Social networks can spread a healthy mood....

We were interested to read in the press today that those supposedly  'inspirational' quotes that suggest you should cut people in a negative mood out of your life to support your own well-being are, mercifully,  wrong. 

Researchers at the universities of Manchester and Warwick studied 2,000 teenagers and found that having happy friends improved the mood of those experiencing a period of depression, but depressed friends did not have an impact on the mood of those they were with, 

The researchers used social media trends to monitor mood across social networks over the period of one year.

The Daily Telegraph commented:

"The results show that being friends with someone who is depressed does not put a person at risk of becoming depressed themselves, but it will be beneficial to a glum mate."

The report says:

"Having sufficient friends with healthy mood can halve the probability of developing, or double the probability of recovering from, depression over a 6–12-month period on an adolescent social network."

Dr Thomas House, senior lecturer in applied mathematics from the University of Manchester said:

“We know social factors, for example living alone or having experienced abuse in childhood, influences whether someone becomes depressed.... We also know that social support is important for recovery from depression, for example having people to talk to. Our study is slightly different as it looks at the effect of being friends with people on whether you are likely to develop or recover from being depressed."

The research was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society and the link to the full report can be found HERE. 

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