[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——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。<