Facebook can make you mentally ill: Study

Facebook and other social networking
sites may affect your mental health by
causing psychotic episodes and
delusions, researchers warn.
As Internet access becomes
increasingly widespread, so do related
psychopathologies such as Internet
addiction and delusions related to the
technology and to virtual
relationships, according to the study.
Computer communications such as
Facebook and chat groups are an
important part of this story, said Dr Uri
Nitzan of Tel Aviv University's
Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the
Shalvata Mental Health Care Center.
According to Nitzan, patients shared
some crucial characteristics,
including loneliness or vulnerability
due to the loss of or separation from a
loved one, relative inexperience with
technology, and no prior history of
psychosis or substance abuse.
In each case, a connection was found
between the gradual development and
exacerbation of psychotic symptoms,
including delusions, anxiety,
confusion, and intensified use of
computer communications.
The good news is that all of the
patients, who willingly sought out
treatment on their own, were able to
make a full recovery with proper
treatment and care, Nitzan said.
While technologies such as Facebook
have numerous advantages, some
patients are harmed by these social
networking sites, which can attract
those who are lonely or vulnerable in
their day-to-day lives or act as a
platform for cyber-bullying and other
predatory behaviour, he said.
All three of Nitzan's patients sought
refuge from a lonely situation and
found solace in intense virtual
relationships.
Although these relationships were
positive at first, they eventually led to
feelings of hurt, betrayal, and invasion
of privacy, said Nitzan.
"All of the patients developed
psychotic symptoms related to the
situation, including delusions
regarding the person behind the
screen and their connection through
the computer," he said.
Two patients began to feel vulnerable
as a result of sharing private
information, and one even experienced
tactile hallucinations, believing that
the person beyond the screen was
physically touching her.
Some of the problematic features of
the Internet relate to issues of
geographical and spatial distortion,
the absence of non-verbal cues, and
the tendency to idealise the person
with whom someone is
communicating, becoming intimate
without ever meeting face-to-face.
All of these factors can contribute to a
patient's break with reality, and the
development of a psychotic state.
The study was published in the Israel
Journal of Psychiatry and Related
Sciences.