Erika Lovely

It was a close call, but Peter Mirijanian narrowly avoided becoming a hood ornament. On a recent fall day, Mirijanian was tapping out an e-mail on his BlackBerry while crossing the street in Georgetown - at Wisconsin Avenue and M Street - when a driver making a right-hand turn nearly plowed into him.

Apologies were not exchanged. "He said, ‘Get your head up from your BlackBerry!' And he was sitting there with a coffee and an Egg McMuffin in his lap," said Mirijanian, who runs a self-titled public relations firm.

Will Mirijanian change his ways - before another brush with the Great Networker in the Sky? Not likely. "If you don't respond in two minutes, people think you've fallen off a cliff," he said.

Falling off is not an option in a town where e-mail addiction is a greater threat to one's well-being than swine flu. Constant usage can upend relationships, annoy bosses and lead to symptoms similar to those in serial gamblers. But the risk of "techno-stress," as the Center for Online and Internet Addiction's founder Dr. Kimberly Young calls it, is no match for the joys of instant communication. Even when devices are on silent settings, the gentle "moooo" and flashing red light are too powerful for D.C. insiders to resist.

Mitt Romney's former campaign press secretary, Kevin Madden, realized he was in too deep when his 2-year-old son began associating his father with the device. "[He] grabs my BlackBerry and starts punching random keys and babbling into it: ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah ... no, no, no no.' He was totally mimicking me," said Madden. "[My wife and I] just looked at each other like, ‘Oh my gosh - it's come to this. This is what he knows of his Dad?!'"

Etiquette rules are a gray area for Washingtonians, many of whom set few limits for when and where a device should be checked. "I find it among the most annoying behaviors in Washington," said lobbyist Jim Courtovich, managing partner of Kearsarge Global Advisors. "Replace the word ‘BlackBerry' with ‘crossword puzzle' and ask yourself, ‘Is it appropriate to bring my crossword puzzle out at dinner with others?'"

Republican press secretary Kurt Bardella has taken to warning dinner dates about his habit. "When I'm out getting to know people in a social setting, the first thing I do is apologize in advance because I know I'm going to check my Berry at least eight times in the next 25 minutes," said Bardella, who works for Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "You just can't help yourself."

Institute for Energy Research President Tom Pyle admits that his manners once became so poor that his boss charged him a dollar every time he used his device during office meetings.

"I partially financed the Christmas party," Pyle said. "Sometimes I'd just walk into a meeting and put the dollar on the table because I knew I'd break the rule."

Aside from annoying others, excessive e-mailing can cause physical harm. Carpal tunnel syndrome, which can be caused by repetitive typing motions, is on the rise and is a major factor among workplace compensation cases, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

The injuries are becoming so common that Bethesda massage therapist Hyun Martin has developed a "Crackberry" massage to treat professionals' sore thumbs and wrists, which runs at $80 for a 50-minute massage. Clients include political lawyer C. Dixon Osburn, former executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

District Police report that the incidence of distracted driving is on the rise. In 2005, there were 7,526 citations for distracted driving, which can include texting and cell phone use as well as other distractions such as makeup application. By 2008, the citations jumped to 11,904.

But technology does have its benefits. Congress Daily's Managing Editor Kathy Gambrell has lost nearly 10 pounds by using Sensei, a weight-loss program that sends meal plans, calorie counts and health tips to users' mobile devices.

She's forgotten her BlackBerry only once, and the separation anxiety was unforgettable.
"I would reach for it, and it wasn't there," she said. "It's almost like a phantom limb: It still hurts when it's not there."

It's a familiar feeling for many professionals: It's estimated that seven out of every 10 Hill staffers and members are equipped. Research In Motion, the creator of the BlackBerry, reported 32 million worldwide subscribers at the end of last quarter. Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), a Silicon Valley-area representative and technology guru, is hooked herself: "I can read The New York Times or pick up whatever I'm reading on my Kindle if I'm stuck somewhere," she said.

On the presidential level, George W. Bush despised hearing the tapping of tiny keyboards. But President Barack Obama was seriously conflicted when White House security forces considered revoking his BlackBerry for security reasons. Ultimately, the president won the battle, but mobile devices remain a no-no in official White House meetings. Tables outside the Roosevelt Room are often dotted with various devices, all affixed with identification tags.

Staffers of other administrations can look back on very different times. Technology lobbyist Josh Ackil, a former Clinton staffer, reminisces about his 2000-era White House communication device - a one-way pager that required calling the switchboard and dictating a message in order to reply. "It was reserved for high-level important items, not just firing off random e-mails," said Ackil.

Short of turning back the clock, there is a path to recovery for the obsessed. At her Pennsylvania center, Young offers a 12-week intensive program that teaches abusers how to set rules about when and where the technology can be used. "People want to seem like they're doing a better and quicker job," she said, but ultimately, work has to have its place. "Just because you can work 24 hours a day doesn't mean you should."