Multi-Distracting: Internet Use And Depression
Self portrait in an Internet Cafe.
Whenever I feel down I really should meditate or exercise, but instead I often try to lose my self in the net. This takes a predictable form, multiple windows, reading everything on Metafilter, waiting for some email to CHANGE MY LIFE, obsessively seeking out Internet video. It’s all very unsatisfying, but yet the most superficially satisfying thing to do. Turns out it may not just be me.
The use of P2P sharing–Bittorrent and similar file exchange programs–was a correlative indicator of depression, as was the practice of checking email more often. Another big indicator was exhibiting high amounts of what’s called “flow duration entropy”–otherwise known as multitasking–switching between disparate apps quickly. The study’s authors make no claims that these behaviors cause depression. Rather, P2P downloads and hyper multitasking are just potentially reliable symptoms of it, like the digital version of lethargy and weight gain. Their next step is to develop software to monitor web usage that could alert someone if they were exhibiting depressed behaviors online–maybe even alert a counselor in the process, too. (Diagnosing Depression, By Watching How You Surf The Web)
It’s very interesting, not just that there is a particular Internet usage style associated with depression (or just feeling bummed) but that this pattern could be used therapeutically. I always thought that my computer should simply not let me login unless I meditated in the morning, and then lock me out in the evening until I exercised. One could call this a sort of Gamification Of Life, coding in cues to better living that our ad hoc technological environment doesn’t naturally provide.
There’s a been a lot in the news about the 
India is by now famous for gang-rape and assault emerging from its slums, but it comes from all sides of society, really. Tarun Tejpal is (was) the editor of Tehelka, a powerful muck-raking Indian magazine. He was 
The Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting ended in Sri Lanka last week. Aside from messing up traffic for a few days, it was a big event that didn’t really have a big impact. The strange and by this point predictable thing was that it became, in the international media at least, about the war, war crimes etc. It’s like the only story Sri Lanka can conceivably be associated with is civil war. It also overshadowed whatever CHOGM was supposed to discuss. As far as I can tell from the 
India’s Manomohan Singh and Canada’s Stephen Harper are not attending the CHOGM summit in Sri Lanka. They say because of moral issues, but they act for political reasons – at best a crude approximation of the former. Singh is tired of getting shit from Tamil Nadu and Harper is tired of getting shit from the Tamil diaspora. For both of them disgruntled Tamils are a vote base and they respond to voters. Which is fine, that’s the political side. From that perspective it’s easy to say that these politicians are craven, but that’s missing the point, which is that politics does crudely approximate morality, sometimes, mainly on Thursdays.
Very honest post Indi.
When I feel frustrated, I put down the lid of the laptop and walk around, and grab a book. A book on meditation/ inspiration.
Honestly when frustrated I can’t meditate. Sometimes Maithree bhavana. Yet need to get the mind still before anything.
Lots of issues will be in future if we don’t know when to quit. Depression, anxiety are symtoms and a vicious cycle.
Regards
Isura
Isura – you are so right. I did exactly that yesterday. My work means internet 247….I had had enough, had a glass of chilled white wine by the Bentota river at sunset and then walked home with a smile on my face, had a take-out pizza and read my trashy novel. This morning I felt fine.
Ankie – of course. Different persons have different rhythms and mixes. Need to balance the down as well as the up.
Great to connect and share.
Thanks
Isura
super stuff
Bummer! I’m depressed!
I think I’ve been going through this too. :/
We all go through this…..
[...] train station, long exposure. I wrote previously about Internet use and depression, how we tend to multi-distract and overstimulate when feeling bummed. This is an effect which Dr. [...]