Universities may be fuelling the mental health crisis, the president of the Royal Society of Medicine has said, with many mistaking loneliness for depression.

Sir Simon Wessely, who is regius professor of psychiatry King’s College London, warned that universities must not “over medicalise” the normal emotions of young adults.

He urged universities to stop aimlessly throwing money at mental health initiatives when “very few” have been tested, and some may even be making things worse.

“There are things that aren’t disorders at all that students habitually get - exam stress, loneliness and so on - all of which can be problematic,” said Prof Wessely told The Telegraph.

“But we shouldn’t go round automatically saying ‘Oh you have a psychiatric disorder, you need psychiatric or mental health or professional health’."

He said there is an “overwhelming mountain of research” to show that best way to protect against mental health problems is to draw on active social networks.

Having a group of friends who you can confide in is a “probably better” for students than seeking professional health as friends “don’t involve the risk of maybe thinking you have a disorder when you don’t”.