My name is Luanne and I'm a webaholic. Okay, now you say "Hi, Luanne" cause you should probably be in a meeting, too.

If you're like me, you'd wear a cyber patch if there was one on the market. For instance, right now the old cat is howling cause she's starving and craving her morning salmon, but I'm busy writing this blog so she'll just have to wait.

While I'm not prone to immoderate gaming (why bother when you can amuse yourself with Craigslist ads), I do exhibit several of the symptoms experts identify as an increasing computer dependency.

When I return home from a long day, I rush to greet my best friend and check new messages, even before greeting my husband. "Hello, lover," I say to P.C. "I've missed you sooo much." One time, when my best friend got a nasty virus, I  just about lost it, feeling completely detached from the outside world. I regarded the technician who repaired it as a superhero, as valuable as an organ transplant surgeon. I kept telling him he saved my life.

Also, because of my dependency, I have cast aside invaluable resources of the past, such as the dictionary, maps, paper invitations and thank-you notes, the Yellow Pages, city newspapers, daily calls to friends and photo labs. Enter Google, Mapquest, Adobe, Huffington Post, Facebook and Evite. Lazy, hurried people unite!

While there are scant Betty Ford-style clinics for people like me, it's clear there's a burgeoning need. In fact, Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack, Ph.D. of Harvard University, says we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg in society's dependency on computers for information, fun and entertainment. Anyone who's visited a computer cafe at night knows she's right. Guests sit alone, sipping wine or coffee, substituting their ...Read More

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