I pecked away at UseNet back in prehistoric times, but once the WWW really took off, I was desperately hooked.

I did suffer from chronic depression throughout my addictive period, which to me begs the chicken-and-egg question. I thought I was getting something from "interpersonal" contacts on the 'web, when what was really happening was that I was neglecting my family, my work, and my health.

My family did what amounted to an intervention, not with my computer time but with my withdrawal and ill temper. They convinced me to seek medical help. I was eventually able to resume life in "meat space" and have remained here ever since.

_{"If you can’t trust a Methodist with absolute power to arrest people and
not have to say why, then whom can you trust?" - Garrison Keillor}