PUBLIC OPINION > Constantly Surfing the Web Can Give You Mental Disorders
SodaHead Living
2012/07/19 23:00:00
A recent study conducted at the University of Gothenburg suggests that constantly being online -- that includes being connected through your phone -- can make you develop mental disorders such as stress, sleep disturbances and depression. It sounds plausible, but we wanted to know if the public buys it.
Most people agree that constantly being connected to the Internet can make you develop mental disorders, but it was hardly unanimous. Many were skeptical of how the study was conducted, arguing that "mental illness seems a great stretch." However, it does seem like a logical conclusion. With only personal and second-hand experience to go by, most people believe being online constantly could very well lead the mind to darker places.
Teens Can Tell
If anyone knows the ill effects of being online every second of every day, it's teens. They were practically born online. They're on Facebook, they're on their smart phones, they're taking online classes, they're Googling the name of that guy who starred in "Rudie" and played Samwise in "Lord of the Rings" (it's Sean Astin.) Is it driving them crazy? They submit that it is.
Irrelevant to the Unemployed
Usually, older voters and full-time workers vote similarly. Likewise, younger voters, students and the unemployed vote similarly. But not here. Full-time workers, like teens, are convinced being online constantly can develop mental illness. Our guess is that full-time workers, also like teens, are online constantly for their jobs. It's hard to clock out when work follows you home.
Agnostics Are Going Crazy
Interestingly enough, religion correlated strongly here. As usual, atheist and Christian voters responded differently, with atheists feeling the being online could, in fact, make you develop mental illness. However, atheists didn't have the most extreme response. Rather, agnostics were some of the strongest believers... in Internet illness, that is.
If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about online insanity. We'd love to hear from you!
Most people agree that constantly being connected to the Internet can make you develop mental disorders, but it was hardly unanimous. Many were skeptical of how the study was conducted, arguing that "mental illness seems a great stretch." However, it does seem like a logical conclusion. With only personal and second-hand experience to go by, most people believe being online constantly could very well lead the mind to darker places.
Teens Can Tell
If anyone knows the ill effects of being online every second of every day, it's teens. They were practically born online. They're on Facebook, they're on their smart phones, they're taking online classes, they're Googling the name of that guy who starred in "Rudie" and played Samwise in "Lord of the Rings" (it's Sean Astin.) Is it driving them crazy? They submit that it is.Irrelevant to the Unemployed
Usually, older voters and full-time workers vote similarly. Likewise, younger voters, students and the unemployed vote similarly. But not here. Full-time workers, like teens, are convinced being online constantly can develop mental illness. Our guess is that full-time workers, also like teens, are online constantly for their jobs. It's hard to clock out when work follows you home.Agnostics Are Going Crazy
Interestingly enough, religion correlated strongly here. As usual, atheist and Christian voters responded differently, with atheists feeling the being online could, in fact, make you develop mental illness. However, atheists didn't have the most extreme response. Rather, agnostics were some of the strongest believers... in Internet illness, that is.If you'd like to vote on this question, dig deeper into the demographics, or engage in existing discussion about the topic, visit our poll about online insanity. We'd love to hear from you!
Top Opinion
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Leo Dupuis 2012/11/27 15:47:34
+10I think it depends on what kind of surfing. I find my stress level goes up when I do research and down when watching music videos. And I feel it depends on a persons personality type.
Kids in high school, for one personal example, have found their way to websites such as 4chan which allow them the opportunities to view pictures of the dead, videos of suicides, murders, torture--suffering people [and animals]--and LAUGH. I had a friend get amusement out of watching a video of the lower half of a mutilated corpse of a woman being fornicated, and not in her pelvic region, but in the open wound. He "seemed" normal otherwise...
Disregarding the obviously disturbed people who make and distribute this martial, the people who view these things NEED serious help! It's not gun control we sincerely need to "maintain" these psychos; we need prevention of their formation; we need [early] positive interaction to help then realize the value of life, because where we're at now, the internet is pushing them farther and farther into more corrupt ways. Who's to say they won't lose it tomorrow?
And I don't think I need to mention the causes of pornography in this world; it has already become obvious how that has infected the minds of people, specifically teens. So I guess the web does give us mental disorders. It looks as though the web offers more than what we ask for, yet we still absorb it even though we can't handle it.
I have social anxiety and that is the reason why I am on the computer so much.