Carla sat alone in her darkened bedroom, typing away. The blue glow of her laptop illuminated her face, which looked tired and drawn. She looked over to see what time it was and was shocked to find out that it was 2:30 a.m. She’d been online for over 9 hours, ever since she’d gotten home from work. With a jolt she realized she hadn’t eaten dinner, hadn’t paid the bills she’d resolved to take care of this evening, and hadn’t done laundry. She’d have to wear dirty clothes to work. Again.

She sighed and began to reach over to close her laptop screen when a new Instant Message came from Paul, the man she’d been chatting with for weeks now. She clicked on it eagerly, forgetting that she needed to get some sleep so she could go to work in the morning, forgetting about everything. Time melted away again. It would be another sleepless night.

While experts disagree that compulsive Internet use is classified as an “addiction”, cases just like Carla’s are rapidly rising in number. Internet use is necessary for almost everyone in developed countries, so overuse of it by some is almost a certainty. But how many of us are abusing it?

A 2005 study done Stanford University’s School of Medicine found that a large percentage of us are unhealthily attached to the ‘Net. While almost 70% of us are regular Internet users, 14% of respondents stated it was hard to stay away from the Internet for more than a few days, 12% said they stayed online longer than they intended, and almost 6% said that their Internet use is negatively affecting their relationships. Even more surprising to researchers was the percentage of people that “hide” their Internet use from family and friends. That number was at 8.7%.

The typical affected user is a single, college-educated male in his 30’s. He spends, on average, 3 1/2 hours per day using the Internet for non-essential tasks. And before you jump to the conclusion that online porn is the root of all these addicted users, think again. Things like online porn and online gambling are part of the problem, yes, but they’re not the whole problem. Many more people are addicted to news sites, chatrooms, blogs, or they do things such as compulsively check their email every 3 minutes.

So if we’re spending all this time surfing, we’re doing it in the evenings after work, right?

Your employer’s only wish they could answer yes to that one. A study done by Harris Interactive found that on average, employees spend a total of one whole day per workweek surfing the Internet for pleasure. A separate study found that 70% of all pornography traffic occurs between 9-5, which is telling in itself. So not only are we spending copious amounts of time surfing, we’re primarily doing it on company time.

So how much surfing is abnormal? We all have to use the Internet, of course, but when does it become too much?

There’s no good answer. Doctors say that a person could spend 7 hours per day surfing the Internet and if it’s not impacting his or her life in a negative way then you can’t really call it an addiction. On the opposite end, someone can surf 2 or 3 hours and be an addict if they are neglecting responsibilities and family in order to do it. It’s a personal line that is different for everyone.

Asking yourself the following questions can help determine if you’re unhealthily attached to the Internet.

• Do I find it hard to stay away from the Internet for more than a couple of days?
• Do I go online when I’m feeling sad or angry, using the Internet to escape my problems?
• Do I stay online longer than I intend to?
• Do I have no sense of time passing while I’m surfing?
• Do I hide aspects of my Internet use from family and friends?
• Have I tried and failed to cut back on how much time I spend online?
• Do I think about using the Internet even when I’m offline?

A yes to one or more of these questions can indicate an unhealthy attachment to the Internet. So how do you cut down on such a necessity?

Eliminating Internet use from our lives is going to be virtually impossible. It’s a part of our society, and most businesses depend on it daily. Like people that are addicted to food, you have to learn how to use it with discipline. There are methods you can use, however, to curb your use so it doesn’t negatively affect your life.

Learn your habits. If you check news sites compulsively first thing in the morning, or right when you walk in from work, change your routine so you can’t. Keep your Internet disconnected during the day, so when you walk in you have to go through the trouble of connecting it all over again. Don’t make it easy to hop online. You can also try keeping your computer at a desk with no chair, or in a room that’s cold or uncomfortable.

Set a timer for when you do get online. When the timer goes off, turn off your computer.Try filling up your calendar with social activities, especially during times when you’d normally be surfing. Join an exercise class, a book group, or go out with friends. Make an effort to see what you’re missing when you’re plugged into the computer.

While going online to recover from Internet addiction may seem like an oxymoron, there are sites you can visit to get help. One is the Center for Internet Addiction at www.netaddiction.com. You can also call your local hospital to see if they have a support group. Especially in larger metro areas such as Boston or New York, many doctors are recognizing Internet addiction as a real problem, and are reaching out to those in need.