Do you worry about not responding to an e-mail in a timely manner or feel like you should check your inbox every 10 minutes?

The answer could determine whether you are suffering from e-mail addiction.

Executive Coach Marsha Egan, of Reading, said "e-mail e-ddiction" is a valid problem and developed a 12-step program to help those who suffer from it.

Both a life coach and executive coach, Egan stumbled across her now-famous program unintentionally, she said.

She said she noticed some of her high-level clients struggling with e-mail and the overwhelming amount of time it took out of their days.

Egan has spoken about her 12-step program to the public on forums like ABC World News Tonight, CNN and NBC.

"It was a tongue-in-cheek, almost humorous attempt to take a spin off the [Alcoholics Anonymous] 12-step program, so I called it the 12 steps to curing your e-mail e-ddiction program," she said. "I was just trying to help people be more productive with their e-mail."

Nancy Flynn, executive director of the ePolicy Institute and author of numerous books including The ePolicy Handbook, said that between 2000 and 2005, e-mail traffic increased 26-fold, from 5.1 billion e-mail messages per day to 135.6 billion messages in 2005.

"I think the evidence that e-mail has become an addiction and Internet usage has become an addiction is that you can't go to a movie, or the beach ... or a park without seeing people with their Blackberrys or Smartphones or laptop," she said. "We are constantly plugged in."

Flynn said e-mail can be very "damaging" because of possible legal repercussions, both in college and in the workplace.

In 2006, 26 percent of employees reported that they had been fired for inappropriate e-mail usage, Flynn added.

"At the end of the day, one of my tips is to disconnect," she said. "With e-mail, there does seem to be a sense of urgency that everyone has adopted."

John Carroll, College of Information Sciences and Technology professor, said that he was concerned about the use of the word "addiction" with regards to the Internet and e-mail, which he called a "universal cultural tool."

"We do find ourselves in a different place with regards to media and cultural tools," he said. "Is it bad? Definitely not, but there can be bad effects."

Carroll said he views the Internet and e-mail primarily as ways to positively affect academic life and said it can be useful to professors as well as to students.

"A lot of students now are learning how to use the Internet as a learning tool," he said. "If we can learn to harness it, we [professors] can do our jobs better."

Still, Carroll recognized the social effects the Internet and e-mail have had not only at Penn State, but also worldwide.

"I think it definitely is an academic tool, but socially, I think it has the effect of causing us to insulate ourselves," he said. "It concerns me; it seems a little funny [that] the immediate people are less important than the remote ones," he added, also including cell phones in his observations.