Issue of self-control

[guha1991]

Hi all,

Greetings from a long-time lurker. I feel like I'm pretty pathetic, 
but, after all, I do need help about this issue, and a lovely elf 
from HPfGU did send me here...here it goes--

How do you all control yourselves? I mean, I love the books, and 
fanfics as well, but sometimes, there is a point when I'm thinking, 
wow, this is really disrupting my life. It's just as if I'm addicted 
to this whole business.

It all started out quite innocently; with the HBP coming out, I was 
curious about any clues or discussions on the web, and I stumbled 
over Mugglenet for the first time. It expanded to other news and 
discussion sites like here, hp-lexicon, and TLC, and when I finally 
figured out that I had read almost all editorials, I started with 
fanfics. I normally dislike fanfics, because I thought that they 
distorted original characters, but some of the HP fanfics were so 
good, I just got hooked. I guess it's partially due to the sheer 
number of fanfics available, which makes the possibility of finding 
good writing so much better..Starting with fanfiction, fictionalley, 
checkmated, sugarquill, etc, it's been now 3 months since I've been 
reading fanfics, and I think I am seriously addicted. Here, 
Mugglenet, and Checkmated are the first sites I check when I log on. 
I usually skim most of the new posts. I've been thinking about the 
reasons that I've been so hooked on fanfics (I mean, I did have a 
phase for those trashy romance novels, but that was in junior high, 
for only a couple of years), and I guess that it's the world of HP 
itself. I am so attached to the characters, I can't stop reading 
more about them. 

I've checked the 12-step thingy for AA, and I think there is a 
similar pattern; I haven't acknowledged my "addiction" to anyone 
else; my life has been disrupted by reading fanfics 'til 2 or 3 at 
night; I've lied about working on the computer when I've actually 
been reading; I've tried to stop but have failed and come back a few 
times. I don't know what to do. I mean, I love reading, but I want 
to stop it until I can control it. (I mean, I have a life, I have 
kids, and also work, so it's not like I can go on like this 
forever). 

The only thing I can think of now is to disconnect my internet 
service. But I do need it for other work. Wow. Sorry for the really 
long and depressing post. But I really enjoyed HBP with my daughter, 
and love the fics here--it would be great if I could just be around 
moderately.. I don't know; any other suggestions?