It didn't, he had to face that fact and now that he's let go of the false hopes of success fixing his life - he's slowly but surely getting his shit together and is very glad to be doing so.
Perhaps the one thing missing from this article is how common this is - I see it all the time, in all walks of life. You have to address whatever is really bothering you, sooner or later. The more you put it off and try to band-aid it, the harder it will be later on.
A quote that I really liked related to this is - a year from now, you'll wish you had started today.
That resonated with me.