'Hey man, skin up another email'

Information overload can scramble your brain more than marijuana — twice as much according to new research from the Institute of Psychiatry.

In the study, workers reeling from 'infomania' — an overdose of emails, phone calls and other work-related guff — saw their IQs fall by 10 points. In similar studies on people smoking dope the fall is around 5 points.

The research is important because it suggests that many British workers are reducing their intelligence through their unhealthy work-habits:

• 62% of people checked work messages at home or on holiday.
• More than half of the respondents said they always responded to an email immediately or ASAP.
• 21% said they would interrupt a meeting to do so.

The University of London psychologist who carried out the study, Dr Glenn Wilson, told the Daily Mail that unchecked infomania could reduce workers' mental sharpness.

Those who are constantly breaking away from tasks to react to email or text messages suffer similar effects on the mind as losing a night's sleep, he said.

The study was carried out for Hewlett Packard who argued that new technology can help productivity, but users must learn to switch computers and phones off.