Internet addiction 'linked to depression'

LONDON: In today's world, the Internet plays an irreversible role and often stands as a testament as to just how fast the world moves now. But, browsing has a dark side -- it's addiction can cause depression, says a new study.

Researchers in Britain have carried out the study and found a strong link between heavy Internet use and depression -- in fact, the longer people spend surfing websites, the more unhappy they are.

According to them, those worst affected are both depressed and addicted, possibly because they are substituting the net for normal social activities.

Lead researcher Catriona Morrison of Leeds University was quoted by leading British newspaper the 'Daily Mail' as saying, "The Internet now plays a huge part in modern life but its benefits are accompanied by a darker side.

"While many use the Internet to pay bills, shop and send e-mails, 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."

The researchers have based their conclusions on 1,319 responses to an online questionnaire.

They questioned the subjects aged from 16 to 51 to assess levels of Internet dependency and depression and found that the longer people spent online the more depressed they tended to be.