Depression

I would somewhat have to disagree with those findings.

Chat rooms where people gather for a few hours in the evening to chat with others about what is on thier minds,discuss personal problems that they feel they can't discuss with family or friends or who suffer illnesses and are looking for someone who can relate is actually a good thing and can be helpfull.

This article actually states that chat rooms may help people who suffer from depression and other mood disorders.
Can Depression Chat Rooms Help You?
By Flor Serquina



If you are a technology-savvy person, you will benefit greatly from depression chat rooms that serve as a haven for people who are seeking for a group to understand their feelings and emotions, and join them as they walk through a difficult phase in their lives.

The people who started these chat rooms intend to help others who are suffering from anxiety, depression and other types of mood disorders. They provide information materials, stories and news that can widen a person's perspective and help him achieve and develop a healthy mindset.


People who are get into depression are usually those who are always quiet and do not have a healthy and open conversation with other people. Having constant conversation with others is one way to avoid depression. Talking it out and spilling what is on your mind is like liberating yourself from thoughts and situation that can trigger the onset of this unhealthy condition.

It is also good to collect people's point of view about certain situations, events and circumstances, especially those that weigh heavily on your mind. Knowing what other people think about it can help you feel better about it.

You can post messages in depression chat rooms directed to people who want advice on how to attack their anxiety or depression. If you have any advice to give via these messages, you can help ease the pain, sadness and hopelessness of another member

http://ezinearticles.com/?Can-Depressio ... &id=839544

I understand the article deals with general chat room use and how it may affect people but there is also a positive side to using chat rooms especially for mental illness sufferes.

andy wrote:Perhaps it is time to log off?

This article is from 1998.

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9808/30/cyberstudy/

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Internet users who spend even a few hours a week online at home experience higher levels of depression and loneliness than if they had used the computer network less frequently, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The result of the two-year study by Carnegie Mellon University on the social and psychological effects of Internet use at home surprised both researchers and sponsors, which included Intel Corp., Hewlett Packard, AT&T Research and Apple Computer.

"We were shocked by the findings, because they are counterintuitive to what we know about how socially the Internet is being used," Robert Kraut, a social psychology professor at Carnegie Mellon's Human Computer Interaction Institute, told the newspaper.

"We are not talking here about the extremes. These were normal adults and their families, and on average, for those who used the Internet most, things got worse," he said.

Even though participants in the study used inherently social features such as e-mail and chat rooms, they observed a decline in interaction with family members and a reduction in their circles of friends that directly corresponded to the amount of time they spent online, the Times reported.

The new study, title "HomeNet," suggests that the interactive medium may be no more socially healthy than older forms of mass media, and questions the nature of "virtual" communication and the disembodied relationship that are often formed in the vacuum of cyberspace, according to the newspaper.

"Our hypothesis is there are more cases where you're building shallow relationships, leading to an overall decline in feeling of connection to other people," Kraut was quoted as saying.

Of interest:
Internet Addicts and Psychological Problems

i agree andy with this,hard 2 believe but once i was a very extroverted person had a wide circle of mates then one day a friend introduced me 2 the internet and chatrooms and msn,said that talkin on msn would be cheaper then text messages ,what a mistake it was,i was one of these ppl that said u never catch me on a computer,well i agreed 2 get a computer and talk 2 her via msn ,after a few days talkin in msn she introduced me 2 yahoo chatrooms,before i knew it,i became addicted 2 them goin in all the time,i stopped goin out with friends and even stopped communicatin with my family,that was 7 years ago and still am on a computer,i have 4 friends now compared to 40 odd i had when i was 16.i have gone shy and very introverted,at one time i used 2 be able 2 talk 2 anyone face 2 face now i cant

Depression and Computer Use:
Does the Internet Make You Depressed?

I do agree with alot of whats said in the article to bad they didnt use it.
Yeah sure the internet is great for forming communities online and making great friends who aren't
interested in how much money you have, where you work, or even being judged on what you look
like or what your wearing. The internet is also a great resource engine, you can find almost any answer to any
problem on the net but you also find alot of other things on the net, things that can make you depressed
if you really stopped and thought about it. I was not a big computer user, didn'trealy know what "surfing the net meant" I joined one
chat room about two years ago for mental illness purposes, wanted to find a community of people who would understand
what I suffered and I did.
I stuck to that one room and found my first online friends and they were all great. As with everything in life, things change,
I went on to start my own chat room for sufferes and started to learn a little more each day about the computer and actually
enjoyed how informative it was and I learned many things. well its been 2 years of being on the net and I do have to say besides
all the great things that it does offer, it also has a bad and dark side, a place where in the real world for the most part
these type of things would not be so easily available or so prevelent and are kept quiet somewhat.

Yes I agree with the article that the internet is great for meeting friends,talking,and yes even arguing, and yes possibly even forming
relationships not governed by money and thats all great because it is so hard to find that in the materalistic we live in.
One thing the internet gives all of us with no doubt is the ability to remain anonimus, with this comes trouble, we are well aware of
the pedophiles who lurk on facebook and myspace pretending to be anything but who they really are, yes they are out there in the
real world also but can not pretend as they do on the net, the sex rooms that are all over the net from straight people hooking up
to gays, bisexuals, swingers, couples, married people can now join services online that hook them up with other married people who
are just looking for a good time, yes this does occur in the real world but not so easily accesiable i'm sure unless most people walk
with a webcam in thier pocket and have easy internet access at all times.What a great invention the webcam, its great if you have
a relative or friend that lives far away, its a great way to see one another and share special moments unfortunatly it has become
a dangourous little gadget that can become an obsession for many and can destroy lives.

Along with the internet and the webcam people have fallen prey to a whole different world on the net, women who choose to
degrade themselves to total strangers on cam for a moment of maybe forbidden pleasure or just for a little bit of fun with whoever is on
the other end most probably taking screen shots which could end up all over the net within minutes but i guess people don't
think about that or the young boy or girl how is at the age of curiosity and ends up on some triple x porn site and visits frequently
there after is left with the impression that thats how women or men like to be treated, in real life you have to be 18 to get into a bar
or a strip joint, on the net there is no age requirement.

I agree that society in the real world is not great but there are limits and laws in real life. the internet has no boundaries. no age limits
and does not offer a background check on anyone. It does give all of the us the ability to be whoever we want real or not
to do things that we otherwise would think twice about if it was in the real world and it takes away a little of who we really
are at times and thats depressing.

Yes I have gone a little off topic regarding the article but I just needed to clear my thoughts this morning.