Playing Dating App More Often Can Cause Depression, Study Reveals
- U-Report
VIVA – Playing dating apps become popular today because this is an effort for single people to find their soulmate. But researchers have warned that most people who use dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge and others have become addicted, spending an average of 55 minutes "swiping" each day.
A study found that 39% of dating app users check their apps as soon as they wake up in the morning while 48% play dating apps before going to bed.
Experts say the apps have a 'severe' impact on mental health with 70% of singles feeling anxious or depressed after using them.
The study, conducted by the dating site eHarmony involving 1,000 people, also found 44% of users wanted a casual relationship, while 27% of women used the app for ego boosting. The average person had six conversations at the same time, while one in ten had more than 15.
A psychologist at eHarmony, Dr. Martin Graff suggests monitoring the time spent on dating apps and limiting the number of conversations.
Almost half of the singles using apps (44%) reported feeling "not good enough" for the person they were matched with, while 39% felt unwanted.
Many singles on the app deliberately mislead matches with their dating profiles, with a fifth admitting to using old photos and one in ten lying about their height or age. Furthermore, one in ten (8%) even lied about having children and 5% weren’t single.
Dr. Graff said: "As technology has become increasingly prevalent in our lives, we are seeing a new type of internet addiction in the form of dating apps, with users often unaware that they are addicted," Graff explained.
"What concerns me is the impact it has on their mental health. There are some very simple things you can do when it comes to online dating to manage this better, such as monitoring how much time you spend on dating apps when you use them and paying attention to how many people you talk to at any one time." Dr. Graff added.