Is Your Job Making You an Internet Addict?

Do you religiously check BNET each day for the latest posts? And do you return throughout the day to check up on the comment flow? If so, you may have an "internet addiction." But it's only a problem if you are visiting the sites of the competition too.

In all seriousness though, multiple news stories throughout the last few years have been suggesting that "internet addiction" is on the rise. Today a story out of the UK claims that Britons are now internet addicts that clock five hours a day online, spending two on work and three on social networks, surfing and shopping. Stateside, the first treatment center for the problem, called reSTART just opened this month, even though internet addiction is not yet recognized as a separate disorder by the American Psychiatric Association and insurance won't cover its treatment.
To find out whether you are internet addict, you can take the reSTART quiz, online of course. And rather ironically, you can follow the reSTART program on Twitter and Facebook and become addicted to tips about beating your web addiction. If you can't pony up $14,000 for reSTART, you can also check out CC Holland's post on 6 common-sense strategies to beat the addiction.
So let's say that internet addiction is real and it is hazardous to your health. Certainly America's work culture encourages everyone to stay on the grid and utilize all the new web tools at our disposal. We respect the worker bees who answer their BlackBerrys immediately and exhalt those that return emails after midnight. But there is plenty of evidence that our work-life balance is out of whack. Since we can all agree that the unhealthy American lifestyle contributes to our high healthcare costs, should employers take the lead and discourage internet abuse? Share your thoughts below.