Does a day without text messaging on your cell phone seem like a day without sunshine? Do you surf the Internet several hours a day? According to the Priory Clinic in London, as reported by Reuters, you may need professional help. In addition to treating about 6,000 patients a year for routine, run-of-the-mill addictions such as gambling, eating disorders and drugs, the clinic has noticed a sharp rise in what it calls "technology addictions." Before admission, those patients were spending up to seven hours a day text messaging. "We have a situation where some people look down on alcoholics and cocaine addicts, but then go and spend five hours in an Internet chat room," noted a spokesman for the clinic. Could the creeping menace of technology addiction reach our shores? Just look around you. Americans seem to be evenly divided into two groups lately — those who walk around with cell phones clamped to their ears, and those who walk around holding water bottles. A few exceptions, who apparently have mastered multitasking, carry both phones and bottles and walk at the same time. Although time spent on a keypad or keyboard seems to be the only indication of technology dependency in the Reuters article, there must be other warning signs to indicate whether a person is ready for a 30-day withdrawal treatment at some "de-tech center." (Not to be confused with "Detox center," which sounds very similar.) The symptoms of technology addiction might include: oThe printed characters on your computer keyboard and cell phone pad are faded and no longer legible. oThe forefinger on your dominant hand is calloused. oYou’re not good with actual names and you can only recall e-mail addresses when you introduce friends to each other. ("kt@bcd.net, this is ds@bcd.net.") oIn order to free up your hands, you’re seriously considering attaching your cell phone to your ear with some kind of permanent glue or perhaps surgery. oYou can’t recall the last time you had a face-to-face conversation with a real, live person. oYour best friends are computer technicians, ready to assist you with any problem and employed by your Internet provider. oYour love life consists of little more than sending and receiving two messages: "XXXX" and "OOOO." oThe number of children you will have depends on whether or not cell phones will be allowed in the delivery room. oYou avoid air travel because you can’t bear the thought of turning off your phone for any length of time. oThe only near-death experience you have ever had was watching your cell phone as it lost its charge. oIt’s impossible to have a meaningful friendship with anyone without an e-mail address or text messaging capability. oFinally, the only personal calls you may take at work must be related to emergencies. Although you hope no one in the front office is keeping count, so far this week you have received 132 calls about family emergencies, many related to the unusual, sixth death of your maternal grandfather. Very unusual.
