Selfitis: An obsessive compulsive disorder of taking too many selfies
By NewsGram Staff Writer
The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has officially deemed taking selfies as a "mental disorder".
The APA made this classification during its annual board of directors meeting in Chicago recently. Giving the name "selfitis" to the disorder, the APA defined the disorder as a type of an obsessive compulsive disorder to take one's own pictures and post them on social media. They also stated that this condition is a mechanism used by people to make up for their low self esteem and increase intimacy with other people.
According to the APA, there are three levels of selfitis,
- Borderline Selfitis: Taking selfies at least three times a day, but not posting them on the social media.
- Acute Selfitis: Taking selfies at least three times a day, and sharing them all on social media.
- Chronic Selfitis: It is defined as an uncontrollable urge to take one's own pictures round the clock and posting them on social media platforms more than six times a day.
Recently, the term "Selfitis" also made it into the Oxford Dictionary of English according to a website.
Makati City, a city in Philippines was named the "selfie capital of the world" by Time magazine recently. This news of selfies being looked at as a mental disorder, might make things dismal for this Filipino city.