A survey shows that people who use the Internet too much may have mental health problems. People who are addicted to the Internet have problems if they cannot get online regularly. The survey from McMaster University in Canada looked at the Internet habits of 254 students. It also looked at the students' mental health. The researchers said 107 students were addicted or had problems because of their Internet use. These included depression and anxiety. A professor said we know little about the dangers of Internet addiction and need to do more research.
Researcher Michael Van Ameringen explained what problems he found with students. He said: "We found that [students addicted to the Internet] had significantly more trouble dealing with their day-to-day activities, including life at home, at work or school." He added: "[People] with Internet addiction also had significantly higher amounts of depression and anxiety symptoms, problems with planning and [problems with] time management." We need to find out how big a problem Internet addiction is. We also need to find out if mental health problems cause Internet addiction.
