BlackBerry Addiction: Is there such a thing??

I've been reading a lot about BlackBerry or smartphone addiction lately. If there's such a thing, I've got it. But I'm not sure that's so bad. (Then again, I just noticed a post below this one that says "You can have my first born but NOT my BlackBerry!" and that's probably not good...and there's even a CrackBerry forum especially for "addicts.")

I guess that has something to do with whether you use your BlackBerry strictly for business or for personal reasons. I can see it becoming an issue if you never stop working--everyone knows that's unhealthy--but I use my RIM device for both work and play. Truth be told, it never leaves my side.

This article talks about BlackBerry addiction and mentions a few initiatives meant to help addicts quit their devices, including one that offers travelers hotel upgrades and such for not using their smartphones during stays.

What do you all think? Are you BlackBerry addicts? (If you visit this site or other RIM forums daily, you probably are.) Is that a bad thing? Do you think organizations like the one in the article should have a right to govern their employees' BlackBerry use?

AZA

I think most of us here take it lightly..the whole addiction thing but to those who use it for business reason would find themselves attached to the device more so than others. Than you have the Social "Addicts" that send 100s of texts a day and receive constant emails from friends. It's simply a device to keep you connected at all times with anyone anywhere and you can get used to that and if you're ever disconnected from it that would be devastating. I do believe there is a difference between business users and social users.