The High-Tech Blues
By Maggie Overfelt

(FORTUNE Small Business) – If you haven't stopped to hug a colleague today, maybe you didn't realize what was at stake. That simple act, combined with shutting off all of your electronic implements, could spare you the dreaded diagnosis of New Economy Depression Syndrome, or NEDS, a term coined by Tim Sanders, a 42-year-old Yahoo executive. In July, Sanders conducted a study of 1,500 workers in tandem with research firm HeartMath and found that constant access to e-mail, cellphones, and the web can cause more than blurry eyes. "The isolation that technology produces can be devastating to a worker's psyche," he says. The symptoms of NEDS sound like those of the old-economy blahs--fatigue, irritability--but Sanders says there's no need to consult a doctor. He recommends testing yourself at GotNeds.com. Just please, don't spend any more time on the site than you need to. -- MAGGIE OVERFELT