Growing numbers of Germans are becoming addicted to text-messaging, a German doctor has warned, (36) there are some 380,000 sufferers nationwide. Psychotherapist Andreas Herter based his (37) on the growing (38) of manic (疯狂的) mobile phone users among patients arriving at his clinic for addiction therapy in Hanover. "Text message addiction is a real and serious illness because it causes mental and (39) damage," said Herter, "the problem leads to (40) and personality disorders, not to mention (41) phone bills." Among the most extreme cases were a teenage boy who spent 8,900 euros compulsively (42) people he didn’t even know and a married couple who could only communicate by text messaging, even when they were sitting side by side.
According to a new survey, Britain is also becoming a nation of text maniacs, and losing the art of conversation into the (43) . (44) at the expense of face-to-face conversations, the survey for British Gas telecommunitions division showed. "The concern is that too much ’techno talk’ (45) ", psychologist David Lewis said. The survey showed that (46) .