Outside of the drug abuse, the lifestyle can be found in a good percentage of homes all over Palo Alto. Working 60+ hours/week for years on end(check), angry a

Outside of the drug abuse, the lifestyle can be found in a good percentage of homes all over Palo Alto. Working 60+ hours/week for years on end(check), angry and threatening one minute, remorseful and generous the next (check), sustaining himself largely on fast food, snacks, coffee, ibuprofen and antacids (check), the last call he ever made was for work (likely), displayed no photos of his children or me in his office [because...] he didn’t want the partners to see him as “distracted by my family.” (yep). While this doesn't exist in every household it exists in a lot of them. Going for walks at dusk you can hear the household arguments spawned by this lifestyle. Not every house, every night. But they are common enough. Sometimes you just want to reach out and say "I understand" to the person in the house that's very obviously blowing up due to stress. What is less common is drug abuse. I don't know how people find the time for a drug addiction, alcohol addiction, or any other kind of addiction that isn't "overworking themselves" because that is very much a primary addiction. Silicon Valley is the 1950s Hollywood for techies. They come from all over the world to work with the best of the best, for a shot at something incredible. And much like Hollywood for actors, it ends up chewing up and eating more people than anybody outside the bubble realizes. There's a lot to be said for the area. All kinds of positives. But it's also a very destructive area at a very personal level. There is a lot of personal sacrifice happening at the altars of "educational opportunity", "changing the world", "better lifestyle for my family", and whatever other benefits people have talked themselves into believing that more money can provide for their families. My advice, and I should take it myself, is to recognize when you are breaking down and take a break. The world will get by for 2 more weeks without that one all-so-important feature that you're working on right now.