B&W photos - sign of depression

[LesPalenik]

Now, we know the real reason why some people tend to produce black and white photos.

A new algorithm can predict depression from photos people post on Instagram and may in future prompt a visit to the doctor.
..
Depressed people, it turned out, tended to post blue-toned or dim photos, or use black-and-white filters.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23130892-700-instagram-posts-can-reveal-depression-before-doctors-diagnose-it/

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/08/22/your-instagram-feed-can-tell-us-if-youre-depressed-study-suggests/?utm_term=.997b7cf7ce4e

[Paulo Bizarro]

Of course, nothing new. We see blue as a cold colour, and dimness as menacing.

[JNB_Rare]

Do manic depressives make those monochromatic images with spot colour?

[David Sutton]

Hard to know where to start with this study, but...
bollocks...
...seems the best response.
No mention of the probability that it's the smart phones themselves that make you depressed. Is that before or after they make you stupid? Dunno.
The researchers appear to equate sadness and a bit of social isolation with depression and then mental illness. How American. By demonising introversion and sadness and relentlessly pursuing happiness the US appears to have populated their entire county with the barking mad. Or maybe it's just something in the water over there?
David

[luxborealis]

Hard to know where to start with this study, but...
bollocks...
...seems the best response.
The researchers appear to equate sadness and a bit of social isolation with depression and then mental illness. By demonising introversion and sadness and relentlessly pursuing happiness...
David

I agree, David, although the phonomemon is not specific to America, but rather populist, western culture in general.

[David Sutton]

I agree, David, although the ohonomemon is not specific to America, but rather polpulist, western culture in general.

Yes. So how did our egos ever survive before the internet and the mobile phone? I can't remember...

[tom b]

Oh noooooo, I really like the blue toned image, am I…



In contemplation,

[Otto Phocus]

So this is what passes as a "study" these days?

[Chairman Bill]

As someone who continues to struggle with PTSD-induced depression, and has done so for several years, I'm inclined to say that this is complete nonsense.

[Rob C]

Probably fits me to a t. I enjoy making dark images of single models (mannequins, I'm afraid - all I can find) and I never have been the life 'n' soul of many parties; mainly I hope not to get invited.

I always found the home hearth worth so much more... Sadly, when the fire goes out and all that's left is the ash of memory, then it's time for Nikon to earn its keep once more. Thank God for Nikon and Photoshop.

And to think that all along I had imagined myself reasonably content! No wonder some folks feel a little bit low if they require constant company and it's not forthcoming.

Of course, a lot depends on your personal definition of the state of happiness and whether you subscribe to the idea that it's a constant state unless disrupted by something that transforms it into sorrow. My take is that normal life is a straight line, a datum as it were, with happiness a blip upwards and sadness a blip southwards with normal being that straight line I just mentioned.

;-)

Rob

[Alan Klein]

I posted bw and color photos.   Does that mean have a split personality or do I suffer from manic depression?

[MattBurt]

I've noticed I'm more into the grey and dark images when I'm not feeling as chipper as usual. Or maybe it's that conditions that favor those images bring me down a little?
But then correlation does not indicate causation...

Edit: Oops, old thread revived by the WendyBot3000 there ^^