Excess Internet Use Linked With Depression

Psychologists have found evidence of a strong link between time spent surfing the web and depression.





Addicts tended to have an average age of 21



The longer people spend on the internet, the less likely they are to be happy, according to researchers.

An online questionnaire was used to assess levels of internet
dependency and depression in 1,319 individuals ranging in age from 16
to 51.

In general, the longer people spent online the more depressed they
tended to be, the scientists found in a study published in
Psychopathology journal.

A small group of the worst-affected individuals were both depressed
and addicted, a study by the Institute of Psychological Sciences at the
University of Leeds found.



But it is not clear whether using the internet causes mental health
problems, or whether people with mental health problems are drawn to
the internet.

More work is needed to answer this "chicken and egg" question, study leader Catriona Morrison said.

"There was a high correspondence between the amount of time spent on the internet and levels of depression," said Dr Morrison.

"If you look at how dependent people feel they are on the internet
that is likely to correspond with how happy or sad they feel."

Her team identified a small group of 18 hardcore internet users who
spent many hours online each day and were classed as "internet
addicted".

Their average depression score was more than five times higher than
that of non-addicted users, and they were more likely to be moderately
or severely depressed.

The addicts spent proportionately more time browsing porn sites, gaming sites and online communities.

They also tended to be young, having an average age of 21



"While many of us use the internet to pay bills, shop and send
emails, there is a small subset of the population who find it hard to
control how much time they spend online, to the point where it
interferes with their daily activities," said Dr Morrison.

"This study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in
websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked
to psychological disorders like depression and addiction.

"We now need to consider the wider societal implications of this
relationship and establish clearly the effects of excessive internet
use on mental health."

Incidents such as the spate of suicides among teenagers in the Welsh town of Bridgendin 2008 have led to questions about the psychological dangers of social networking sites.

Some experts are worried about their potential for fuelling depressive thoughts in vulnerable teenagers

Must be why I'm such a happy person

Utter Bollocks!!!

How can something that shows you naked ladies, videos of people doing stupid stuff and hands you access to an abundance of free films depress anyone....... unless they are running Vista i guess LOL!

thats how i feel on a morning


but after watching some one face plant the deck or smash there new Ferrari every things great with the world so i agree its utter bollocks

I'm more surprised that this is surprising (if that makes sense)... the internet and escapism go hand in hand; that's what it's there for.

Me, I'm 50/50.....................

Some days it bores me ridged and I feel like banging my head in the screen and other days it's good for a giggle.

For 10 minutes maybe?

I'd never even been on the interney till I was about 23 ... hasn't done me any harm

That's it now, we can't drink we can't smoke, we cant eat take-aways, we can't go play in the park or climb trees, we can't share, and now we can't surf. No wonder we're bloody depressed.

If they add fartings banned, then I'm going to become ruddy suicidal.

Makes me wonder when the government and bigwigs became my parents. When's the curfew coming in?

That's right dear, you fart all you want!!!

.......you are still down wind of us right?

Next it will be what time is appropriate to go to bed and a clocking in card for brushing our teeth!