A new study came out today that suggests that people who use the Internet a lot share something in common — depression. What the study does not find is whether depression causes people to turn to the Internet for their social interactions, or whether excessive use of the Internet “makes” people more depressed:
Psychologists from Leeds University found what they said was “striking” evidence that some avid net users develop compulsive internet habits in which they replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites.
“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,” the study’s lead author, Catriona Morrison, wrote in the journal Psychopathology.
“This type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health.”
Indeed. When a depressed person turns to the Internet to socialize, I’m not at all surprised that they use it for social interaction in chat rooms and on social networking websites. What else would you expect? People who are depressed don’t want to socialize, but the Internet makes it so much easier to do it. It may make a depressed individual feel more “connected” and help them make it through every day with their depression.
But what the researchers found and didn’t really comment on is just as interesting. If we know that approximately 5% of the population suffers from depression at any given time, most people who are depressed are not mis-using or over-using the Internet. Far less sexier headline, but information one can just as readily conclude from the researchers’ findings.
Limitations of the current study include the usual problems we see in studies like this. First, it was not a randomized, controlled sample — a significant problem with so many “Internet addiction” studies. Instead the researchers posted a questionnaire online and received responses from 1,319 Britons aged between 16 and 51. (It’s not clear how many people saw an announcement for the study and decided not to participate — another sampling problem.) Of those 1,319 people, 18 — yes, that’s eighteen — met the criteria for “Internet addiction” using the Internet Addiction Test. The test itself has only had a single validation study, despite calls for more research to be conducted to verify its validity (“The IAT’s reliability and validity need to be further tested using a larger sample. Once a valid and reliable measure has been devised, more can then be researched about the nature of Internet addiction.”). Despite the fact that this test is still not very robust, researchers continue to use it as though it were a valid and robust psychological measure.
Is this a “darker side” of the Internet, as the news release claims? Well, gee, I guess. But that’s making an assumption about which way the relationship goes — one that data can’t tell us anything about. So when researchers start making subjective comments like that, it raises the suspicion that the scientist isn’t exactly being objective.
It may be that the Internet has an empowering side — one that allows people suffering from clinical depression to reach out and find human social contact. That’s just as valid interpretation of data, but not one the researchers suggested, nor emphasized in their comments about the study. Is the glass half empty, or half full?
So given the study was a correlation survey and could not show any type of causal relationship, how did the mainstream media do with getting the story right? Surprisingly well.
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Ones who got it right:
- Internet Addicts More Prone to Depression (HealthDay)
- Excessive internet use linked to depression, research shows (The Guardian)
- ‘Internet addiction’ linked to depression, says study (BBC)
- Study links excessive Internet use to depression (Reuters)
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Ones who got it wrong:
- Heavy Internet use may cause depression: Study (TheMedGuru)
- Additional foreign (mostly India-based) “news” sites
The study appears in the Feb. 2010 issue of the journal, Psychopathology.
Read the full news article: Study links excessive internet use to depression
12 comments
Many comments say i-net should not “replace” a social life. But if one had no social life to begin with (having presumably tried many times), at least i-net is some degree better than passively watching t.v.
I totally agree that this study hardly shows anything. There might be a be a link compulsive behaviour in general and depression.
If you wanted to show a direct link between use of internet and depression you shouldn’t start be getting your participants on the internet… How is that for bias
Chicken, egg, omlette, Buffalo wings? The story is fairly lame, I’ll give you that.
But, what do I see with increasing frequency in mood disordered patients? Self medicating, figuratively or literally. So, maybe to try to fill the void that depression creates, one turns to the internet, but more often than not, is not appeased or responsibly satisfied.
This medium is an incomplete vessel. And, manned by equally incomplete captains who champion for its alleged place as a legitimate value in society.
Yeah, call me a hypocrite for being on here and commenting. Or, you could view me as a voice of reason and encouraging alternative options for support and healthy engagements.
Moderation, always the key to maximum function and satisfaction. The sparring continues, eh, Dr Grohol?
I always find the question of, does X cause Y or does Y cause X, and based upon personal experience with mental health issues, I always say, “Yes!” Sometimes, internet addiction will obviously cause depression and other mental health issues, while others people who are depressed will develop internet addiction. I think the real question is, “Which one happens more often?” And as always, two bad things working together (internet addiction and depression) can create a vicious downward cycle! For what it’s worth, I think that if you treat one, the other will improve with it.
i agree with your spin on this, DocJohn.
this is really a story about depressed persons reaching out in positive ways that might help them.
there does not seem to be reportage here about the ‘dark side’ of the internet. an example of ‘dark side’ reporting comes from the new york times in previous years where in japan, it was alleged, the internet was used to organize cultic suicide squads.
From what I have seen social people tend to be social on the Internet. Most people that are depressed and ant-social, while having a web presence are not as likely to socialize on the Internet.
I think that the underlying factor being effort vs. gain. Depressed people tend to think that the effort to socialized is not supported by the what can be gained. So it stands to reason that the same would be true in the Virtual World as well.
Depressed people may come to the Internet looking for this connection but will find that nearly the same effort is required online as there is in person.
From the perspective of both a blogger who spend a lot (perhaps too much) time on the Internet, as well as an addictions counselor, I think there is an important element which is being left out of this discussion. The element is what we, in the addiction recovery field, refer to as “a hole in the soul.” The twelve-step philosophy is that the disease of addiction is essentially a spiritual disease. When the spirit is well-nourished and healthy, there is no room for the disease of addiction to enter. Depression and addiction are not the causes of the problem, they are merely symptoms of the spiritual deficiency syndrome of which depression and addiction are symptoms.
Depression is just s symptom of addiction or other way around (now it came up to me). Computer is sucking up our life energy, so spending too much time using it is devastating for our health.
Maria, I agree to disagree with you. Depression in not just symptom of depression. Personally, I struggled with depression from the age of 14 to now at 18 years old. Depression can result from addiction. However, many people living with this mental disease has had bad experiences in life. My own being that my mother overdosed on sleeping pills and would constantly tell me how I ruined her life. Try being a teenager, going to school, playing sports, and trying to act like everything’s okay. That’s what causes depression. I have had no addictions whatsoever, and neither have my personal friends who also suffered from depression. So your theory that depression is just a symptom of addiction is absolutely appalling.
I suffer from depression, why? I dont know, Internet social networking sites and common interest forums, I go on a lot, they help a bit , but then next minute they make it worse. I saw my doctor about the depression 2 years ago when I got angry with my in laws (I never hit anyone, never would), she put me on AD’s these dont help, I’m on my 2nd type and she halos doubled the dose. I also saw a counsillor, he never helped either. I’m 42, married, with no kids and a dog, they help, but I want more in life than just that. Nothing seems to make me happy, apart from my hobbies that dont pay much if I went pro in them but they cost a lot, I seem to moan about everything, I spend money before its even come into my pocket, I have a well paid job, but no savings, I eat a lot, drink a lot. I dont live near my home town anymore, nor does my wife. I dont know what to do next. I just sit at work bored of my current job, nothing else pays more and cant afford to take a pay drop
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