A recent report shows that the information posted by friends often tends to reveal a large amount of psychological information.
Introduction: Friends frequently post negative comments on Facebook, and in fact, they may already be showing early signs of depression. On Friday, a foreign media outlet published a review introducing how Facebook can help the public and psychology professionals conduct early assessments and assistance for those suffering from depression.
The following is the full text of the review:
If a friend recently keeps posting disheartened statuses, emotional pictures, or concerning links on Facebook, we might mistakenly think they are just seeking attention, and sometimes we even hide their update notifications due to annoyance. However, according to recent media reports, these unusual actions often genuinely display signs of depression.
For most people, including teenagers and middle-aged to elderly individuals, social networking sites are their only outlet for venting emotions. A study conducted last year by the University of Washington showed that among 200 surveyed students, 30% felt "worthless or extremely desperate, experienced insomnia or excessive sleep, and had difficulty concentrating." These symptoms align with the American Psychiatric Association's definition of depression symptoms. The internet provides an invisible barrier that allows them to express things they usually hide in real life. Generally, only 10% of these depressed individuals seek counseling from psychologists to help resolve their psychological issues.
Dr. Megan A. Moreno, an assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and chief researcher of the Facebook study project, pointed out: "We can identify risk signs through the posts made by teenagers and adults on Facebook, which will help them later undergo clinical screening and psychological guidance."
However, using Facebook to identify signs of depression also raises ethical and privacy concerns, as posts are visible only to people on the user's friend list. In most cases, these friends are not psychological experts.
Dr. Moreno mentioned: "Do you think it's practical to hire someone in a university clinic whose job is just to look at Facebook all day? It’s impractical and would feel strange."
At Cornell University, dormitory advisors are encouraged to add students living in their dormitories as Facebook friends to help the university track the mental health and overall conditions of the students. Dormitory advisors also meet regularly with student counselors and police weekly to discuss student situations and potential depressive symptoms presented by the students. These meetings help dormitory advisors differentiate between false alarms and actual risks, while focusing more on students who should seek counselor assistance.
Although children generally don't want to add their parents as friends on Facebook because they find it embarrassing, parents should still remain vigilant about their children's online activities to see if there are any signs of anxiety, bullying, or other abnormal behaviors. Dr. Moreno suggests that if parents discover unexpected information—whether in real life or online—they should stay calm and intervene early rather than overreact. After all, people post information on Facebook hoping to receive responses and comments from others.
In 2007, Facebook collaborated with the U.S. non-profit organization National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Users can report posts with "suicidal" tendencies, and once the link in the post is confirmed to be risky, both the reporter and the original poster will receive a link to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website along with online psychological counseling information. (Lin Jing)
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