@Nohd: Gotta play devil's advocate a little bit here. Before I do, I want to make clear that there's nothing wrong with disliking furries. Not your thing? That's perfectly cool. It's not for everyone and a LOT of people dislike it for various resons. That being said, I notice a lot of generalizing on your end. I don't know if it's from your personal experience or from what you saw online or whatever the case may be. Either way, generalizing is not a good habit to get into.
"...but its the fact that their fursona is them and they use that to pretty much avoid responsibility and feel in control..."
This is prime generalization. You're right in that for some people it's not healthy. However, some people do this because life is boring and being themselves is equally as dull. This adds the spice of life by pretending to be someone else. My community are actors for the most part and some people can't turn that acting switch off. It's just too much fun for them. Talking with them they know the fursona thing will die out as they get older, but they live in the present and do it for the fun. To lump them all together and say it's to avoid responsibility and feel in control is the same thing as saying all blacks are criminals and all gays are rapists: It's stereotyping and far from actual fact.
"Its hurting them and probably their friends and family if they avoid responsibility by hiding behind a mask."
Probably is what really throws me off here. It indicates you don't actually know. How do you know they don't support it? How do you know they aren't furries themselves? How do you know? You don't. It's not your place to determine how others may or may not think or feel. If you got a problem with the individual, keep it to the individual.
"I think its the fact that you feel detached from yourself, so you dont feel as scared to speak up."
Generalization #3. And also guesswork #2. I'm not saying there's no precedent for this (some furries have gone to jail for this), but as I've explained earlier, it's not so much feeling detached from yourself, but from the mundane day-to-day of life. It's the same reason why people cosplay, play sports/video games, draw/paint, etc. It's just a hobby to keep life fun. The hobby itself is not the issue, just the specific person using it for wrong. Using your alcohol comparison, some people truly cannot handle the stress of life and it's their escape, but again the same rule applies: Some drunks know their limits and keep from being a nuisance and others are just troublemakers. One could make the same argument with marijuana, actually.
Again, I cannot stress hard enough that I'm not getting on you for not liking furries or why. My only issue is how you generalizes a whole community as mentally ill because of...well, whatever your reasons are (not judging said reasons either!). It's not fair to the good people out there just because of the small groups out there that make the news (and let's be real: In a community, the troublemakers that make the news are also in the small percentages but are treated like they are the grand majority. Cops, non-whites, furries, gun owners, etc. Makes for better ratings that way.)
