Addiction to the Net

Mark P. had been sober for two years when he went on line. He began talking to other people through his office computer. He even found an on-line Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. At first it was exhilarating. Then it became a problem. He wrote in an electronic message: I was coming home later and later. My wife thought I'd started drinking again. I lose all sense of time once I get on-line. I'm an addict.

The digitally savvy have long whispered about the mesmerizing capacity of life on line. Predominantly male, their wives became computer widows. One addiction specialist dubbed the on-line habit "computerism."