Psychologists link heavy Internet use with depression

With so many households having broadband many people are spending more and more time surfing the Internet, but some psychologists believe that this could be linked to depression.

Many households now have access to broadband, and whilst this can provide many different benefits such as improved education tools and money saving opportunities it has also led to many people spending large amounts of time glued to their computers and surfing the Internet rather than living life in the real world.

Psychologists in the UK have now said that there could be a link between heavy Internet usage and depression, although there is still some uncertainty over whether heavy Internet usage is meant to cause depression or whether depression drives people to spend more time online rather than interacting with other people.

The lead author of the recent report on the topic, Dr Morrison, stated: “The internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side. While many of us use the internet to pay bills, shop and send e-mails, 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.”

Morrison added: “Our research indicates that excessive internet use is associated with depression, but what we don’t know is which comes first – are depressed people drawn to the internet or does the internet cause depression? Now we need to investigate the nature of that relationship and consider the issue of causation.” An official from the Institute of Psychiatry suggested that it was depression that caused heavy Internet use rather than vice versa, stating: “There are genuinely people who are depressed or anxious who use the internet to the exclusion of the rest of their lives, but there are similar people who watch too much TV, bury themselves in books or go shopping to excess. There is no good evidence that the problem is the internet itself.”

Source – BBC