(Photo taken from: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/excessive-internet-usage-linked-teen-depression-study-article-1.200551)
Many times it is hard to answer what comes first, depression or addiction to internet use. Either way addictive behaviors exemplify similar symptoms of depression as well, and all can be monitored in order to know if one should seek out help.
Symptoms of Internet Addiction as well as Depression:
- withdrawn social behavior and interactions
- insomnia
- restlessness
- decreased appetite
- decrease satisfaction with life
- low self esteem
Internet Use Correlated with Depression:
- increased email usage
- increased amounts of downloading and file sharing
- frequent internet multitasking
- increased amounts of video watching, gaming and internet chatting
*note: All of the above mentioned internet usages may not necessarily signal depression in the individual, but are things founds in studies of internet use and depressive behaviors. These usages should only be monitored if there are pre-existing concerns of internet behavior problems or depression. They should be used not verbatim but as precautionary signs.
This information was gathered from:
An article from the South China Morning Post titled "Linking of Internet Addiction and Decreased Well Being", which details studies on youth in China and the United States which related states of well being with increased and addictive internet use.
This is a NYTimes Opinion piece by Sriram Chellappan, an assistant professor of computer science at Missouri University of Science and Technology and by Raghavendra Kotikalapudi a software development engineer, which examines a study done in February 2012 at Missouri University of Science and Technology which analyzed the ways in which depressive people used the internet.
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