Selfies, which first became widespread in 2002-2010, are now recognized by the overwhelming majority of scientists as a disease. The American Psychiatric Association has sounded the alarm after the suicide attempt of a teenager named Danny Bowman. The boy tried to commit suicide due to the fact that he did not like his selfies, before that he spent about 10 hours a day trying to take the perfect self-portrait. So is selfie addiction a real disease?
Reasons for Selfie Obsession
Scientists put forward different theories of the emergence of such a hobby as selfies.
Dysmorphic disorder symptom
This symptom is a constant unreasonable concern about your body, about the presence of various infections and diseases in the body, and one of its manifestations is the fear that something is wrong with your appearance.
As a result, there is a constant obsessive desire to check your physical condition, as an option - through a photo. The impetus for selfies is also given by the popularity of this activity, that is, the fact that it is "fashionable".
Self-doubt, complexes
The most likely reason for addiction to self-photography is the complexes of a modern person and his lack of self-confidence. The fear of being lonely, unpopular, unrecognized gives rise to the desire to advertise yourself as a successful selfie. Such people strive to gain the sympathy of others, to assert themselves, sometimes to be like their idols, because many world stars often post their selfies on the network.
Insecure people are more inclined to such hobbies than others. Many seek to take photos in order to keep up with the general trend, many in order to expose themselves from the most successful angle and thereby win more sympathy. This seemingly amusing hobby develops into a disease over time. People cannot tear themselves away from their smartphones, the problem reaches the point that a person takes fifty photos a day.
Predisposition to narcissism
There are people who just really love themselves. This love begins to influence both friends and social networks. Such people post photo after photo, trying to demonstrate themselves as much as possible. This form of narcissism develops over time into selfie addiction.
There are other theories of the emergence of a new disease. Among them: excessive dependence on society, social networks, obsessive thoughts, the desire to attract attention.
Many scientists do not take selfies seriously, calling it just temporary fun for Internet residents, however, most still attribute frequent photographing of themselves to a number of mental illnesses.
Are selfies dangerous?
In itself, photographing yourself is not dangerous. However, if a person is overly dependent on selfies, then there is undoubtedly a threat to his health. An uncontrollable urge to take pictures of yourself can drive the possessed person far.
Over the past couple of years, "unusual" photos in extreme conditions have become especially popular. So, at least one hundred deaths from thoughtless selfies were recorded. People, especially teenagers, climbed onto the roofs of high-rise buildings, trains on the crumbling slopes of mountains, holding loaded pistols to their temples, which they subsequently fired. Ridiculous deaths could not but add horror to the new hobby.
Selfie addicted people also died due to carelessness: the need to take pictures distracted them from danger. Cases of accidents due to inappropriate self-photographing are known. This disease also affects the physical health of a person. Patients lose pounds in an attempt to take a good photo, renounce the real world, which does not pass without leaving a trace and is reflected in their eyes and skin.
With the onset of the disease, more than 100 people were prescribed treatment every year. In particular, the popularity of smartphones with a high-quality front camera has increased, a special selfie-stick has been created - a stick that makes it easier to photograph oneself. If you believe the forecasts, this addiction will either lose its popularity in the near future, or will continue to actively develop and will fully enter the list of mental illnesses.
Incredible facts
Do you like taking pictures of yourself and posting photos on the Internet? Experts say that people who constantly looking for the right angle to photograph yourself may be suffering from a mental disorder.
British psychiatrist dr David Veale(David Veale) states that most patients with a disorder known as dysmorphophobia often take selfies - pictures of themselves.
"Two out of three patients who come to me with dysmorphophobia, with the growing popularity of phone cameras, have an obsessive desire to constantly take selfies and publish them on social networks.", - he said.
What is a selfie?
Selfie is the term used to describe a photograph of yourself for the purpose of posting it on a social networking site or photo sharing such as Facebook or Instagram .. To take a selfie, most often the photo is taken by stretching out the right or left hand, turning the camera towards you.
Selfie fans can spend hours taking a photo of yourself that would not show their flaws in appearance, which they see, while others may not notice at all.
Often these people take several photos until they find the best angle or pose, and they are very picky about the smallest defects.
Selfie photo
So in one extreme case, British teenager Danny Bowman(Danny Bowman) tried to commit suicide as he was unhappy with his appearance in photographs of himself which he did.
He was so eager to attract girls that he spent 10 hours a day taking over 200 selfies trying to find the perfect shot.
The habit, which he developed at the age of 15, led to the fact that he dropped out of school and lost 12 kilograms. He did not leave the house for 6 months, and when he could not take a perfect photo, he tried to kill himself with an overdose. Fortunately, his mother managed to save her son.
Experts also say that self-absorption can be a sign that the person is either narcissistic or very insecure.
The desire to follow published photos, those who liked them or those who comment on them, the desire to achieve the highest number of "likes" - can be signs that selfies are causing psychological problems.
Dysmorphophobia
Dysmorphophobia is a disorder characterized by the fact that a person overly concerned about one or more imperfections in their appearance that are invisible to others.
Although everyone has something about their appearance that they can be unhappy with - a crooked nose, an uneven smile, eyes that are too large or too small, these features do not prevent us from living. At the same time, people with body dysmorphic disorder think about their real or imagined shortcomings every day for many hours.
07.11.2019
Interesting facts about selfies
What's the most popular word in the world? The British believe that the word "selfie"! Anyone interested can read about it in the Oxford Dictionary. The Internet did not appear yesterday, many years have passed, so the word acquired various derivatives ...
Statistics show that in just a minute more than 2.5 million selfies are taken in the world. The number of phones that allow you to take such photos is constantly increasing, and the production of selfies is growing exponentially.
- Scientists are researching and trying to understand if selfmania exists? People cannot resist constantly sending their photos to the network. Some assert themselves, others try to get rid of insecurity.
- It is estimated that about 50% of all adults have taken a selfie at least once in their life, about 40% of young people surveyed take selfies regularly (at least once a week).
- Gyms, fitting rooms and beaches are the themes of the most popular photographs. However, this is within 5% of all selfies that have turned into posts on social networks. Selfies with other people are no less popular. Food and pets and nature remain very popular.
- Women have taken the palm from men here, which is logical. Selfies are more interesting to social media visitors than regular photos.
- Stormy discussions cause selfies that were taken in an unsuitable place for this (cemetery, Auschwitz).
In Australian English, there is a tendency to form words with the “-ie” suffix to give words an informal connotation.
note
For example, “barbie” for “barbecue”, “firie” for “firefighter”, “tinnie” for “tin” for a metal can of beer. It was in Australia that the word “selfie” appeared, and its first use on the Internet was recorded back in 2002.
Although the ubiquitous spread of the term "selfie", first in the English-speaking world, and then in other countries, happened only ten years later.
- There are two versions to the question of who took the first selfie. It was either Robert Cornelius (1839), or she successfully pointed her camera at the mirror, opposite which the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna (1914) herself stood.
- The Eiffel Tower background was most popular in 2014. This is what Time magazine thinks.
Every day it becomes more difficult to surprise friends on social networks with an unusual selfie. But people are constantly filling their profiles with vibrant photos that speak of funny and memorable moments in their lives. Selfie really conveys the emotions of a person and the world around him at the same time. They are often identical, sometimes contrasting.
According to photographers, selfies have become a special kind of photography. Various festivals, competitions and exhibitions of similar works are held. The popular passion for selfie photography has turned into a real competition for the craziest and most extreme selfie shots. Social media users compete in resourcefulness, courage and insanity.
Selfie psychology or Selfmania as a disease of the 21st century
News feeds are full of photos of friends and acquaintances. Some manage to lay out dozens of pieces a day just for themselves. It is more interesting to observe the photographs of travelers, there is at least some variety.
Have you ever wondered if it is not a disease to constantly post your photos?
Modern psychology is closely watching fashion, current trends and new disorders of the human psyche. Of course, the love of "selfies" did not pass the attention of psychologists.
Today we will talk about the psychological characteristics of people who are keen on selfies. So, the psychology of selfies. Selfies are a disease of the 21st century.
"Selfism" reveals several psychological problems of a person.
Selfie (from the English self - "himself, himself"), or "yourself" or narcissism. Excessive narcissism leads to the development of a narcissistic personality type, when a person is unable to love anyone but himself.
Women's selfies. In the first place for women is the demonstration of external data, on the second is social life.
Men's selfies. In men, exactly the opposite. Social life is in the first place: his achievements, shopping, travel, cars, meetings with friends and colleagues, restaurants, etc. In second place are external data: a beautiful torso, biceps, a new costume and simple facial expressions.
In any case, everyone who uploads their photos to the network is driven by the desire to get approval, admiration from others. "Selfism" poses a threat only in advanced cases. As the saying goes: everything is good when in moderation.
Selfie Syndrome. IS SELFIE A BAD HABIT OR A MENTAL DISEASE?
Selfie(eng. "Selfie" from "self" - himself, himself, there are also names self, crossbow) - a kind of self-portrait, which consists in capturing oneself on the camera, sometimes with the help of a mirror, a cord or a timer.
The term gained popularity in the late 2000s and early 2010s due to the development of built-in camera functions in mobile devices.
Since the selfie is most often taken from the distance of an outstretched hand holding the device, the image in the photo has a characteristic angle and composition - at an angle, slightly above or below the head.
Selfie addiction is officially recognized as a mental disorder. This conclusion was made by scientists from the American Psychiatric Association, according to the publication that specializes in "incredible" news.
The association, according to the publication, has presented a classification of a new disease called selfies in Chicago.
For example, selfies is defined as an obsessive-compulsive disorder characterized by a constant desire to take photographs of oneself and upload pictures to social networks in order to compensate for a lack of self-esteem.
The note notes that there is currently no cure for selfies. However, one of the users of the Global Trend News portal, commenting on this news, offered his own solution to the problem: simply destroy the mobile phone.
RIA News
Psychologist's opinion:
Selfies have become very popular lately. They now not only gaze from the pages of social networks, but often flash on advertising posters, make people talk about themselves on television.
All this looks like an outbreak of a disease and, perhaps, every modern person has formed a clear attitude towards this phenomenon. Someone has become infected and does not post their self-portraits only when they are sleeping.
And there are those who are disgusted with the influx of this kind of creativity.
The epidemic began after at the 86th Oscaractris ceremony and the host of the ceremony, Ellen DeGeneres, along with actor Bradley Cooper, took a selfie in which they were captured in the company of many Hollywood stars.
An Oscar is an event for which they have been preparing for months: stars, in tandem with their stylists, carefully select an image, order outfits from famous couturiers, make all kinds of suspenders, and even inject special injections so as not to sweat, since they are forced to be under spotlights. The ceremony is the quintessence of the human pursuit of the ideal.
Selfie addiction is not new. The desire to declare oneself is a natural human need, just before he did not have so many technical capabilities and channels for posting visual information about himself. For example, before the invention of the camera, this desire was satisfied with the help of drawn self-portraits, memoirs and autobiographies.
Now all possible services for creating selfies are available to the netizen, for example, Snapchat or Shots of Me. A real revolution in this hobby was made by the launch of the popular Instagram service.
In this regard, scientists began to worry about the question of how dependent a person is on modern technologies and gadgets: smartphones, selfie sticks, action cameras and other items of frequent use.
Opponents of “selfies” are convinced that the need to photograph oneself in various situations is nothing more than a lack of self-confidence and self-confidence, and in neglected cases, even a manifestation.
However, experts in the field of psychology fundamentally disagree with this formulation of the problem. Selfies have many advantages, they say:
- Selfies are a great way of self-discovery and introspection.... Many psychological trainings advise taking photographs of yourself daily for a long time. Looking at the photo, a person sees himself from the outside: he clearly sees the parameters of his appearance, tracks his emotions. Based on such statistics, it is easier for a person to make vital decisions;
- Mobile selfies can become a diary of sports achievements... Many online fitness marathons insist that participants take photos of themselves in training every day and record their progress. This motivational trick is only good for them: knowing that hundreds of subscribers are following your "selfies" on the social network, a person will not give up classes and will continue to improve;
- Selfie as a way of visual communication... Photos are perceived easier and faster than long canvases of text, at the same time, they say a lot about a person: they literally reveal him “as in the palm of your hand”;
- Selfie as a social tool... In recent years, various online actions to help other people have become widespread: the pictures taken, in this case, act as evidence of participation in the event;
- Numerous selfies from events, celebrations, travels have no drawbacks. In addition, social networks are a more reliable way of storing photos than a USB flash drive and computer hard drive.
Selfie addiction as a manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder
Despite all the positives, the selfie culture has found many opponents. In particular, experts from the American Psychiatric Association argue that addiction to selfies is a mental disorder.
Selfie addiction has been called a subspecies;(obsessive-compulsive disorder). A person can take pictures of himself more than a hundred times every day, in vain attempts to find the "very" photograph worthy of general observation on the social network.
Such people feel deeply dissatisfied with their lives: family, themselves and their children, career success, etc. Selfies play the role of compensation for them: they can create the desired image, successful and happy. They are extremely sensitive to the reaction of subscribers, and frantically counts "likes" under each photo: the more positive reviews in their direction, the better they feel.
In the practice of foreign psychiatrists, it is not the first year that there are patients with advanced forms of this psychological dependence. So, the Mirror edition published the real story of a young man named Danny Bowman, who suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder. He spent many hours every day photographing himself and, after a while, at a peak provoked by dissatisfaction with himself and the pictures, he attempted suicide.
Psychiatrist David Weil has a more radical view of the problem: in his opinion, modern technologies are to blame for all of the above problems, as well as their accessibility to a wide range of people.
Extreme Culture Selfie
There are countless cases when people were injured, sometimes even incompatible with life, while trying to take the so-called "epic selfie".
In the process of catching a "good shot" people lose their instinct for self-preservation. This pushes them to rash acts: jumping from roof to roof, stunts on the edge of a skyscraper without belay, and so on.
For example, Australian resident Terry Tufferson risked his life for a photo against the backdrop of a powerful tornado. The young man miraculously remained unharmed, nevertheless, his negative example is a visual aid for inexperienced adolescents who are ready to encourage their peers to do whatever they want.
Often, for the sake of a good shot, people break the law: not so long ago, a story about a young student who climbed to the top of the Cheops pyramid for a photo was thundered all over the world.
Spectacular shots have caused a huge number of accidents, in connection with which the video hosting YouTube has been flooded with video reviews with the tag "deadly selfie".
Of course, not all of the truly breathtaking photographs were taken by people with mental disabilities. Many photos are taken by professional stuntmen, rope jumpers, pilots and other representatives of dangerous professions and hobbies.
Selfie as a new level of development of narcissism
Some researchers call the passion for selfie - an updated, evolved form of narcissism.
In particular, renowned writer Clive Thompson believes that the current "exacerbation" of this form of narcissism is a direct consequence of the technological revolution.
Thompson believes that in the future, a person's narcissism will only progress: a new stage in this process is online services that forever preserve the visual images of specific people. In the near future, on the basis of these services, a variety of sociological and anthropological research will be carried out.
How to get rid of selfie addiction
Basically, everyone who posts pictures online wants to be seen and approved. You shouldn't blame technical progress, high-quality mobile cameras and social networks. Selfies are a normal practice of perpetuating your image in the media space: it's just a sense of proportion.
Selfie addiction is not yet officially listed. Accordingly, methods of treating such addiction (as well as addiction to computer games) have not been developed either. The only sure way to deal with this condition is behavioral therapy.
No need to smash your smartphone and throw your expensive camera out the window: the number of photo sessions should decrease gradually. In order not to create a void, an information vacuum, it is important for the patient to saturate his free time with interesting activities, find a hobby or engage in physical activity.
Recently, social networks have been overflowing with so-called selfies - photographs of themselves. It would seem, what could be wrong with self-portrait shots? Yes, of course, there is nothing special or reprehensible here. But if this hobby does not develop into a selfie addiction you need.
Many in our country do not see anything terrible and dangerous in this hobby. Some people don't even know the name of the disease caused by selfie addiction. And also what does it threaten and how dangerous? But exactly until the news announces the tragic events that happened to young people who want to take stunning shots, which became their last pictures.
Selfie mania: a disease that has a name!
It is worth noting that in America, psychologists have recognized addiction to selfies as a mental illness. To be precise, the diagnosis is: obsessive-compulsive mania. But in fact, selfies are a disease of the 21st century that has captured the whole world and affected different age groups. People who are in constant search of bright moments that can be captured on the camera of their gadget are gradually going crazy. They, in pursuit of unique shots, expose their own, without fully realizing the full degree of danger, because the brain at this moment selects the background and an interesting opportunity to capture a unique selfie. But such a passion for hobby can cost life.
Characteristics of the disease
And since this hobby was recognized as a disease, scientific research was carried out, as a result of which three stages of "selfism" were identified. Description of the disease, depending on the severity:
- The initial stage - a person takes several pictures every day and uploads them to the network.
- When people begin to think about. In addition, their number exceeds 5-7 photos per day - this symptom indicates that the acute stage of the disease has begun.
- Chronic stage of the disease - those suffering from this degree of addiction cannot get rid of the desire to take a few frames in order to upload pictures to social networks.
The most dangerous manifestation of the disease
The danger lies not only in increased levels of narcissism and self-esteem. And the point is not even that a person, for the sake of good pictures, runs for hours with a stick, and then puts them on the Internet for days. In an effort to surpass himself and his like-minded people, the “selfist” often risks his health and even his life. Today there are many examples of how an extreme selfie ended tragically. You can hear about this weekly in the news and read notes on the Internet.
And it all starts with ordinary photos posted on social networks. Many, even for fun, begin to take unusual pictures: someone will climb onto the roof of their multi-storey building to show a wonderful view, others in search of something else come up with. But on this everything could have ended, if not for the numerous likes that are given for viewing interesting selfies. This is where a kind of competition begins: "Who will make the most amazing shots?" In pursuit of such selfies, many people go for the most reckless acts: they climb the supports of bridges, set boxes with firecrackers on their heads, and climb the roofs of high-rise buildings. But unfortunately, in the main, such actions end in tragedy.
Already in many cities, they are conducting explanatory work with extremists on how to take a photo and at the same time survive. Moreover, the Safe Selfie project is being launched in Russia.
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