Can your Instagram photos reveal if you're depressed?

A study claims an important tool for helping to determine whether you have depression: Instagram.

The study from professors at Harvard University and the University of Vermont appearing in the journal EPJ Data Science found visual cues within Instagram posts can help determine whether a user is suffering from depression.

The study involved data from 166 Instagram users, analyzing more than 43,000 photos. The study used machine learning to examine the use of color in images as well as detect faces. 

Results showed depressed individuals tended to feature photos that were "bluer, darker or grayer."

The study said users "had an outsized preference for filtering out all color from posted photos, and showed an aversion to artificially lightening photos, compared to non-depressed controls." 

Also, depressed participants were more likely to post images with faces, but the average number of faces per photo was lower than non-depressed people. This may be an indication of smaller social interactions, the study said. 

The results suggest Instagram or other social media could offer one more avenue for identifying whether someone suffers from depression.

"These findings support the notion that major changes in individual psychology are transmitted in social media use, and can be identified via computational methods," read an excerpt from the study.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.