IN THIS ARTICLE: Getting hooked on the Internet isn't confined to a few computer nerds. It's on the rise everywhere--and women are the most likely addicts. Ingrid Parker, once a slave to Internet chatrooms, found her experiences so devastating that she wrote a book to help other addicts break the habit. --Editor

本文简介：沉醉于因特网而难以自拔的人已不再局限于少数计算机迷了。对因特网痴迷的人越来越多，到处都是--妇女最可能成为对因特网着迷的人。英格丽德·帕克一度沉溺于网上聊天，后来发现那段经历使她损失不小，因而写了一本书以帮助其他网上君子们改掉上网成瘾的毛病。。

[1]It's the equivalent of inviting sex addicts to a brothel or holding an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting at the pub. Internet addicts tired of their square-eyed, keyboard tapping ways need look no further than the Web for counselling. There is now an online counselling service at www.relate.org.nz for Internet obsessives. Just e-mail the details of your Internet-induced crisis and help comes direct to your inbox. The new breed of cybertherapists see nothing strange about offering help through the very medium that is swallowing their clients' free time and splitting their marriages.

[2] Sue Hine, of Relationship Services, says: "Internet obsession has become a more noticeable problem over the last 18 months. At least this is an area addicts are familiar with and they'll be able to use it as a tool to overcome their obsession." Nor do experts worry that the Relate Website might become a favourite--a place to spend hours online in the name of Internet therapy. Dependency is always a risk with any form of counselling. There are various strategies we can adopt to keep that in perspective, says Hine.

[3] Though some may regard Internet addiction as another dubious ailment dreamed up to keep therapists in work, Relationship Services says the problem is real.

[4] Internet usage is up to four-and-a-half hours on the Web each week, compared to three-and-a-half hours a year ago. Therapist Robin Paul says there tend to be two scenarios. Some people meet through chatrooms and fall in love. It's like having an affair, then they meet and it's like a whirlwind honeymoon. It's devastating for the person left behind and quite often it has no real foundation.

[5] I saw one couple who were still together but it was very rocky. He met someone on the Net and went overseas to meet the woman. Then he left his wife and children to be with her. In another case I saw recently, a man left his three children to be with a woman (who was) leaving her four children. It's terribly hard on the kids when this happens.

[1]上网成瘾如同邀约好色的人逛妓院，或者在小酒馆里举行"嗜酒者互诫协会"(AA)会员集会。网迷们疲劳地盯着显示屏，敲击着键盘，只想通过万维网寻求咨询。现在有一种为网迷开设的网上咨询服务，其网址是：www.relate.org.nz。你只需把上网引发的"危机"详情用电子邮件发出去，就会从你的邮箱中直接收到帮助信息。新式的计算机治疗专家认为，通过网络寻求帮助并不奇怪，正是它吞噬着网迷们的自由时间，而且危及到他们的婚姻。

[2]"关系服务"网站的苏·海英说："在最近的18个月中，上网成瘾已经成为一个非常突出的问题。服务网站至少是网迷熟悉的地方，他们将能够把它作为戒掉网瘾的工具来使用。"专家们也并不担心服务网站会成为上网者最爱光顾的地方--一个网迷们花费在线时间进行网上诊疗的地方。依赖于任何形式的咨询服务总是靠不住的。海英说，我们可以采取各种措施使服务网站发挥有效作用。

[3]有些人认为，沉醉于因特网的人是患有某种假想的精神失调症，这只是使得精神治疗专家有事可做。然而，关系服务网站却认为这个问题确实存在。

[4]一年前，万维网的使用率为每周3.5小时，而现在达到了4．5小时。诊疗专家罗宾·保罗说，痴迷于因特网往往表现为两种情形。有的人在聊天室相识并坠人爱河。这就像有了不正当关系，然后约会，像蜜月一般慌慌张张的。被抛弃的一方在感情上会受到极大的打击，而这种网上恋爱通常全然没有现实的基础。

[5]"我曾目睹一对夫妇，他们仍在一起，但彼此之间的感情已经摇摇欲坠。男方在网上有了外遇，就飘洋过海去与网上恋人见面，之后，他为了和她在一起而抛妻弃子。在我最近看到的另一个例子中，男方为了跟某个女人在一起，抛下了自己的三个孩子，而那个女人也准备离开她的四个孩子。这种事情可害苦了那些孩子们。

[6] The second scenario is that a person starts spending more and more time on the Net. They may not meet someone else but they don't spend any time with their partner and of course the relationship suffers."

[7] Such stories may appear to be almost urban legends, so ashamed are Internet addicts and their partners. After all, who wants to admit they have a 100 a day habit (e-mails, that is) or are somehow less alluring than a piece of hardware? But in America, which has long had a love affair with both therapy and the Net, these stories are common.

[8] A recent survey of 17,251 Internet users found nearly 6 per cent had some sort of addiction to the medium. They revealed that their online habit contributed to disrupted marriages, childhood delinquency, crime and over-spending. Tap into online addiction sites and you'll find messages such as: "Hello, my name is Bob and I'm a Webaholic."

[9] Witness the plight of Ohio woman Kelli Michetti, who literally became a computer hacker because of her husband's constant online chatting. When she crashed a meat cleaver through her husband's computer terminal that solved the problem, although naturally it led to difficulties with the police.

[10] Or take the classic Internet addiction story of Ingrid Parker, a woman who became such a slave to the Internet--especially chat rooms-- that it took over her life. She made do with two hours' sleep a night, had marathon weekend computer sessions of up to 17 hours and fell in love with a married man in the US state of Oregon.

[5]"我曾目睹一对夫妇，他们仍在一起，但彼此之间的感情已经摇摇欲坠。男方在网上有了外遇，就飘洋过海去与网上恋人见面，之后，他为了和她在一起而抛妻弃子。在我最近看到的另一个例子中，男方为了跟某个女人在一起，抛下了自己的三个孩子，而那个女人也准备离开她的四个孩子。这种事情可害苦了那些孩子们。

[6]"另一种情形是：有的人把越来越多的时间耗在因特网上。他们也许没有网上情人要见面，可也不愿花时间去陪伴自己的爱人，夫妻关系当然会因此遭到破坏。"

[7]诸如此类的情形几乎成了一个个都市传奇故事，让那些痴迷于因特网的人以及他们的爱人感到惭愧。毕竟，谁也不愿意承认他们有每天收发100封电子邮件的习惯，或者承认自己竟然不比一部机器有吸引力。然而，对于美国这么一个与心理治疗和网络结缘已久的国家来说，此类故事不足为奇。

[8]最近的一项调查显示，在1721名因特网用户中，有近6％的用户程度不同地痴迷于上网。这些网迷承认，他们上网成癖导致了婚姻破裂、使孩子误人歧途、滋生犯罪而且经济上入不敷出。敲击键盘进入网迷站点，你会发现这样一些信息："嗨，我叫鲍勃，一个网虫。"

[9]俄亥俄州一名叫凯莉·米切蒂的妇女的困窘处境就是一个见证。由于她的丈夫经常上网聊天，凯莉成了地道的电脑黑客。她擅自闯入其丈夫的电脑终端解决了这个问题，但是，不用说这惹出了麻烦，惊动了警方。

[10]英格丽德·帕克的故事也是典型事例，她成了因特网的奴隶--尤其钟情于网上聊天--上网甚至成了生活中主要的内容。她曾经一晚上只睡2小时，周末连续17个小时玩电脑，并且和美国俄勒冈州的一个已婚男子相恋。

[11] Her computer dream turned to nightmare when she sold up and moved to be with her cyberpal (who had just left his wife), only to be told a week later that the couple were getting back together.

[12] The heart-breaking turn of events gave her the motivation to control her addiction--and write the book Caught in the Web.

[13] Dr Kimberly Young, who set up The Centre for Online Addiction (www.netaddiction.com) in America, studied 396 people whom she considered were psychologically dependent on the Net. They ranged in age from 14 to 70 and spent an average of 38.5 hours a week on the Web.

[14] Her study, backed by further research in Britain, found that women were more likely to become addicts. So while the old stereotypical addict was a young man who spent hours playing games, downloading software or reading messages on newsgroups, the new image is of a young woman who fritters away hours e-mailing friends, buying books and CDs online, talking in chatrooms and looking for information for next year's holiday.

[15] I guess I was a typical example of someone hooked on the Internet," says Parker, who now spends just an hour a day online. "I was coming home at lunchtime to get on the computer. At 6 p.m. I'd feed my son and put him to bed but all the time I was going backwards and forwards to the computer. Then I'd stay up until 5a.m. or 6 a.m., typing away ' chatting' on my computer screen all night."

[11]她卖光了东西，就为了搬到她的电脑伙伴(刚和他的妻子分手)那里。可一周后被告知，这对夫妇又回到了一起，她的网上梦想变成了恶梦。

[12]事态的转折让她心碎，她决心控制自己的网瘾--并写了一本书，叫《沉湎万维网》。

[13]金伯利·杨博士在美国建立了一个网迷中心(www.netaddiction.com)。她对396名网迷进行了研究，认为这些人在心理上离不开因特网。被研究对象的年龄范围在14--70岁之间，他们平均每周上网38．5小时。

[14]金伯利的研究成果表明，妇女更可能上网成瘾，在英国所做的进一步研究可以证实这一点。早先的电脑迷是年轻男性，他们把时间花在玩游戏、下载软件或阅读新闻组信息；新的景象是年轻女性成了电脑迷--她们不惜耗费很多时间给朋友发电子邮件、上网选购书籍或音乐光盘、在聊天室与网友聊天，以及查找来年外出度假的有关信息。

[15]"我想我一度是'网上瘾君子'的典型例子，"帕克说，现在她每天只上网1小时，"那时我每天午饭时间回家，打开电脑上网。下午6时我给儿子喂吃的，安排他睡觉，但此间我经常回到电脑那儿。随后，我会在网上呆到清晨5点或6点，不停地敲打键盘与别人通宵达旦'聊天'。"

[16] "I learned from my experience with romance on the Net that people aren't always what they seem. The guy I met, for example, was very nice but also quite mixed up. The trouble is you get lonely housewives talking to someone and they think, 'This guy sounds nice compared to what I've got.'"

[17] But I don't think anyone who is married or in a sound relationship should really be spending hours talking to someone else and ignoring their nearest and dearest. While Parker provided her own therapy by putting her experiences down on paper, she recommends others take up the online counselling offer, or log off from the Worldwide Web gradually.

[18] "It's like smoking. It's not a good idea to suddenly go cold turkey. People often e-mail me about the problem and I tell them to gradually wean themselves off and not to switch to a scheme where you pay per hour for online time. If they break their resolution, all they end up with then is the same old problem plus money difficulties for the long hours they have spent logged in to the Internet."

[19] Computer whizz Steve Phillips grins at the mention of Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)--he's been there, done that. Now 28, and a seven-year veteran on the Internet, he spends a mere 10 to 15 hours ' for entertainment" on the Web each week, A few years ago, when he was in the grip of his addiction, that was the amount of time--10 to 15 hours--he spent online each day.

[20] "I'd go to polytechnic and log on at 9 a.m. and sometimes I'd stay online until 9 at night. Then I'd go home and plug in the laptop and stay online until 4 or 5 a.m.," says the Internet systems maintenance ex-pert.

[16]"我的网上罗曼史让我明白了，人们并不总像他们表现出来的那样。例如，我曾认识一个网友，他很不错，但也很迷糊。让人伤脑筋的是，当你介绍那些寂寞的家庭主妇与某人聊天时，她们会想：'与我的那位比起来，这家伙听起来不错。'"

[17]可我认为，对于已婚的人或者拥有一份良好关系的人来说，实在不应该把大量的时间耗在与别人聊天上，而把自己至爱至亲的人冷落在一旁。帕克通过把自己的经历写成文章提供了她自己的治疗方法，她劝告别人要接受网上咨询服务，或者逐渐地远离万维网。

[18]"就像抽烟上瘾一样，一下子戒掉烟瘾是难以让人接受的。人们常常给我发电子邮件谈及此事，我就告诉他们要慢慢地戒掉网瘾，不要进入付费网站。如果他们不听告诫，到头来不但旧病难除，而且还要面临长时间上网带来的经济困难。"

[19]计算机能手史迪夫·菲利普笑着提及沉迷网络症(IAD)--他一直在网上呆着，干的就是那个。他今年28岁，是一个有7年网龄的老手，现在他每周只上网"玩"10-15小时。几年前，他上网成瘾，难以自拔，每天在网上耗费的时间就达10---15小时。

[20]"我上午9点去理工专科学校上网，有时在网上呆到晚上9点。回家以后又在便携式电脑上继续玩，直到凌晨四五点钟。"这位因特网系统维护专家说。

[26] The habit started hitting hard when he finished his studies in the big city and moved back home. Without the support of a school paid computer, he racked up hundreds of dollars in Internet-related toll bills. The huge expense, followed by a few months offline while he searched for a job, was the wake-up call he needed.

[27] "When I got access again it didn't have the same appeal any more. Now I use it more as a tool, but I would say a lot of my friends are addicts. One friend was talking about a deal with a set rate for 200 hours of Internet access a month. He said that wouldn't be enough. I end up counselling people about it because I've been through it. It definitely isn't worth neglecting real-life relationships for romances on the Net. Often they don't work out."

[28] Phillips should know. A few years ago he became heavily involved with an American woman he had spent a couple of years chatting to. Wisely, they decided not to make any commitment to marriage until they had met face-to-face. Phillips spent a month in the United States before they agreed the relationship wouldn't work. "Because I've been on the Net so long I've got some good friends that I've been chatting to for years. I occasionally meet people I've talked to online at the pub, and I could certainly travel through America on a budget--I know so many people there.

[29] "The Internet is definitely addictive but if you can keep it in control it has advantages, too. Using it can be a steep learning curve so it helps you become very quick at learning. Also there is a huge demand for people in the field of Information Technology (IT) and hours on the Internet are great training."

[26]菲利普对因特网发生浓厚兴趣，是在大城市里念完书，回家以后开始的。由于不能再使用学校付费的电脑了，他要支付几百美元因特网服务费。这笔巨大的费用及时地敲醒了他。在随后的几个月中，他去找工作，不再上网。

[27]"当我重新回到网上时，不再有原来那种痴迷了。现在我更多地是把它当作工具来使用，但我要说的是，我的许多朋友依然是'网上瘾君子'。有个朋友在谈论每月固定上网200小时，他说这还不够。由于我是过来人，所以不愿对此事说长道短。为了网上的风流韵事而冷淡生活中的真情，显然是不值得的。因为这种网上爱情常常是没有结果的。"

[28]菲利普应当明白这些。几年前，他与一名美国妇女打得火热，几年来，他一直跟这个女人在网上聊天。明智的是，他们决意在相互晤面之前对婚姻不做任何承诺。他在美国住了一个月，最后他们都承认这种关系不会有结果。"由于我上网多年，结交了一些好朋友，多年来一直与他们在网上聊天。我偶尔会在小酒吧里碰到网友，我还可以不用花很多钱周游美国--在那里我认识很多朋友。

[29]"因特网的确容易让人着迷，但如果你能把握分寸，也会获益良深。使用因特网有助于你快速获取知识。在信息技术(IT)领域工作的人，要求大量使用因特网，而且在网上工作是很好的训练。"