Join Our Twitter Chat on Media, Celebs and Addiction

Does life in the spotlight make people more prone to addiction, or does addiction naturally accompany a drive for attention? Countless celebrities battle addiction under the paparazzi bulbs. Some—like Elton John, Demi Lovato and Samuel L. Jackson—speak about their recovery to the media. Others—like Amy Winehouse, Heath Ledger and Whitney Houston—have become tragic public reminders of the toll the disease can take. But what effect does the media's portrayal of addiction have on the rest of us?

In our Twitter chat on September 12, from 3-4 pm EST—co-hosted by our friends at Phoenix House—we’ll discuss all this and more. Taking part is easy: just log on to Twitter on the day and search for our new chat-specific hashtag—#popchat. Tweet your answers to the questions posed by @_TheFix and @PhoenixHouse—if you don't follow them yet, do it now!—and make sure to include #popchat in every tweet you send.

Our guests will include psychiatrist and author Dr. John Sharp (click on any of these names to follow them on Twitter), former White House drug policy advisor Kevin Sabet, Fox entertainment reporter Courtney Friel and sober coach Patty Powers of Relapse—as well as Phoenix House CEO Howard Meitiner and Fix contributors like Nic Sheff, Amy Dresner, Jeff Deeney and Jennifer Matesa. They'll be joined by many other experts, journalists and representatives of organizations like the Partnership at DrugFree.org and VisionsTeen. Your ever-faithful Fix staff—including Mike Guy, Anna David, Will Godfrey, Hunter Slaton, May Wilkerson and Joe Schrank—will be chipping in too. See you there!