Computer Hysteria:  "Compurage"        by Berry F. Phillips   August 2005 "Guilty as charged! I sentence you to death by computer electrocution for smashing your computer with a sledge hammer in a ‘compurage’!" I awoke from the nightmare still hearing the rapping of the judge's gavel in my ears and wondering if this would be some kind of a future sentence in this digital age? Within Worldwide for Symantec conducted a telephone survey with these human reactions to computer problems: frustration 52%, concern 14%, helplessness 12%, anger 7%, panic 5%, and surprise 3%. Further, the study found these extreme reactions to computer problems: swear at computer/scream 25%, hit computer-no damage 12%, call for help 8%, walk away in disgust/leave 8%, hit computer-causing damage 6%, abuse others 4%, throwing or damaging objects in vicinity 2%, attacking a computer with an object 2%, dropping or throwing a computer 2% and send back to manufacturer 2%. Other similar surveys conducted by Concord Communications discovered that 83% of 150 U.S. respondents witnessed such attacks and London International Market Research Company, MORI, found 40% of British workers had watched as their colleagues leveled verbal and physical abuse at their computers. Robert Edelmann, clinical psychologist and author of "Interpersonal Conflicts at Work" is worried. "Frustration with IT should be taken seriously as a modern malaise," he says. "It is affecting both our work and our home lives to the extent that computer rage is now more prolific than road rage." Dr. Kent Norman, a cognitive psychologist and Director of the Laboratory of Automation Psychology at the University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies says people are becoming increasingly "married" to their computers, and feel betrayed when they break or crash. Dr. Norman suggests there is one sure way to fight computer rage. "Why can't computer companies actually build a computer or an operating system that does not crash? Ever?" Dr. Norman further recommends remaining calm in a computer crisis and stepping away from a computer and taking a break. Perhaps, he reflects, companies should have rage breaks that provide a punching bag to help workers vent their frustrations. Backing up data on a hard disk, taking additional courses on computers, and having emergency contingency plans and secondary computer equipment are further suggestions of help by Dr. Norman. If you should have my same nightmare, perhaps reading this article will help you avoid being sentenced to "compurage" in the first degree and save you from death by computer electrocution!     Berry Phillips is a member of the CCOKC and a regular writer for the CCOKC website and the eMonitor