It's sick to take selfies. Selfie is a new mental disorder

13.07.2020

The world is technically developing at a rapid pace, and this fact leaves its mark on its inhabitants. Since people are the engines of progress and initiators, it is up to them to respond. Since ancient times, scientists and geniuses of the past have been looking for ways to capture images of more in simple ways than drawing. And this is not surprising, because we are always looking for easy ways to solve our problems.

One of the consequences was the “selfie disease.”

What is a selfie?

Selfie translated from English as “himself” or “yourself”. This is a photo taken with a mobile phone or tablet camera. The image has character traits, for example, a reflection in a mirror is captured. The word "selfie" first became popular in early 2000 and then in 2010.

History of the selfie

The first selfies were taken with a Kodak Brownie camera from Kodak. They were made using a tripod, standing in front of a mirror, or at arm's length. The second option was more complicated. It is known that one of the first selfies was taken by Princess Romanova at the age of thirteen. She was the first teenager to take such a photo for her friend. Nowadays, “selfies” do everything, and the question arises: are selfies a disease or entertainment? After all, many people take photos of themselves every day and post them on a social network. As for the origin of the word “selfie,” it came to us from Australia. In 2002, the ABC channel first used this term.

Are selfies just innocent fun?

The desire to photograph oneself to some extent does not carry any unpleasant consequences. This is a manifestation of love for your appearance, the desire to please others, which is common to almost all women. But daily photographs of food, legs, yourself with alcoholic drinks and other intimate moments of personal life exposed to society - this is uncontrollable behavior that entails far from innocent consequences. This behavior is especially frightening on the part of children as young as 13 years old. Teenagers on social networks seem to have not been raised by their parents at all. Self-photography can be innocent fun only when the photos are taken rarely and do not have erotic overtones or other sociological deviations. Society, having its own culture and spiritual values, goes downhill with such thoughtless behavior. By flaunting their genitals, teenagers doom the future of our species to the absence of moral and ethical standards in society.

Are selfies a mental illness?

American scientists have come to the conclusion that self-portraits from a mobile phone, which are regularly posted on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and other lesser-known resources, are attention-seeking and a mental disorder. The selfie disease has spread throughout the world and affected people of different age groups. People who are constantly looking for a bright photograph are gradually going crazy, and some even die for the sake of an extreme shot. It's a real disease to take selfies every day.

Types of selfies

Scientists have identified three degrees of this mental disorder:

Episodic: characterized by having no more than three photographs daily without posting on social networks. Such a disorder can still be controlled, and it can be treated with willpower and awareness of one’s actions.
Spicy: a person takes more than three pictures a day and necessarily shares them on Internet resources. High degree of mental disorder - the person photographing himself does not control his actions.
Chronic: the most difficult case, absolutely not human controlled. More than ten photos are taken daily and published on social networks. A person takes pictures anywhere! This is the clearest proof that there is a selfie disease. What is it called in medicine? Actually, it was in honor of the photo that she was named, although social networks, which are also a kind of addiction, play a minor role here.

Taking selfies in public

There are already dozens of poses for photographing yourself in society, and now they have a name. The selfie disease continues to spread in society, despite scientists’ statements about the danger and television programs on this topic. Here are the most fashionable selfie poses:

Photo in the elevator. A favorite selfie option for many celebrities, including politicians.
Duck lips. The most common selfie among females. A photo of yourself with your lips in a bow is probably the leader in selfies right now.
Groofy is a group photo that is gaining rapid popularity among young people. One of the most popular is the American Groofie at the Oscars. Especially for such pictures, Chinese manufacturers have increased the capabilities of mobile phone and tablet cameras.
Fitness selfie. The photo was taken using a mirror in the gym. A very popular selfie among both girls and men.
Relfi. A self-photo with your significant other: very touching, but intrusive and boastful, causing negativity among the majority.
Photo in the toilet. It is very common - literally every second girl has such a photo in her arsenal.
Belphie. Self-portrait with protruding buttocks. Naturally, only girls do such nonsense. But men rate this type of selfie highly.
Felfi. Self-portraits with animals.
Photo of feet. It is not uncommon to see photos of the lower legs predominantly in shoes.
Self-portrait in the bathroom.
Selfie in the fitting room.
Extreme selfie. It is this look that is alarming. A program about the selfie disease was released on television, in which the most popular extreme selfie enthusiasts were interviewed. This type of self-image is taken at a time of danger and risk to human life, for example, when at a height, with aggressive animals, during a disaster, in space, in flight, etc.

Extreme selfie is the most dangerous manifestation of the disease

In an effort to discourage the audience, extreme sports enthusiasts beat their rivals' records for danger and other selfie indicators. In Russia, Kirill Oreshkin has become the most popular selfie artist. He constantly conquers new and new heights, taking photographs on the roofs of high-rise buildings. This type of selfie has already had its victims. An extreme self-portrait is a scary and at the same time incredibly impressive sight. But the fact that a person, once he has tried to take a photo in unusual conditions and posted it on social networks, is no longer able to stop, is a fact.

Selfie disease: scientific research

There is a lot of disagreement between scientists around the world about the seemingly harmless act of photographing oneself. But the best minds paid attention to it not only because of the popularity of the word and the photo itself in society, but because of the appearance of victims among teenagers who wanted to take an extreme photo. Research has concluded that selfies are a manifestation of exhibitionism and egocentrism. People who have a passion for constantly photographing themselves and then putting them on public display clearly have mental disorders and low levels of self-esteem. Every day there are more and more people suffering from selfie addiction.

The world is technically developing at a rapid pace, and this fact leaves its mark on its inhabitants. Since people are the engines of progress and initiators, it is up to them to respond. Since ancient times, scientists and geniuses of the past have been looking for ways to capture images in simpler ways than drawing. And this is not surprising, because we are always looking for easy ways to solve our problems. One of the consequences was the “selfie disease.”

Selfie addiction among different segments of the world's population

If you look at photography superficially, its goal is to capture the area captured by the camera lens in a certain period of time. For a person, this image can serve as a key to memories of the past. Namely, they give rise to deep feelings of sadness and joy in people, evoke emotions, capture the spirit and play with the imagination. As for the development of photography in general for art and culture, this is a huge leap forward for many areas of science and technology. From a photograph you can find a person, place, or thing that has ever disappeared. IN modern world photography has become an integral part of human life. Social networks are filled with millions of photos, mostly taken by yourself. This phenomenon already has its own name - selfie. The disease of the 21st century has taken over the entire world. It affected not only students and teenagers, as newspapers and magazines say, but also an older category of people. Presidents, the Pope, famous actresses and actors, singers - absolutely everyone can be seen taking selfies on the social network.

What is most striking is that even with significant social status taking a selfie. For example, a self-portrait of Barack Obama at a funeral in a cheerful mood caused a lot of controversy. And the photo is the premiere Russian Federation Medvedev in the elevator received more than three hundred thousand tweets on Twitter. While the majority of people are delighted with such open actions on the part of the government, scientists are seriously puzzled by the problem of the 21st century, which has already been called the “selfie disease”.

Selfie is translated from English as “himself” or “yourself”. This is a photo taken with a mobile phone or tablet camera. The image has characteristic features, for example, a reflection in a mirror. The word “selfie” first became popular in early 2000 and then in 2010.

History of the selfie

The first selfies were taken with a Kodak Brownie camera from Kodak. They were made using a tripod, standing in front of a mirror, or at arm's length. The second option was more complicated. It is known that one of the first selfies was taken by Princess Romanova at the age of thirteen. She was the first teenager to take such a photo for her friend. Nowadays, “selfies” do everything, and the question arises: is a selfie a disease or entertainment? After all, many people take photos of themselves every day and post them on a social network. As for the origin of the word “selfie,” it came to us from Australia. In 2002, the ABC channel first used this term.

Are selfies simple, innocent fun?

The desire to photograph yourself to some extent does not have any unpleasant consequences. This is a manifestation of love for one’s appearance, the desire to please others, which is characteristic of almost all women. But daily photographs of food, legs, yourself with alcoholic beverages and other intimate moments of your personal life, exposed to society, are uncontrollable behavior that entails far from innocent consequences.

This behavior is especially frightening on the part of children as young as 13 years old. Teenagers on social networks seem to have not been raised by their parents at all. Self-photography can be innocent fun only when the photos are taken rarely and do not have erotic overtones or other sociological deviations. Society, having its own culture and spiritual values, goes downhill with such thoughtless behavior. By flaunting their genitals, teenagers doom the future of our species to the absence of moral and ethical standards in society.

Are selfies a mental illness?

American scientists have come to the conclusion that self-portraits from a mobile phone, which are regularly posted on social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, and other lesser-known resources, are attention-seeking and a mental disorder. The selfie disease has spread throughout the world and affected people of different age groups. People who are constantly looking for a bright photograph are gradually going crazy, and some even die for the sake of an extreme shot. It's a real disease to take selfies every day.

Types of selfies

Scientists have identified three degrees of this mental disorder:

Episodic: characterized by having no more than three photos daily without posting on social networks. Such a disorder can still be controlled, and it can be treated with willpower and awareness of one’s actions.
Acute: a person takes more than three pictures a day and necessarily shares them on Internet resources. A high degree of mental disorder - the person photographing himself does not control his actions.
Chronic: the most difficult case, absolutely beyond human control. More than ten photos are taken daily and published on social networks. A person takes pictures anywhere! This is the clearest proof that there is a selfie disease. What is it called in medicine? Actually, it was in honor of the photo that she was named, although social networks, which are also a kind of addiction, play a minor role here.

Taking selfies in public

The mania for taking photographic self-portraits with or without reason seems to have consumed a good half of the residents of megacities, and indeed everyone who has a smartphone with a camera. It would seem that there is nothing strange in the desire to take a self-portrait. Rembrandt, Aivazovsky, Bosch, and many other famous artists depicted themselves on canvases, but no one even thinks of condemning them, much less declaring them mentally ill. But you must admit that modern self-portraits, which are fascinating chronicles of everyday life, cannot be compared with the most modest claims of artists.

Endless photographs of their loved ones from different angles and filters give people the opportunity to create an image of their ideal self. Photography has long ceased to be a way to capture important points life, since now absolutely everything is photographed and not just like that, but with the intention of showing oneself to people on social networks. The spontaneity of this phenomenon alarmed many experts, and scientists from the American Psychiatric Association came to the conclusion that a “selfie” is nothing more than mental disorder. Although a remark needs to be made here. This psychiatric association "Adobo Chronicles" is unofficial and specializes in incredible news and discoveries, approximately on the level of the now legendary British scientists. But lack of recognition by official science does not mean the absence of a problem or disease. Conversations on the topic of “selfies” have reached Russia. Psychologists from Perm, who give the most adequate judgments to the world, were especially interested in studying this issue.

Indeed, both in Russia and abroad, the regular desire to take self-portraits is recognized as an obsessive-compulsive mental disorder. In itself, this disorder is most often not clinical in nature, but is definitely a deviation from the norm. It expresses the presence of a certain obsessive state/thoughts or obsessions, which are resolved through certain ritual actions - compulsions. In the case of selfies, everything is quite transparent.

What motivates people to take self-portraits? Narcissism, thirst for recognition and attention, the need to make one's life presentable. A series of selfies can be compared to a trailer for a bad movie, which contains the best moments to entice viewers. But selfie mania, like any other obsessive-compulsive disorder, has different stages. Thus, the episodic nature of the disorder can be acceptable for absolutely any person. Everyone gets it sometimes obsessive states, and if a person allows them by taking a “selfie,” then there is nothing criminal about it. But the disorder takes on a completely different character in the chronic and progressive stage, which in the “selfie” story can be expressed in daily photographing of oneself. Psychologists have concluded that a person who takes more than six “selfies” a day needs quite serious treatment, at least a course of psychocorrection.

Returning to the causes of the disorder, let us note that each of them is in one way or another characteristic of people with low or unstable self-esteem. “Selfie” is a dependence not only on the opinions of others, but also on your own opinion about yourself. Photographs in a favorable light sometimes force people to mistakenly consider themselves to be slightly different people and to wishful thinking. What lengths do people go to in order to give their lives the appearance of what is happening!

Treatment of “selfie” as a mental disorder, if it exists, of course, should occur with the help of psychotherapy and a rather intensive procedure. As for the mass trend, psychologists have no opinion on this matter; only a few of them call complete disposal of mobile phones the only true treatment for “selfie” addiction. When photographing yourself again, think not about the angle or filter, but about why you need it.

Good photography is pleasing to the eye and truly is true art. The photographer chooses the angle, the composition, takes a whole series of pictures with different settings in order to choose one single brilliant shot. Such photographs are treasured and rare.

The modern virtual world is oversaturated with photographs of a different kind, in which a person photographs himself. This modern phenomenon is called selfie.

Selfie: what is it?

Selfie is a term that describes the process of taking photographs of oneself and then posting these pictures on social networks. You can take a selfie by holding out your hand with a camera, taking a photo of yourself in a mirror image, or using special selfie devices that resemble long tubes.

The selfie craze has captured young people relatively recently and has turned into a real boom. In search of a special angle, young people spend a large number of time. Selfies have turned into an unannounced competition on the Internet: better, higher, more interesting, more original. In an attempt to surprise others, young men and women often cross the boundaries of decency and safety. Selfies often range from downright indecent to completely extreme photos.

Selfie aficionados can spend hours choosing the exact angle they think makes them look their best. Choosing a pose takes a lot of time. Selfie lovers can take more than 200 photos in one session and not be satisfied with the result, or they can be so in love with every turn of their head that both the process of photographing and the process of viewing photos turns into narcissism.

What are the dangers of taking selfies?

Let's imagine the selfie process itself.

Situation 1. A young girl takes a selfie. In an outstretched hand - mobile phone. Clothes, facial expressions, poses, turns, angles change. After a few days, there is simply no place left in the apartment where photographs have not been taken. The need for photographs remains, and the most unexpected places are used: the bathroom, toilet, closet. Needless to say about the options for clothing, hairstyles, and cosmetics. Selfie craze pushes people to do unexpected things, including exposing their bodies.
Situation 2. A young man is trying to attract attention by taking a selfie. He understands that the usual angle will not attract attention to him and the search for the background leads to extreme actions such as taking photos at high altitude, in a fall, at speed, near wild animals, etc.

The options for choosing subjects for photography are different, but the purpose of these photos is the same - to attract attention.

Recently global network was stunned by the amazing news: British scientist David Veal identified the selfie hobby as a group of mental disorders, identifying two reasons for this hobby:

Narcissism;
Extreme self-doubt.

Psychiatric associations European countries They also recognize excessive selfie-taking as a mental disorder. In official literature, selfies are described as a person’s desire to constantly take photographs of himself and make these photos public – publish them on social networks. A person cannot resist this desire, so he constantly takes and publishes up to 6-10 pictures daily.

At the same time, psychiatrists distinguish several stages of this disorder:

The first stage is borderline, manifested in photographing oneself at least three times a day without the constant desire to publish pictures on the Internet.
The second stage is acute, characterized by several auto photo shoots a day with their publication on social networks.
The third stage is chronic, distinctive feature which is an uncontrollable desire to take photographs of oneself and publish them on the Internet.

An interesting fact is that the process of life and the impressions of it become unimportant to people. Secondary impressions from photographs come to the fore, which most often overpower the primary ones.

The desire to constantly photograph yourself can cause narcissism, a mental disorder characterized by constant self-admiration. Young people do not control their desires to admire themselves, examining their body parts in various poses and angles. Narcissism crosses internal boundaries and begins to demand that others admire their appearance, for which purpose they constantly publish pictures on social networks.

However, the competition for pictures on the Internet is quite high. The narcissist requires constant photo updates to keep him in the spotlight. Moreover, both the number of these photographs and their originality are taken into account.

Narcissism is fueled by constant attention, which is expressed in ratings, likes, and comments on social networks. The more positive ratings, the more self-esteem the “selfie-narcissist” will enjoy.

But if attention and narcissism begin to be determined by numerical indicators, then there is a need to constantly increase these numbers. However, the increase in the number of views and likes cannot be endless, which means that self-esteem will suffer from dissatisfaction and lack of recognition from others.

Selfie-narcissism is characterized by an uncontrollable desire to attract attention to oneself, in the pursuit of positive evaluations and admiration from others.

Selfie dysmorphophobia

This is the fundamental opposite of narcissism. A person with body dysmorphic disorder is extremely dissatisfied with his appearance and puts in a lot of effort to get the perfect photo, in other words, to see the ideal himself in the photo. At the same time, the girl and the boy are dissatisfied with their figure, face, and hair.

Bodysmorphophobia is characterized by a person's excessive preoccupation with the shortcomings of his appearance. These can be either individual flaws: a long nose, small eyes, large ears, etc., or a whole range of features. At the same time, a person is looking for that angle or pose in which flaws are not visible or obvious. In other words, a person thinks about his shortcomings for several hours a day. Such preoccupation is a sign of a serious mental disorder.

Signs of dysmorphophobia:

Constantly studying one's appearance by analyzing the reflection in the mirror or, conversely, the desire to avoid mirrors.
Preoccupation with one's appearance.
The belief that a person has special features of appearance that spoil or even disfigure him.
The belief that people around you have a negative attitude towards a person because of his appearance.
Desire for frequent use of cosmetic procedures.
Avoidance of “live” communication.
Constantly comparing one's own appearance with others.
Disguising your appearance under a layer of cosmetics or using clothing.
An obsessive desire to “improve” one’s appearance without visible results.

If we combine these signs with constant self-photographs, then a clinical picture of a mental disorder is evident.

The desire to take a spectacular selfie has caused many accidents. Modern statistics show us cases of deaths of spectacular self-portraits. Are there any excuses for taking selfies at the cost of your life? And why don’t young people feel the danger when taking selfies?

The reason is the deep mental disorder that characterizes the hobby of selfies. The desire for the perfect photo drowns out the instinct of self-preservation and leads to real disaster.

Self addiction

Currently, psychiatrists take self-addiction as seriously as alcoholism. Of course, a selfie does not destroy the human body, but it has an impact on the psyche, causing a number of concomitant mental and somatic disorders.

Self-addiction is a disorder that does not have medicinal methods treatment. Psychiatrists offer behavioral therapy, which is simply impossible to complete alone, especially young man at puberty.

If you notice self-addiction in your loved ones, then you should not try “old-fashioned” methods of treatment by prohibiting photo sessions. You need to get out of addiction gradually, not creating a void, but saturating the vacuum with other activities. This requires special cognitive therapy.

It is best to entrust treatment to a specialist: psychiatrist or psychotherapist. At the same time, deep support and understanding is required about loved ones.

Selfie, which first became widespread in 2002-2010, is now recognized by the vast majority of scientists as a disease. The American Psychiatric Association has sounded the alarm after a teenager named Danny Bowman attempted suicide. The boy tried to take his own life because he didn't like his selfies, after spending about 10 hours a day trying to take the perfect self-portrait. So is selfie addiction a real disease?

Reasons behind the selfie obsession

Scientists put forward different theories about the origin of such a hobby as selfies.

Symptom of body dysmorphic disorder

This symptom is a constant, unreasonable worry about one’s 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 one’s 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 the addiction to self-photography is complexes modern man and his lack of self-confidence. The fear of being lonely, unpopular, unrecognized gives rise to the desire to advertise oneself as a successful selfie. Such people strive to gain the sympathy of others, to assert themselves, and sometimes to be like their idols, because many world stars often post their selfies online.

People who are insecure are more prone to such hobbies than others. Many people strive to take photos in order to keep up with the general trend, many in order to present themselves from the most successful angle and thereby win more sympathy. This seemingly funny hobby eventually develops into a disease. 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 simply love themselves very much. 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 eventually develops into selfie addiction.

There are other theories about the emergence of a new disease. Among them: excessive dependence on society, social networks, obsessive thoughts, desire to attract attention.

Many scientists do not take selfies seriously, calling it just a temporary amusement for Internet residents, however, the majority still classifies frequent self-photographing as a number of mental illnesses.

Are selfies dangerous?

Photographing yourself is not dangerous in itself. However, if a person is overly dependent on selfies, then there is undoubtedly a threat to his health. The uncontrollable desire to take pictures of oneself can take an obsessed person far.

Over the past couple of years, “unusual” photos in extreme conditions have become especially popular. Thus, at least a hundred cases of death from thoughtless selfies have been recorded. People, especially teenagers, climbed onto the roofs of high-rise buildings, trains, and collapsing mountain slopes, putting loaded pistols to their heads, which subsequently fired. The absurd deaths could not help but add to the horror of the new hobby.

People addicted to selfies also died due to inattention: the need to take a photo distracted them from danger. There have been cases of accidents due to inappropriate self-photographing. This disease also affects a person's physical health. Patients lose pounds in an attempt to do Good photo, renounce the real world, which does not pass without a trace and is reflected in their eyes and skin.

Since the advent of the disease, treatment has been prescribed to more than 100 people every year. In particular, the popularity of smartphones with a high-quality front camera has increased, and a special selfie-stick has been created - a stick that makes it easier to photograph yourself. If we believe the forecasts, this addiction will either lose its popularity soon, or will continue to actively develop and become fully included in the list of mental illnesses.