Gabriele Farke celebrated her 40th birthday in a chat room. Her real-life friends had long since given up on her.
For two-and-a-half years, she spent every spare minute logging on under the screen name "HexenKuss" (witches' kiss). Her compulsive internet surfing cost her job. Her online addiction left her no time or energy for other activities.
When things got really out of hand, the media specialist trainee from Buxtehude, Germany, had just enough strength to take action. She founded the first self-help group for online addiction in Germany.
She is not alone. Experts on addiction believe there are millions of internet addicts around the world. Only a few years ago, the theme was one that could easy be joked about. Yet today, counselling centres warn strongly about the dangers of excessive internet use and have oriented themselves to treat online addicts.
"Some 2.5 to 3 per cent of users are addicted to the internet," said Matthias Jerusalem, leader of a representative online study for the department of Pedagogic Psychology and Psychological Health at the Humboldt University of Berlin.
More than 10,000 surfers are taking part in his study. Young males up to 20 years of age and single people make up two particularly high-risk groups, he said.
The behaviour of online addicts is comparable with that of alcohol and food addicts, experts claim.
Professor Jerusalem sees addiction in psychic withdrawal symptoms such as uneasiness, excitability, and dissatisfaction with missing internet activities.
"Addiction" only applies when the user spends practically the entire day on internet-related activities and when a user, despite good intentions, cannot restrict his or her online activity.
Online addicts constantly need to raise their net "dose", Professor Jerusalem said. Their internet use often leads to social problems in the workplace, at school, or among family and friends.
The study showed that online addicts use the internet for 35 hours a week on average. Four areas are particularly alluring for online junkies - chat rooms and other communication forums, sexual content, games, and online shops and auctions, said Ms Farke.
"Internet addicts suffer from a full loss of reality - many rationalise their addiction away at first and don't notice that they can't separate themselves from the internet any more," she said.
Demand for professional help has grown sharply in the past years, said Werner Platz, Director of the Psychiatry and Psychotherapy/Addictive Maladies department at the University Clinic of the Humboldt University.
"Five years ago, we treated our first patient ever for online addiction," he said. "But now six to eight people come to us each week for help."
Those who look for help have a good chance of recovering.
In addition to gradual reduction of internet usage, psychotherapeutic treatment is also helpful, Mr Platz said, as online addictions often serve as a warning of identity problems, depression, or mania. Most important is that the afflicted come to accept their problem.
Ms Farke recommends that those suffering from this problem reduce their ability to access the internet, by using childproofing software and by putting the computer in a very unwelcoming place. This helps reduce the chances of more 4am chat greetings such as, "Hello Hexenkuss, still awake, eh?"
