Study finds U.S. full of internet addicts
Hello, my name is Eric and I am addicted to the Internet...lol j/k...maybe... :)

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - The United States could be rife with Internet addicts as clinically ill as alcoholics, a study suggested.

"In a sense, they're using the Internet to self-medicate," Aboujaoude said. "And obviously something is wrong when people go out of their way to hide their Internet activity."

According to preliminary research, the typical Internet addict is a single, college-educated, white male in his 30s, who spends approximately 30 hours a week on non-essential computer use.

While the profile might hint that online pornography is at the root of the Internet obsession, that was only one piece of the equation, Aboujaoude concluded.

"Online pornography and, to some degree, online gambling, have received the most attention but users are as likely to use other sites, including chat rooms, shopping venues and special-interest websites," Aboujaoude said.

"Pornography is just one area of excessive Internet use."

Stanford researchers interviewed 2,513 adults in a nationwide household survey. Because Internet addiction has not been clinically defined as a medical condition, study questions were based on established addiction disorders.

Research indicated that nearly 14 percent of the respondents found it difficult to stay away from the Internet for several days and that slightly more than 12 percent often remained online longer than expected.

More than eight percent of the people surveyed said they hid "non-essential" Internet use from family, friends or employers and nearly the same number went online to flee from real-world problems.

Nearly six percent of the respondents felt that their personal relationships suffered as a result of their excessive Internet use

Read all about it here, courtesy of news.yahoo.com:

-Eric