'Forget emails and have a chat'

Emails and the internet are to blame for poor performance at work, a leading London psychologist warned today.

Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, a therapist at the private Capio Nightingale Hospital and an expert in brain function and mental wellbeing, said: "What's happening is people are becoming 'desocialised'. We have lost the ability to go off-line, to take time away from our desk and communicate face-to-face."

She will tell delegates at the Health and Wellbeing at Work conference in Birmingham that bosses should make sure employees engage with each other.

Her statements conform with research published this week by psychologist Dr Aric Sigman. He said humans risk isolation if they rely too much on "virtual" socialising and that our bodies need the "cuddle" chemical oxytocin.