Net overload

TEENAGERS who use the internet for very long periods are more likely to develop depression than those who do not, research suggests.

A study in the journal Archives of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine said that, since the mid-1990s, uncontrolled or unreasonable use of the internet had been seen as a problem, with symptoms similar to those of other addictions.

Researchers from Australia and China studied internet use and later mental health problems in more than 1,000 Chinese teenagers.

After nine months, 8 per cent of the teenagers had developed depression. But the risk of depression was two-and-a-half times higher in those recording heavy internet use than the others.