Internet Addiction Spins Web of Depression

People Who Use the Internet Excessively May Be More Likely to Suffer Depression, Study Finds
By Bill Hendrick
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Feb. 4, 2010 -- Internet users who are compulsive about going online and have more social interactions in virtual worlds than the real one may be depressed, according to a new study.

Some Internet users retreat from real-life interaction and opt for chat rooms and social networking sites, and this can have an adverse effect on mental health, researchers say in the Feb. 10 issue of Psychopathology.

“This type of addictive surfing can have a serious impact on mental health,” lead author Catriona Morrison, DPhil, of the University of Leeds, says in a news release. “The Internet now plays a huge part in modern life, but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side.”

She tells WebMD in an email that the Internet provides a “refuge for certain types of people” and that “Internet addiction seems to be a bona fide syndrome.”

(More here.)