Kevin Courtney'sguide to new terms. This week he gives the low-down on Infomania

Infomania is a debilitating condition caused by the inability to process all the information that comes in from e-mails, texts, the web, TV and other media.

Infomania is rampant, affecting office workers, managers, and basically anybody who has a computer, a mobile phone, a blackberry, or other communication device. The victims are so busy checking inboxes, keeping up with blogs and answering phone calls that they have no time to do their actual work. Even when they're at home or on holiday, they can't help checking their work e-mails. Eventually, their brains buckle under the overload and they become disorientated and unable to engage with the real world.

A couple of years ago, researchers claimed that infomaniacs suffered a drop in IQ twice the amount suffered by marijuana smokers.

The study, by the Institute of Psychiatry in the UK, found that excessive use of technology drained concentration levels, and that the effect of breaking off tasks and meetings to check e-mails and messages was the equivalent of losing a night's sleep.

It's particularly frustrating for partners of infomaniacs. Imagine trying to communicate with someone who keeps fiddling with their mobile phone or blackberry. Holding the attention of a zoned-out infomaniac is tough.

The Police sang about Too Much Informationway back in 1981, but the term "infomania" was coined by Elizabeth M Ferrani in her 1984 book, Confessions of an Infomaniac. In that context, the infomaniac meant a person with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, but these days it describes people who can't get enough of that useless information stuff.

So how do we untether ourselves from the shackles of infomania? Do we turn off our technology and go back to carrier pigeons? Last year, a bunch of techie types held a workshop on the Microsoft campus in California, to look at ways of tackling infomania. Suggestions included putting a "snooze" feature on e-mail programs so they'd stay dormant for particular periods. Other ideas included setting aside a specific time to check e-mails, keeping inboxes empty so you don't keep looking at the same e-mail, and avoiding sending out trivial e-mails that waste other people's time.

"Right, what were we talking about before that e-mail came in? Oh, yes, interruptions."

"Dinner's in the oven, darling - and so is the mobile phone."