Slashdot Mirror
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."
Sad, so sad.
Oh, wait.
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
have you SEEN what's on there?
But it is not clear whether the internet causes depression or whether depressed people are drawn to it.
So, what we have here is an article with no actual basis for conclusions. Nothing to see here, move along
Maybe they are confusing cause and effect, if you are depressed, feel lonely, unable to get out of the house. Surely you are more likely to spend your time doing such indoor activies.
In the long run this will also be likely linked to Aspergers Syndrome and other dissociative / personality disorders that we are diagnosing with much greater frequency today in that it reduces peoples interactions with actual human beings (at least vs our 'un-evolved' predecessors) to the point where children are not growing up with a firm grasp of social cues in relation to body language, tone of voice, etc....
Thank Christ I was raised in a time before 4chan....
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
Now I really feel depressed...
It takes a chicken to lay a chicken egg.
So if internet usage is indicative of depression, then it stands to reason that people who are prone to depression (social outcasts for one) would be inordinately engaged in that type of activity. The flow isn't internet leads to depression but rather that depression leads to internet.
All stereotypes have some basis in reality, so if we consider a significant fraction of internet users to be fat, ugly, borderline autistic, Cheetos and Doritos crunching, Mountain Dew swilling, World of Warcraft playing dweebs who used to get beat up in high school, then we can see how an activity that allows relative anonymity and essentially zero repercussions would attract this type of user. In turn, this type of user would tend towards clinical depression due to their social awkwardness and isolation.
Rather meaningless really. Of the 1319 responses to an online questionaire 1.2% (yes, thats a whole 16 people) were deemed to be "addicts". "Many" of those were deemed to be depressed. Whats that a whole 10 people?
Noone ever answers these things less than 100% honestly, do they?
Smells more like they asked their questions, stated the conclusions they were hoping to prove but failed utterly at having the data to back them up.
It will be interesting to see if the study examined sleep patterns of those who use the Internet to a far greater degree than others. Lack of sleep over an extended period of time has been linked to depression in many studies. Thus, the Internet surfing behaviors could be causing the subjects to get less sleep, thereby increasing the likelihood that they experience depression. The validity of the claim will come down to how well the study authors controlled for other variables, the overal validity of their methods, and whether or not other groups can replicate the results.
I use irony whenever I can, but my shirts are still wrinkled...
Didn't RTFA but this is the quick question that comes to mind when I read about all those studies... Also, what happens if you stop depressed people from using the Internet, do they feel better, worse, or the same?
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities." -- Prof. Dumbledore
I would have to ask, did the scientists test the subjects prior to this study to find out how many had symptoms of depression, or have people in their family that have symptoms of depression before they ever show strong internet activity?
In our society, with all of the news that is about threats over our heads and the general push to become wealthy, many people are depressed, or show signs of depression. My suspicion is that heavy users of the internet find freedom and more happiness in their internet activity.
Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
How about: Awareness of the world makes people more depressed.
I'm missing the part where this study has produced anything of value.
"What is clear is that for a small subset of people, excessive use of the internet could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies."
You could just as easily say with just as much truth, "What is clear is that for a small subset of people, excessive *anything* could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies." But of course, that wouldn't produce anywhere near as much alarm and fear of the Internet.
I'm a graphic designer, it is REQUIRED that I sit on the internet 8+ hours a day gathering pdf's, emails, stock photography, free vector files, keeping up with social trends, web design, email design and taking short breaks browsing to 'switch' my mind to the next job. When I get home--by habit gained at the workplace--I check the news... cnn.com, salon.com, washington post and also prone to check facebook. So it is my job requiring me to be online which will eventually make me depressed. Seems that could be a legit argument against your workplace insurance in covering medical bills and could have even further repercussion?
It's kinda hard not to be depressed . . . thank you, Internet.
I scream. You scream. I assume that means we're both acquainted with the problem. We proceed.
Better informed implies more depressed. End of story.
Only his tendency toward a dazed stupor prevented him from screaming aloud.
Heavy Internet usage.
I've wasted my life.
You know, there is a difference between trolling and pointing out the flaws in your reasoning. Just saying.
were they getting depressed because of surfing, or were they escaping to surfing because of depression.
i, for one, know from myself that, at points in my life in which i was severely stressed, depressed or in a waiting period for some event (military service etc), was using computer games heavily as an escape and sedative. that way i was able to relieve some of the stress or depression i had. if you are busy with something, you dont get focused on your depression that much.
i dont think surfing is much different. if those people werent doing that heavy internet usage, they would probably be starting using mild drugs. internet is much better.
Read radical news here
how about: excessive engagement in high stimulating activities such as the Internet, TV and online videogames, that ultimately depletes neurochemicals and at the same time causes a depression when experiencing less stimulating/normal activities? sometimes there really is too much of a good thing.
Slashdot Affective Disorder
Some privacy policy Slashdot.
Cause or effect?
They don't know! Thats what TFA says TWICE! Also why they don't say so in the summary and you need us to get that from the article for you.
Didn't RTFA
Thanks for admitting that though, there are long debates going on above where no one has read the article cept for my little addendum comments like this one.
BTW peoples this article is less than a page long.
I knew someone once who was generally quite depressed every single day (albiet not professionally diagnosed), who lived for WoW, nearly 8-10 hours a day (much more on weekends). No matter what degree of persuasion that I tried to give her, she was convinced that WoW was the answer, not the source. I thought it might be helpful to enjoy real life again for a while, and not count on that dependency.
I also knew someone who played Everquest that, IRL, was clincally diagnosed as depressed and nearly bipolar. I was often told by him that after long bouts of the game, these tendencies would get worse. He would then start to exhibit those behaviors in game, and in the real world.
With gaming, I think it might be possible that people get depressed because they realize its an addiction, and it makes them depressed upon realizing they have a problem. The cycle then begins and continues on and on. Thats why I think these studies really should include more than browsing before coming to a conclusion.
Hi, I didn't bother reading any of the 300+ posts above because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who has come up with the following theory: Could it be that depressed people prefer to surf the internet rather than go out and do social things?
(<-- runs and hides)