and now tagging @owenflanagan.bsky.social now, who i didn't realize was on bluesky!

Thanks Josh!

-what makes a behavioral addiction “real?”
-the ethics of addiction, how to connect morality and virtue to addiction recovery without reinforcing stigma.
And throughout, Owen shares about his own recovery process, including how it evolved over time and what he’s working on today.

We talk about:
-the spectrum of "powerlessness" in addiction and the finer points of self-control
-problems with traditional explanations of willpower
-critiques of the usual stories about dopamine’s role in addiction
-behavioral additions like sex, shopping, and video games

He brings that deep knowledge to bear on addiction to challenge oversimplified addiction narratives and offers what he calls an "ecumenical" approach—arguing that substance addictions are far more heterogeneous than we often recognize, with diverse causes, neural profiles, and lived experiences.

The book combines personal reflections with philosophical expertise to propose a new, integrated model for understanding substance addiction. Owen, Professor Emeritus at Duke, is internationally acclaimed for his work in cognitive science, ethics and the philosophy of psychology and neuroscience.

I posted a comment about the mutual aid comparisons here

Ooooh fascinating I look forward to reading this

This is why I was glad to see the post by Freddie, from someone with lived experience of what it's actually like to be manic/psychotic. I also wonder if Delano takes the subway.

I don't know what to call it either! But I do know that even in coaching, usually quite unregulated and to my mind less formal than peer support, orgs still have ethics guidelines about seeking outside help when a client is a danger to self or others.

I'd be interested in more on that concept. For example it seems like there is an important distinction between assessing 1. Whether gaming contributes to life domains (effect) versus 2. The intention with which one comes to a gaming session (initial motivation?)

Well done! To me, "gaming life fit" is the most interesting element here. I understand from the paper that you are still developing this measure. Conceptually it seems like rich and complicated ground to assess the subjective alignment of gaming with valued life domains.

It's very meaningful to hear from you, thanks for sharing. And glad you're ok these days.

Thanks!

I listed more resources and reading on this post: carlerikfisher.substack.com/p/my-new-yor...

There are lessons here for how we protect ourselves as individuals, guide our children through a world increasingly littered with gambling dynamics, and build commonsense regulations that acknowledge gambling as a public health issue.

I describe how gambling’s harms extend far beyond what we commonly understand, and how the gambling boom (a $150 billion industry!) reveals truths about the addiction in all of us. Modern tech has also transformed a simple wager into a highly targeted, always-on stream of micro-bets.

Welcome!