Is Taking Too Many Selfies A Symptom Of Mental Illness?
In this social media era, it is quite common for us to take selfies and then post them on our social media accounts such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter and the list goes on. I must admit that I am guilty of this at times. However, when a person becomes obsessed with taking selfies, is this a sign of mental illness?
Those who take a lot of selfies and then post them on their social media accounts tend to track the number of views and likes that their selfies get. Their self-worth and their opinion of themselves are determined by the number of views and likes that they get. This is definitely unhealthy but is this a sign of mental illness? To answer this question, I decided to go online and research whether there have been any studies done on this subject.
Fox and Rooney studied the relationship between selfie taking and personality and their results were published in the Journal of Research in Personality. Their study concluded that more selfies a person posted, the person tend to have higher level of narcissism, psychopathy and self-objectification. This means that the person tend to be very self-centered, have a grandiose opinion of themselves and an extreme need to be admired by others. They also tend to be impulsive and lack empathy. A person that is high in self-objectification tend to view himself and based his self-worth in terms of his physical appearance.
Another expert, Dr. David Veale opined that those who take excessive selfies may suffer from Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). BDD can be described as an obsession with one more perceived flaws in appearance which are unnoticeable to others. They tend to be very self-conscious and defined themselves by these flaws.
Sarah Graham in her article for MailOnline, reported of a case where Danny Bowman, a British teenager tried to take his own life because he was unhappy about how he looked in his selfies. In a typical day, he would spend up to 10 hours taking more than 200 selfies in his effort to find the perfect picture of him.
For many, taking a selfie is just a fun thing to do and to capture what we are doing at the moment. The problem arises when we become too obsessive with taking selfies and let our self-worth be determined by the number of views and likes that we receive. So what do you think? Are you taking too many selfies? Are the experts correct? Is taking excessive selfies a symptom of mental illness?
References:
Fox, J., & Rooney, M. C. (2015). The Dark Triad and trait self-objectification as predictors of men’s use and self-presentation behaviors on social networking sites. Personality & Individual Differences.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2601606/Take-lot-selfies-Then-MENTALLY-ILL-Two-thirds-patients-body-image-disorders-obsessively-photos-themselves.html
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I actually had an addiction problem with selfies about a year ago, I felt so ugly all the time so I would take pictures of my face and then photo shop them to the extreme and claim to people that's what I looked like. it's not like selfies are a bad thing, but they gave me a way to obsess myself over my insecurities and prolonged the social anxiety disorder I had.
Thank you for sharing so honestly. I am glad that you have overcome this problem. One reason why I write this post is to highlight what the possible dangers of excessive selfie taking.
Um... no.
The following is my view on the question of what does or does not qualify as a mental illness. and in no way is intended to rip into your post in any way.
Not a sign of mental illness - but very possibly a sign of anxiety (and having feelings is not a mental disorder).
Neither is being unhappy with the way one looks necessarily a disorder. It is when such crosses the threshold into 'desiring' to self-harm that a problem arises.
And identifying the root cause of such anxiety-fueled despair is more important than labelling it a disorder. Perhaps one logically feels that if one doesn't find the self looking attractive then there is no reason why any other person would want to fathom considering the self as a life-partner.
Perhaps its the result of teasing about one's skin color or the shape of one's nose or the way that one talks (kids can be brutal with their teasing) - and such statements echo in one's mind years later? Are abused persons to be considered mentally ill for the psychological scarring that they incur?
After all, many persons lead perfectly adequate lives without hair. Doesn't mean that I have to like it or even that I have to "do something" about it - but we are all going to obsess about this or that aspect of ourselves.
...What is that which I hear some readers say? Do I have a qualification in psychology? Why, I must ask, is one expressing such an obsession with a slip of paper? ;c) Besides, whether I have or have not, its not like the field of psychology has things buttoned-up - other than straight-jacket-style - sufficiently to pull a straight face and claim cheerily that "they got this." ;c)
Thank you for taking the time and effort to state your opinion. The taking of excessive selfies only become a problem if it affects the person life so drastically. Let me just share with you what other reader has to say.
https://steemit.com/psychology/@positivesteem/is-taking-too-many-selfies-a-symptom-of-mental-illness#@kouba01/re-positivesteem-is-taking-too-many-selfies-a-symptom-of-mental-illness-20170912t121213013z
Thank you for drawing my attention to his brave sharing of experiences.
That being said, again I'd like to gently make the point that sometimes we are too hasty in our willingness to attribute a mental disored upon others - or even ourselves (ADD, ADHD, Autism and even depression come to mind).
While far from always being the case, there exists a real business in "treating" such conditions, when often enough a shift in perspective, or a better understanding of what one's nature entails is all that separates us from a perfectly happy life without a lifelong prescription.
That being said, I not that I've been projecting a degree of my distrust of pharmaceutical interests upon your thread - and not fairly so, and as such I apologize for coming on a little strong @positivesteem. Its certainly better to talk about these things than not at all.
I have an autistic son. Back here in Borneo especially more than 10 years ago, autism is almost unheard of. My wife and I went around for more than 1 year trying to find out what's wrong with my son Jonathan. His diagnosis as autistic (to me that is just a label) help us to find the right intervention for him. We were also able to connect with other parents. Eventually we founded the Sarawak Autistic Association (now renamed as Kuching Autistic Association) with my wife as the founding President and me as the founding Vice-President. That would not have been possible without Jonathan diagnosis.
With regards to my post, it is more to stir some discussion on this subject matter. Addiction is something that cannot be generalized. That is why tittle is a question and I also end the article with a question. It is good that we are now discussing the topic.
I take selfies only when I feel like and I don't see anything to be addicted about. And it definitely should not be a yard stick to measure your image. Those who do that are actually sick. @positivesteem I'm really sorry to read about your son and I'm equally very happy that you trust in God. He definitely will see you through this. I'm your friend @edith4angelseu.
This may not be a problem for you but it can be a problem for others. Thank you for your encouragement. I drop by your blog and am following you now.
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lol @positivesteem ... i'm a wefie addict !
Ha, ah but welfie is more interesting than selfie. It is less self-centered as well.
very good
I am glad you liked the post. Have a great day.
@positivesteem Interesting post, I must say and so very relevant in today's times. The whole generation, going after the selfies, being selfish and self obsessed! (100% my take!!!)
I strongly believe, taking a selfie or two is not an issue, but when one gets obsessed with, to seek others' likes/comments/opinions and so on, its becomes a vicious cycle and eventually leading to addiction and sometimes disastrous results.
Just be yourself!!!
Upvoted!
These are also my thoughts. Addiction be it to selfie or other things can impact one's life negatively and if possible one should seek help soonest.
I seldom post selfie or wefies... but it's really common to see selfies being posted among my friends' FB, IG... A little too many of anything can be considered as not normal... we just need to balance it.. if not, yup, it may be see as a disorder.. :)
You hit the nail on the head. Taking selfies is actually quite harmless but to become addicted to it will definitely impact one's live negatively.
I like this post. Upvoted and resteemed.
Thank you so much for your support. Have a great day ahead. Following now.
I may have taken as many selfies in my life as I have fingers on one hand. Now you may think I have thousands of fingers, but as most humans I have 5 fingers :) For some reason, I'm not a selfie type.
I take selfie during my travels and on special occasions but rarely on a daily basis.