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Selfitis: An obsessive compulsive disorder of taking too many selfies

June 29, 2015

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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.

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‘Don’t Sensationalize or Glamorize Suicide’ Asserts WHO ; Says Media Can Play a Significant Role in Preventing Suicides

WHO scientists assert that journalists can help overcome this taboo by encouraging people to seek help and to speak openly about their distress

NewsGram

September 11, 2017

Geneva, September 11, 2017 : The World Health Organization reports about 800,000 people commit suicide every year. To mark this year’s World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10), WHO is stressing the important role the media can play in stopping people from taking their own lives.

Worldwide, every 40 seconds, someone takes their own life. The World Health Organization reports for every suicide, 20 others, mainly young people, attempt to take their own lives. WHO says suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15 to 29 year olds.

It finds most suicides, more than 78 percent, occur in low-and middle-income countries and risk factors include mental disorders, particularly depression and anxiety resulting from alcohol use.

WHO cites growing evidence that the media can play a significant role in preventing suicide by reporting responsibly on these tragedies.

Scientist in WHO’s department of mental health and substance abuse, Alexandra Fleischmann tells VOA people are often reluctant to talk about suicide because of the stigma attached. She says journalists can help to overcome this taboo by encouraging people to seek help and to speak openly about their distress.

“It is also important to stress that the encouragement to work with the media and not just to talk about the don’ts. Don’t put it in the headlines,” she said. “Don’t put the picture of the person who died. Don’t sensationalize it. Don’t glamorize it.”

WHO warns irresponsible reporting of this sort often can trigger copycat suicides or increase the risk.

The UN health agency reports the most common methods of suicide are self-poisoning with pesticide and firearms. It says many of these deaths could be prevented by restricting access to these means. (VOA)

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World

Mayor of Amatrice slams People who pose for selfies on quake-stricken central Italian mountainside town’s Ruined Buildings

NewsGram

April 19, 2017

Earthquake-Pictures-54 — Earthquake (representational image), wikimedia

Amatrice (Italy), April 18, 2017: The Mayor of Amatrice has attacked people who pose for selfies on the quake-stricken central Italian mountainside town’s ruined buildings.

“I invite people to come here to experience our mountains and scenery which are amazing. But no one should come here to take selfies on the rubble,” Sergio Pirozzi told Italy’s TG3 news bulletin.

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“If they do, I’ll get rather furious.

“Today I caught someone taking a selfie and told him to clear off in no uncertain terms,” he added.

The medieval town’s historic centre was flattened by a magnitude 6.2 earthquake last August that killed 300 people in mountainous central Italy, 238 of them in Amatrice. -(IANS)

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Taking and sharing smiling selfies can help one become a happier person, say Scientists at California University

Researchers collected nearly 2,900 mood measurements during the study and found that subjects in all three groups experienced increased positive moods

NewsGram

September 14, 2016

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friends-409403_960_720 — Women taking selfies on beach. Pixabay

Chen and her colleagues designed and conducted a four-week study involving 41 college students
The project involved three types of photos to help the researchers determine how smiling, reflecting and giving to others might impact users’ moods
The study shows that sometimes our gadgets can offer benefits to users

New York, Sep 14, 2016: Taking smiling selfies with your smartphone and sharing them with your friends can help make you a happier person, say computer scientists at the University of California, Irvine.

“This study shows that sometimes our gadgets can offer benefits to users,” said senior author Gloria Mark, Professor of Informatics.

“Our research showed that practicing exercises that can promote happiness via smartphone picture-taking and sharing can lead to increased positive feelings for those who engage in it,” lead author Yu Chen, a post-doctoral scholar, added.

By conducting exercises via smartphone photo technology and gauging users’ psychological and emotional states, the researchers found that the daily taking and sharing of certain types of images can positively affect people.

Chen and her colleagues designed and conducted a four-week study involving 41 college students.

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The participants — 28 female and 13 male — were instructed to continue their normal day-to-day activities (going to class, doing schoolwork, meeting with friends, etc.) while taking part in the research.

Each was invited to the informatics lab for an informal interview and to fill out a general questionnaire and consent form. The scientists helped students load a survey app onto their phones to document their moods during the first “control” week of the study.

Participants used a different app to take photos and record their emotional states over the following three-week “intervention” phase.

The project involved three types of photos to help the researchers determine how smiling, reflecting and giving to others might impact users’ moods.

The first was a selfie to be taken daily while smiling. The second was an image of something that made the photo taker happy. The third was a picture of something the photographer believed would bring happiness to another person (which was then sent to that person). Participants were randomly assigned to take photos of one type.

Researchers collected nearly 2,900 mood measurements during the study and found that subjects in all three groups experienced increased positive moods.

Some participants in the selfie group reported becoming more confident and comfortable with their smiling photos over time, said the study published in the journal Psychology of Well-Being.

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The students taking photos of objects that made them happy became more reflective and appreciative.

And those who took photos to make others happy became calmer and said that the connection to their friends and family helped relieve stress. (IANS)

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