Heavy Internet Use Linked To Depression

An anonymous reader writes "People who spend a lot of time surfing the internet are more likely to show signs of depression, British scientists said on Wednesday. These 'internet addicts' spent proportionately more time browsing sexually gratifying websites, online gaming sites and online communities, Morrison said. They also had a higher incidence of moderate to severe depression than normal users."

Comments

Re:The next line states...

[Geoffrey.landis]

But it is not clear whether the internet causes depression or whether depressed people are drawn to it.

Exactly. And an earlier study showed a correlation between television watching and depression. Worth repeating: correlation is not always causation.

In this case, I could easily see the correlation as: depressed people are too depressed to do anything requiring activity, so they tend to sit around and watch television or surf the web.