A person’s profile on Facebook may reveal signs of mental illness
that might not necessarily emerge in a session with a psychiatrist, a
new study has suggested.
According to study researcher Elizabeth Martin, a psychology doctoral student at the University of Missouri, social media activity when used as a tool in psychological diagnosis can remove some of the problems associated with patients’ self-reporting, the CBS News reported.
Martin’s team recruited more than 200 college students and had them fill out questionnaires to evaluate their levels of extroversion, paranoia, enjoyment of social interactions, and endorsement of strange beliefs.
The students also were asked to log onto Facebook. They were told they would have the option to black-out parts of their profile before some of it was printed out for the researchers to examine.
By asking patients to share their Facebook activity, we were able to see how they expressed themselves naturally. Even the parts of their Facebook activities that they chose to conceal exposed information about their psychological state, Martin explained.
Participants who showed higher levels of social anhedonia -- a condition characterized by lack of pleasure from social interactions -- typically had fewer Facebook friends, shared fewer photos, and communicated less frequently on the site, the researchers found.
According to study researcher Elizabeth Martin, a psychology doctoral student at the University of Missouri, social media activity when used as a tool in psychological diagnosis can remove some of the problems associated with patients’ self-reporting, the CBS News reported.
Martin’s team recruited more than 200 college students and had them fill out questionnaires to evaluate their levels of extroversion, paranoia, enjoyment of social interactions, and endorsement of strange beliefs.
The students also were asked to log onto Facebook. They were told they would have the option to black-out parts of their profile before some of it was printed out for the researchers to examine.
By asking patients to share their Facebook activity, we were able to see how they expressed themselves naturally. Even the parts of their Facebook activities that they chose to conceal exposed information about their psychological state, Martin explained.
Participants who showed higher levels of social anhedonia -- a condition characterized by lack of pleasure from social interactions -- typically had fewer Facebook friends, shared fewer photos, and communicated less frequently on the site, the researchers found.
