Dear Dr. D,

I'm on the computer again! Some days I find I haven't moved from the screen for three or four hours at a time. I can't seem to pull myself away from surfing, e-mail, chat rooms or playing games. Last night I got maybe four hours of sleep. Help!

- Hooked Online

Dear Hooked,

I feel your carpal tunnel pain. The easiest thing for me to say to you is log off, shut off and get connected to your "real community," but I am sure you have already thought about that.

Unfortunately, you are not alone. The percentage of students who report that their excessive online activities had a negative impact on their academics, let alone their social connections, in the last year has continued to grow at an alarming rate. In 2000, the percentage of MSU students who said that their online activities impaired their performance in school was 8.9 percent . In response to the same question in 2002 the percentage was 12.9 percent. Two years later, the percentage was 15 percent overall with men at 20 percent, more than twice as likely than females.

So, what to do? Well, I want to be careful, since this is a new problem and my advice could come off as "sounding like an old fart who does not understand this generation." So let me say this - the first thing to do is to recognize that you even have a problem. Do that by asking yourself the following questions: Are your grades suffering because of your online activities? Do you find yourself spending more time on these online activities than you intended to? Are you neglecting sleep, activity and/or social engagements because of your gaming and online activities? If you answered yes or even maybe to the above questions, you might have a problem and you might want to gauge your computer or game usage more carefully by keeping a log of what activities you're engaged in while hooked up and record what you perceive to be the benefits versus the risks of continued use at the level you're accustomed to. I know it is a new world and you belong to the "online generation," but if you recognize that you are having trouble logging off, that is the first step. After that, you may want to seek assistance in learning ways to cut back on your usage. You can call health education at Olin Health Center at (517)353-0718 or the MSU Counseling Center at (517)355-8270 to see how we might help.

Dr. D.

Compiled by Jenny Toland