Dealing with computers crashing and trying to fix technology causes more stress than giving up sex for a month or quitting smoking, according to research.
Digital technology and the web have become so vital to Brits that when it fails it can cause more stress than giving up sex, smoking or even dumping someone, a study has found.
According to the research conducted by Virgin, trying to fix children's technology is more stressful than getting them to brush their teeth and 57 per cent of us think that being on hold with customer services is worse than being in traffic.
And 78 per cent of those questioned admitted they have shouted at technology devices in frustration.
The survey found that one in five would give up sex before their iPod and one in three love their mobile phones more than relatives.
It also discovered though that 46 per cent of Brits are still afraid to try new technology.
The survey was run as part of Virgin's campaign to launch its Digital Help campaign which aims to help British consumers solve their technology problems using a mixture of downloadable tools, online and phone support and home visits.
The Desktop Digital Helper will include a free toolkit, packed with software to fix and tune up computers and AVG Anti-Virus Free edition 9.0.
And for £2.99 a month, consumers can turn on the full set of automated fixes and get access to 70,000 self-help solutions and over 1000 video tutorials.
Earlier this month a TalkTalk study found that 70 per cent of people suffer from web rage due to slow loading times and in the run up to Christmas consumers see sites slowing even more because of the volume of traffic.
However, a study in the summer found that web rage is actually good for relieving stress.
Topic: PC crashes more stressful than quitting smoking (Read 574 times)