Does excessive internet usage cause depression? Or do depressed people tend to flock to the web? This has long been a chicken-or-the-egg debate among those who have anecdotally seen lonely and dejected people create new lives for themselves online (think Second Life), but the first major study into the issue has revealed that there is some correlation. "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?" said Dr. Catriona Morrison, the lead author of the University of Leeds study. "What is clear, is that for a small subset of people, excessive use of the internet could be a warning signal for depressive tendencies." As we know, depression-regardless of cause-affects worker productivity, which has led some to speculate that companies should enhance their employee-outreach efforts and perhaps provide better social outlets for those who have otherwise embraced the digital world over interpersonal connections. "While many of us use the internet to pay bills, shop and send emails, 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."
Web of Sadness
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