to his addiction, but once one acquires an addiction they become extremely hard to overcome. When the the person is left with too much time and isolation, that addiction becomes even that much harder to resist.

In your summation you totally ignore the fact that he had been clean & sober for 8 years. So yes, the fact that he had too much time on his hands and no way fill that time, played a major role in his sliding back into destructive patterns. His work and his self-sufficiency had been the key to his success over the addiction. Without that, his mind then wandered back towards his addiction. You can minimize that fact all you like, but you still remain wrong in doing so. Man is complex, and addictions are powerful. Far more succumb then continue in success when denied their coping outlets, because idle minds and hands are the devil's playground.