Psychiatrist Says Social Networking Sites Contribute To Youth's Identity Crisis

London, England (AHN) - A leading psychiatrist in Britain pinpointed social networking websites as contributing to the identity crisis of young people.

Dr. Himanshu Tyagi told the Royal College of Psychiatrists' yearly gathering in London Thursday that active online identities may cause young people to value less their real lives and lead to impulsive acts or suicides.

The cyberworld is often characterized by fleeting relationships which makes real life pale in comparison and appear as boring and non-stimulating, Tyagi said.

At the same time he acknowledged the positive contribution of social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace, Tyagi said the online portals could also become a potential pitfall for its users.

Tyagi explained, "It's a world where everything moves fast and changes all the time, where relationships are quickly disposed at the click of a mouse, where you can delete your profile if you don't like it and swap an unacceptable identity in the blink of an eye for one that is more acceptable."

He warned psychiatrists may not be fully prepared to help the youth with Internet-related issues, highlighting the technological gap between the generations born before and after 1990.

Tyagi's views are in contrast to a report released in June by Childnet, a U.K.-based organization that promotes Internet safety. Childnet advocated that teachers exploit the popularity of social networking websites to develop young people's ability to communicate and improve their technological skills.

The report pointed out that some social networking portals are blocked in many educational institutions throughout the U.K., when these websites could be used to teach different groups various academic subjects and topics.

Teacher unions are at the forefront to provide more restrictions on social networking sites over rising incidents of cyberbullying.