The research, conducting by The Salford Business School at the University of Salford in Manchester, was commissioned by charity Anxiety UK and found over half of those asked felt the sites had altered their behaviour, or changed it for the worse.

Nicky Lidbetter, the non-profit's chief executive said: 'If you are predisposed to anxiety it seems that the pressures from technology act as a tipping point, making people feel more insecure and more overwhelmed.'

Most of the 298 people surveyed, who were negatively affected by the social networks, said they lost confidence after comparing their accomplishments with friends on the web.

Sixty per cent of users said their sleep pattern was disrupted as a result of accessing the sites and added they found it difficult to relax afterwards.

Sixty per cent of users said their sleep pattern was disrupted as a result of accessing sites such as Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook (Picture: Getty)

Dr Linda Blair, a clinical psychologist, argued increased demands were being placed on people but they were failing to deal with them.

She told the Telegraph: 'I think one of the key things is that people have begun to behave as though technology is in control of them, instead of the other way round.

'We can switch the gadgets off but a lot of us have forgotten how to".