New research has found a worrying connection between psychotic episodes and social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter.
Israeli scientists revealed that people can lose touch with reality as they become absorbed in a community of online-only relationships.
The survey studied people who had recently suffered bereavement or a separation and found that the participants had delusional episodes triggered by their relationships and online interaction.
According to The Irish Sun, Dr Nitzan who leads the study said: “All of the patients developed psychotic symptoms including delusions regarding the person behind the screen and their connection through the computer.
Researchers reveal that people can become to absorbed in online relationships
“In each case the patient sought help for their problems and has since made a full recovery.
“But their experiences underline issues relating to social media that can have a negative impact on less self-confident users — who can easily become the target of predators or cyberbullies.”
The researcher revealed that psychaitrists should take a person’s online interaction into account as social media has a huge influence on a person.
“When you ask somebody about their social life, it’s very sensible to ask about Facebook. How people conduct themselves on the internet is important to psychiatrists, who shouldn’t ignore this dimension of their patients’ behaviour,” he said.
