Too Much Googling Causes Depression?

Wednesday, February 3, 2010 - 12:35 in Psychology & Sociology

Psychologists at the University of Leeds say people who spend a lot of time browsing the internet are more likely to show depressive symptoms. In a study to be published in the journal Psychopathology next week, researchers documented evidence that some users have developed a compulsive internet habit, whereby they replace real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. The results suggest that this type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health.  The internet use and depression levels of 1,319 people aged 16-51 were evaluated for the study. Of these, 1.2% were classed as being internet addicted. While small, this figure is larger than the incidence of gambling in the UK, which stands at 0.6%. read more

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