Web Heads Too much surfing leaves some New Yorkers trapped in the Net By Eamon Lynch Daily News Staff Writers January 2000 We are all wired. But some of us may have blown a circuit. Take Cezanne Huq. While most people are rolling over and reaching for the snooze button, Huq fires up one of the five computers that line the walls of his home like the deck of the Starship Enterprise. He logs on during a 30-second workout break and showers while downloading. Cezanne Huq and two of his pals at his home in Westchester. "I don't want to stare at it so I find something else to do," he says. "I come back and I'm like, 'Cool, it's done!'" Every day, Huq puts in 12 hours on the Web, running virtualurth.com, an entertainment Web site he created in 1995. During his commute from Westchester to Manhattan, he pens e-mails on his Palm Pilot and fantasizes about the day that his refrigerator will electronically beam a shopping list to the grocery store. That quantum leap would just about eliminate the need for him to ever leave cyberspace. And that's exactly the way he wants it. Huq's obsession with the Net is so intense that he hasn't seen his ailing grandmother for 20 years, and he probably won't anytime soon. Sure, he can afford the airfare to her home in Bangladesh. But he doesn't want to go there because his grandmother isn't connected. "I am scared of going outside of the States," he says, "because of the fear of not being in touch. I really don't have confidence in Internet connections outside of the U.S." Huq isn't some isolated fanatic. He is among a growing legion of New Yorkers who just can't log off. From retirees who stay glued to eBay all day and young men who can't get enough of porn sites, to day traders who constantly pore the Web for investment tips, the Internet has become an obsession, a can't-quit-it habit right up there with cigarettes and alcohol. The obsession has become so serious that shrinks have even given it a name: Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). And it has become so common that many think it's the next great American ailment. Just ask Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack, who has treated many people for IAD. There was the woman who would starve for as long as 12 hours rather than click "Sign Off." There was the man who got so involved in a computer game that when a distraction led to his "virtual death," he beat up his brother. "This is someone totally out of control," says Orzack, who founded Computer Addiction Services to meet the burgeoning demand for cybershrinks. Other signs of encroaching addiction border on the absurd: "One man told me quite proudly the other day that when he goes to the bathroom, he takes his Palm Pilot so he can read the newspaper. I thought to myself, 'You know, there is another way of doing this!'" Some clients name their computer and talk to it, Orzack says. "If they feel the computer is talking back, that's another thing," she adds. Although IAD has not yet been classified as an official mental disorder — which could force insurance companies to pay for its treatment — the caseload is expanding faster than Bill Gates' portfolio. Surveys suggest that 6% of U.S. Internet users — about 5 million people — are addicted, with most cyberjunkies (83%) having been online for less than a year. Jill Samame describes her problem as "an addiction of necessity." Although she works in new media, she says she uses the Net only as a lifestyle tool. Still, the hours add up: She's wired at least 10 hours every working day for business and personal tasks — "the lines get blurred," she admits. On weekends, she logs as many as 15 hours. "I'm not a user who likes to play in chat rooms and meet people that way. That to me is just a whole other realm," she says. "I've learned how not to let it eat into too much time. Sometimes you can enter that vortex where you keep going and going. "I manage my life through the online space. I do my banking online, my trading, my shopping, I book all my travel online. I keep in touch with people because I don't have time to speak to them on the phone." But she does set some limits. "I do not order groceries online," she says. "I'm a city dweller. I like to touch and feel fresh produce." In fact, Samame may spend more 'real' time at the fruit stand than she does with her mother. "My mother is on America Online, so that's how I track her. We trade stocks together, so it's like going to the track together. She is fanatical," Samame says. "I am the uber-user." Dr. Kimberly Young, the executive director of the Center for Online Addictions and author of "Caught in the Net," runs a 'virtual clinic' for cyberjunkies. That may seem a little like holding an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting in a bar, but as Young — who has seen more than 2,500 cyberjunkies since 1994 — points out, "This is where they are going to go first for information." Web addicts visit Young's clinic when they realize that their online hobby has become an offline issue. "It's like a smoker who says they can stop any time they want until they try," she says. "The No. 1 problem [with addicts] is impairment to real-life relationships, where they gradually withdraw more into the computer and spend less time with other people in their lives." But Peter Suciu, a Manhattan Web producer who spends upwards of eight hours online every day, sees e-mail as a life-support system for his relationships. "I think being online a lot has helped me stay in touch with friends and relatives I normally wouldn't see," he says. "I'm able to e-mail my parents several times a day." The Catch-22 is that e-mail-dependent relationships may die when you pull the plug. "If e-mail went away, I'd feel completely out of the loop," Suciu says. "If I suddenly lost my e-mail account and wasn't able to get another one, there would probably be some friends I wouldn't stay in touch with." But as the world becomes increasingly connected, congestion on the superhighway is expected to increase by 12 million U.S. users this year. This means that if the 6% Internet-addiction rate holds up, we'll see more than 700,000 new junkies with family contacts reduced to the occasional e-mail. "It's cheaper than calling — and I'd much rather buy a cup of coffee. That's the jerk that I am!" Huq says with a laugh. He pauses for a moment, then ponders: "Is that bad or what?" The Uber-User ------------- Jill Samame Daily Web use: 10 hours, 15 on weekends Will do online: Banking, shopping, trading, make social plans Won't do online: Buy fresh produce The Cyberjunkie --------------- Cezanne Huq Daily Web use: 12 hours Will do online: Whatever he can Won't do online: Sleep A Day in the Life of a Webhead ------------------------------ Virtually all of Cezanne Huq's waking hours are spent online, even on the bus ride to and from the office. Here's what he does and when. 5 A.M. Huq rolls out of bed and switches on one of his computers. After brushing his teeth he starts working on his Web site, virtualurth.com, posting DVD reviews and entertainment news. Breakfast is a Powerbar in front of the computer. "It wakes me up," he says. 7:30 A.M. Boarding the bus near his Westchester home, Huq uses his Palm Pilot to respond to e-mails during the commute to his midtown Manhattan office. He takes the bus because he can't use his Palm Pilot in MetroNorth's tunnels. 8:30 A.M. Huq arrives at his office and flicks on his computer. He plugs in his Palm Pilot to send the e-mails he wrote on the journey, then spends 10 minutes doing more work on his Web site. The workday begins — almost all online. 1 P.M. He grabs a 10-minute lunch, which he eats at his desk. The rest of his lunchtime is devoted to work on his own Web site. 6:15 P.M. On a good day, Huq is ready to leave the office. He "synchs up" - downloads all outstanding e-mails and calendar information onto his Palm Pilot — then on hops the bus back to the suburbs. He works the Palm Pilot during the ride. 7:30 P.M. Arriving home, Huq fires up the computer again (the others are still running) and the remainder of the evening is given over to researching articles and news that relates to his website. He almost never eats dinner. 1 A.M. Twenty hours later, the cyberjunkie shuts down and hits the sack to dream his techno dreams. Four hours from now, he will start again. Where to Get Help Here are some Web sites that offer help for those in over their head on the Net. www.netaddiction.com Dr. Kimberly Young's "virtual clinic" for cyberjunkies with quizzes that indicate whether your habit is becoming harmful. www.computeraddiction.com Dr. Maressa Hecht Orzack's guide to recognizing Internet addiction and achieving cyber-sobriety. www.behavior.net Gathering place for mental health professionals that hosts regular discussions about Internet addictions and the psychology of cyberspace. www.wildxangel.com A guide to the pros and cons, dos and don'ts of online relationships.