Unhealthy addiction or harmless obsession?....

I think it's fair to say that we are in the midst of an era in which some form of obsession is some people's default psychological setting and lets face it the Internet is a great enabler, it helps us with our fundamental line of human enquiry, questions such as where, when and who can be easily answered.

Obsessions can last a few days, a month or for a handful of crazed, tortured years when you think of little else but the one thing you have become obsessed with. Be it outward appearance or inner peace obsessions can strike at any time.
Classic obsessions such as love, money and work are joined by new fangled ones such as eBay, face book and video games and this is where they can become dangerous, they can be the warning signs of addiction....to email someone daily is a manifestation of obsession but to email them up to 100 times a day bears the hallmarks of addiction and if we are not careful that addiction can become a stand in for life itself.

On the other hand obsessions can be useful when handled properly, after all they are responsible for great scientific break throughs and such like but take caution against the kind of obsessions that can lead to social alienation....its better to join the real world now and again :)