Great! This Internet Thing Linked to Depression
The results of a study done at Leeds University in the U.K. find that people who are addicted to the Internet show greater signs of depression. The study was written up by the researchers in the journal of Psychopathology. The data for the findings was gathered from a “questionnaire-based study of 1,319 young people and adults,” which was “compiled from respondents to links placed on UK-based social networking sites,” the Guardian U.K. reports. They also completed the Beck Depression Inventory, a 21-question-long test designed to gauge the severity of an individual’s depression. From the results, researchers concluded that “excessive Internet use is associated with depression,” said the article’s lead author, Dr Catriona Morrison. “But what we don’t know is which comes first – are depressed people drawn to the Internet or does the Internet cause depression? What is clear is that, for a small subset of people, excessive use of the Internet could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies.”
So, as we all become more and more of a screen- and Internet-focused culture, a study finds that this sort of thing is linked to depression? And, to find these results, we have to ask people to complete a questionnaire where? Oh, over the Internet on social networking sites. Great.
via Excessive Internet Use Linked to Depression.
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OH my, shouldn’t this have been filed under Research that Deserves Duh? Anyone that has an addiction is depressed. The crack addict is depressed when they can’t have their crack. The cigarette addict is depressed when they run out, or start coughing so bad they pass out.
We have to use the internet for work, does that mean we are addicted to it? No. I make a point, even disabled, to get outside everyday, no matter what the weather is like, and I spend great amounts of time on the internet.
If I am away from the internet for a long period of time, say eight days, I begin to miss it, but within another day I have forgotten it and moved on. Why was this research needed?