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Subscribe to RSSWhat if your smartphone were to tell you, “I think you need to see a mental health professional?”
It may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but researchers now say that someday soon our laptops -- and our phones -- might be able to diagnose depression based simply on how we surf the net.
As it turns out, depressed people use the internet differently than others, spending more time chatting online and file-sharing, for example, according to a new study published
The study, which followed 216 college students, monitored actual Internet use and correlated certain patterns with higher scores on depression surveys.
Earlier research looking at the link between Internet use and depression depended on people’s memories of what they did and when, said study co-author Sriram Chellappan, an assistant professor of computer science at Missouri University of Science and Technology.
While that approach has yielded some interesting and important results, it isn’t as precise as one might like.
“If you were asked how many times you looked at your email last month, it would be impossible to give an accurate answer,” Chellappan said.
For the new study, Chellappan and his colleagues asked volunteers to fill out surveys that contained several questions designed to ferret out depression symptoms. The questions were asked in such a way that students wouldn’t realize that the researchers were interested in depression levels, Chellappan said.
Then, the researchers scrutinized study volunteers’ Internet use by monitoring what they did each time they logged on to the university server.
Chellappan is quick to point out that the surveys and internet monitoring were all done anonymously. Each volunteer was given a pseudonym at the beginning of the study and from that point on, they were only identified by their fictitious names.
Chellappan sees the new findings as possibly leading to an early warning system, an alarm that might tell us that we’re becoming depressed.
While other studies have correlated higher internet use with depression, often suggesting that too much time on the computer might actually lead to mental health issues, Chellappan sees these internet use patterns as a symptom.
In fact, he’d like to expand his research to look for associations between internet use and a host of mental health problems.
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Without an actual diagnosis from a professional how would you know? College kids can be rather emo.
Some college kids are more emo than others. I think this says that the more emo ones tend to be the ones also on the internet more, or perhaps those spending more time on facebook, e-mail, other interactions with people vs. reading news sites or researching for class. I think it's a very valid finding that will be helpful in the future.
Oh great, we have not one, but TWO people who have bought into the stereotype that all emo kids are depressed, self mutilating cutters. Wonderful.
I'll only say this once. Emo does NOT necessarily mean depressed, that is an UNFAIR JUDGEMENT AND STEREOTYPE. And it makes me sick.
And this is coming from a person who is not emo, but has emo friends.
What the article is really saying is that previously, studies of internet usage and mood used people's "memories" of what they did. These memories are famously inaccurate, especially in disorders like depression where memory is not always fully functional and time sense is distorted. By tracking the ACTUAL usage instead of memories of usage, then the data can be correlated with paper/interview data on depression that is well-studies. Such correlations allow a way to screen for, say, depression by observing changing patterns of usage.
I think of emo as more of a style or faze. Ppl who truly self injure usually try to hide the scars as they are not proud of them. it is their coping mechanism. My 2 sons both did this, altho one much more than the other. It does mean that these ppl are hurting in some way and don't know how else to deal with it. It is very sad.
I'll tell a bit of my story. I went through a period of depression while in college in the early 80s. I got through it without really understanding what it was all about. I thought it was part growing pains, being away from home and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life.
Fast forward to the mid 90s, married with one kid and another on the way. The depression came back. I sought help since it wasn't just about me anymore. Therapy and meds worked and I've been great for years.
What I found out was that the only people that can really understand what you are going through are other people with depression. The internet allows people with depression to connect and support each other. There are support newsgroups on the internet. For those that don't know anything about Usenet it is simple and not flashy. No avatars, no profiles, etc like what you see on forums on websites. I know that having that support out on the internet made a real difference for me.
I agree with this. I am also a bereaved parent and much as I love my neighbors, the only ppl who really understand what it feels like are other bereaved parents and I find my support on the internet, through support groups etc... Sometimes I feel I am crazy but then I find others who understand and it helps.
I think that, as the article alluded, there is a good chance that chatting too much online can lead to depression.
It's probably a mix of the chatting -> depression and depression -> chatting.
I was thinking the same thing, but economykiller does have a point. It's hard going through depression alone; having access to chat sites where people like you can help support as you help support them is a positive point. I think you should go out and enjoy life as much as you can without leaving a butt groove in your chair but having that support readily accessible can make the difference.
@Shamwoah & Lyrica,
Neiother of you is correct. There was no such allusion at all. The article talked about a correlation between observed behavior on computers and pen and paper/interview measures of the same people using standard non-computer measures. We have known for 3500 years that "correlation does not equal causation." There was absolytely nothing in the paper or the article to suggest that computer activity in any way causes depression. Period.
In support of Chris:
Meaning not cause.
also if you are alone, lack family or friends close by, don't have enough work...more likely to be depressed and also, more likely to have time for internet chatting!
when my life is busy and full I'm online much less.
Absolutely. Chatting does help. The article doesnt suggest that one thing leads/causes another thing. It just shows that there is a correlation between chatting usage and depression symptoms. Whether or not one thing causes another is a whole different ball game.
No, no, no. It talks about a correlation between different types of computer usage and other (pen and paper/interview) measures of depression. Nothing more. This could possible allow you to screen for depression by looking at types of computer usage over time.
What doesn't cause depression nowadays? Also, I'd like to know what psychiatrist, psychologist or therapist is using their agenda to push these kinds of "studies".
I've said it numerous times, and I'll say it again: Psychiatry has run amock.
All these little "studies" don't prove anything, and here's my proof that the mental health industry is just tyring to convince more Americans that they're mentally ill:
1. THIS ARTICLE, this so called "study".
2. TODAY Moms: Stay at home moms more depressed then working moms, study finds.
Two articles in ONE day that are trying to say that certain groups of people are depressed, convince them, and label them....I think all these "studies" that say people are more depressed than others are just tools used to get people to start taking the newest drugs in the pharmeceutical pipelines.
I wouldn't be surprised if Big Pharma and the mental health industry are the ones who fund these little "studies".
@isis,
IMHO it is you who has "run amok." This article did nothing more than hit the highlights of a study that looked at whether you could screen for depression by looking at how people used their time on computers. The data on time use was compared (correlated) with standard measures of depression that have been long established as diagnostic tools. They monitored over 200 college students and then gave them diagnostioc tests/interviews to establish which were scoring where on measures of depression. That's it. They are just looking for cheaper and better ways to screen for a debilitating illness.
Virtually all these types of studies are funded by the National Institutes of Health (aka the Taxpayer.) The proposals are subjected to incrediuble scrutiny BEFORE a dime is spent and funding for such reaseach is plummeting dramatically with only a tiny fraction of grant applications being funded.
The drug companies probably hate this sort of study. If you can catch depression efficiently, you can rely more on the cheapest and simplest therapies. The idea is to find groups of people that tend more to depression or ways in which to develop screens that are not intrusive and are more accurate.
BTW. My wife is a center director and PhD research psychologist and tenured full professor in a tier 1 research university. She is one of the leading researchers in depression in the world, taking over 40 years to get where she is. Your accusations about "Big Pharma and the mental health industry" are so far off base that they are simply stupid. Your ill-informed speculation is really poorly thought out. Go back and read the article.
Idk, what with all of the NUMEROUS articles you see nowadays about "mental health studies" this sounds like just another ploy to screen and label people THAT MUCH MORE QUICKLY.
Explain to me again how being able to screen and diagnose more quickly is a bad thing.
@isis-2 - I am not going to disagree with you that "depression" is being thrown at everything these days, but I am not going to agree with your point. I am 53 years old. I have 40 years of a train wreck life, failed marrage and relationships, kids that will not speak to me, lost jobs, lost home, financial mess that I am still paying off, you name it (and a lot more than I am going to admit pubically) I have been on anti depressants now for 15 years and doing the best of my life. Yes I still have problems, yes I still have regrets and yes I still screw up my life, and yes I am still sad more days than not. No it isn't perfect but I am alive today, thanks in PART to them, not all to them. If you don't understand the chemical imbalance that is Clinical Depression, kindly refrain from such global comments.
I'm not saying that being diagnosed quickly is a bad thing. I'm not saying that some people don't need antidepressants....some people do, but NOT NEARLY as many as we've been brainwashed to believe. The QUANTITY of it what's bad.
Also, don't tell me to "refrain from such global comments." I have a right to post an opinion just as you do, so no, I will not refrain.
If you don't understand how opinions work on the Vine, kindly refrain from telling me what to do.
@hamjam: Explain to me again how being able to screen and diagnose more quickly is a bad thing. You never read about the TeenScreen scandal, did you? Well, they not only screened a bunch of high schoolers, but they labeled them with all KINDS of "new disoders", as WELL AS DEPRESSION. One girl's parents filed a lawsuit with the school, because they wanted to medicate her teen daughter, and she spoke out. Go look it up on YouTube.
Go do research on TeenScreen, and the scandal they were in, adn then tell me to "explain why screening and dianosing more quickly is a bad thing."
FACT: There has been MASS overdiagnosing and MASS DRUGGING OF AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY toddlers, children, teens, and young adults...and a lot of these drugs are NOT approved for ANY of those age groups because of how badly it @!$%#s up their brains and bodies, and it needs to be put in check, before we're all zombified.
@isis-2: The article only shows that it may be possible to enable self diagnosis in the future. There are studies which show that 2/3rds of depressed people dont seek treatment simply because they do not realize the symptoms until the damage is done. With a self diagnosis tool, that situation can change. If the reporting is private and personalized, it is still up to the individual to decide whether or not he wants to take action. Its not that anyone is going to force drugs on them.
Obviously, depressed people are more likely to go on-line seeking distraction from their own real problems. I mean, DUHH!
Browsing patterns like that could mean anything. Surely the time and energy spent on this study would have been more usefully put to finding better ways to overcome depression. There are a lot more obvious ways to tell if someone is depressed.
To be honest with you: I'd rather chat online than deal with the outside world..I have even flown to meet people I have chatted with across the globe...
File sharing? I've downloaded a ton of movies and music...
Depressed? Hardly...Psychiatry is a crock of **** , in my ever so humble opinion. No one knows the infintessimal brain waves and synapsual response of brain activity. Its impossible to track and monitor.
The next new drug: Prozac for Internet use!!!!
It's called reaching out. It's called Facebook, social networking, etc. Depressed people usually do not have adequate social connections and the internet is a catalyst for finding them. What this should really be about is the deterioration of American community, and our ever growing isolation that CAN lead to depression.
Or is it the other way around? Does trying to chat on-line and getting a lot of negativity for your effort get depressing? Hmmm.
Being systematically ignored on Newsvine can be depressing. Until you have about 50,000 friends.
Chris- Thank you.
Junk Science. When you are depressed you lose interest in everything. Your big sin is that you are spending time doing something alone. You might be a loner, Heaven Forbid. We are supposed to be in the herd , cheek to jowl 24/7 to be deemed mentally healthy.
Go on line and you might be exposed to original thought. What's worse, you may have one. That is forbidden.