The experts used an online questionnaire completed by 1,319 individuals to monitor the levels of internet dependency. In general, there is a higher tendency to be depressed when people used the internet longer. The study was published in the pages of Psychopathology Journal.

There is a small group of individuals which was considered to be addicted and depressed according to the proponents from the University of Leeds. It was not established though if the mental problems were caused by using the internet or if those with mental health issues are drawn to use the internet.

It is still a chicken and egg situation and further study must be done to conclude the claims of the study. There was also a group in the study that was considered as internet addicted or hardcore users of the internet browsing for porn, online communities, and games. These individuals have depressions scores which are five times higher compared to non-addicted users.

This study shows that there are people who use the internet to enjoy the convenience of shopping or paying their bills online but there are also people who use the internet to replace things that they should be doing in the real world.

The study tries to link the speculation that replacing your social function with things you do over the internet may lead to psychological disorders like addiction (internet addiction, but even things like online poker addiction or online gambling addictions!) and depression. Experts have been looking into the dangers of social networking websites and linking them to a series of suicides and shooting incidents in different towns and counties.