Addiction to the internet has been added to the hit list of modern-day fixations
Just about anything can become the target of an addiction - cough medication, exercise, gambling, sex, sleep. You name it - someone somewhere is fixated by it. Another area to add to the hit list is the net.
The malaise of net addiction has been thrust into the spotlight by the story of the 13-year-old Chinese boy who jumped to his death from a tall building after playing the online orcs and humans game Warcraft for 36 hours straight: a clear case of addiction.
The addiction is technically known as online compulsive disorder, or pathological internet use (PIU). Sure, the case of the Warcraft worshipper, whose parents are suing the producer, is extreme. But it underlines just how potent a hold the computer can exert on the mind.
Ask yourself how easy you find it to back away from that browser and log off the net, if you ever close the connection - chances are it is perpetually humming away in the background around the clock.
I don't think I'm addicted, but I do get a buzz from computing and am reminded that one definition of an alcoholic is someone who drinks more than you do. Maybe I have developed a bit of a dependency. Often in the small hours when I can't sleep I find myself rising like a sleepwalker and padding towards the computer, then downloading e-mails just in case someone I know has died or had a baby: don't want to miss out on anything.
Usually, checking just delivers spam about various kinds of gruesome, gratuitous recreational medication and maybe a newsletter. But I find checking so hard to resist.