Finding out if a person is likely to be depressed is now possible through smartphones, a new study finds.
People can fake questionnaires and even their status updates on Facebook, but GPS and phone usage data can help tell if a person is depressed.
Published in July 2015 in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, the study by Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago found that excessive phone usage is linked to depression.
The study also found that the location where people use their devices also tells something about their emotional state.
For the study, 40 adults carried around smartphones that have the app called "Purple Robot," which is a "sensor data acquisition app," as stated in the published report.
All participants filled out a self-reported survey about depression before the start of the study.
Out of the 40 participants, only 28 had enough data for researchers to analyze.
The study found that those who stayed home more or visited only a few places were more likely to become depressed, a behavior noted by researchers to be a signal of a lack of motivation.
The time spent on the smartphone is also correlated with the severity of depression symptoms.
For instance, participants who self-reported their condition spent an average of 68 minutes a day using their phone, compared with 17 minutes for those who did not have depression.
"The significance of this is that we can detect if a person has depressive symptoms and the severity of those symptoms without asking them questions," said senior author of the study, David Mohr, according to a report from Medical News Today.
The researchers also noted that the devices and its app can help identify people who are at risk for depression as well as connect them with health care practitioners.
