Scientists Link Selfies To Narcissism, Addiction &
Mental Illness April 7, 2014 by Joe Martino
You’ve seen it thousands of times on Facebook and other social media
outlets, there is even a song on the radio about it! Selfies have become
a huge trend in social media and psychiatrists and mental health workers
are linking them to mental health conditions related to narcissism and a
person’s obsession with their looks.
According to psychiatrist Dr David Veal: “Two out of three of all the
patients who come to see me with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since the
rise of camera phones have a compulsion to repeatedly take and post selfies on social media sites.”
“Cognitive behavioural therapy is used to help a patient to recognize the reasons for his or her
compulsive behaviour and then to learn how to moderate it,” he told the Sunday Mirror.
I’ve personally seen this with some of my own friends. They might take several selfies over and over
again until they find the right one. Picking out details about their eyebrows, skin, noses, smiles, teeth,
hair and so forth, all in an attempt to find the perfect angle to make the perfect picture. Even looking
at how most of us choose our profile pictures on Facebook and other social media sites is a huge
process. Believe it or not, as harmless as these acts all seem, they build up over time to create and
create great forms of self-consciousness and false sense of confidence. Instead of being okay with
who we are no matter what, we strive to find the right picture with all the perfect details. The more likes
we get on social media sites the happier we feel. Is this sustainable? Basing our happiness on our
profile picture or selfie picture performance?
How far can the selfie obsession go? A British male teenager went to the extent of trying to commit
suicide after he was unable to take what he felt was the perfect selfie. Danny Bowman became so
obsessed with capturing the perfect shot that he would spend roughly 10 hours per day taking up to
200 selfies trying to get the perfect shot. As things got more and more intense for Danny, he lost
nearly 30 pounds, dropped out of school and did not leave the house for six months as he kept trying
for the perfect picture. During his suicide attempt, Bowman was saved by his mother.
“I was constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie and when I realized I couldn’t, I wanted to die.
I lost my friends, my education, my health and almost my life,” he told The Mirror.
While this is an extreme case, it isn’t too far off from what goes through many of the minds of young,
and even older, people as they take pictures of themselves for social media. Seeing other people’s
pictures, seeing the attention they may or may not get, we end up comparing ourselves and the fine
details of our looks. Overtime, an obsession builds and our looks become increasingly more
important to us. Something I feel we should be focusing less and less on versus more and more.
“Selfies frequently trigger perceptions of self-indulgence or attention-seeking social dependence that
raises the damned-if-you-do and damned-if-you-don’t spectre of either narcissism or very low selfesteem,” said Pamela Rutledge in Psychology Today.
Narcissism, being obsessed with receiving recognition and gratification from ones looks, vanity and in
an egotistical manner, is becoming a big problem in our digital age. I personally feel a big part of this
stems from judgement of self, judgement of others and pop culture. There is a huge lack of addressing
these personal issues within the education system or other programs youth and other young people
have access to. We focus so much on educating a person to become a trained member of society, but
we do nothing for their own personal development as a person. This is a very important aspect of
personal development that I feel should be at the forefront of our education system.
The addiction to selfies has also alarmed health professionals in Thailand. “To pay close attention to
published photos, controlling who sees or who likes or comments them, hoping to reach the greatest
number of likes is a symptom that ‘selfies’ are causing problems,” said Panpimol Wipulakorn, of the
Thai Mental Health Department.
The doctor believed that behaviours could generate more mental issues in the future, especially
those related to lack of confidence.
The next time you go to post an image of yourself online, or even when you go out for the day, observe
yourself and find out how much of your thoughts are based on how you look, what you think others
will think of you and how you might be using your looks to try and make you feel good for a short
period of time. From there you can work on accepting every aspect of who you are as being perfect
and as it needs to be without needing to look outside yourself for self-love. You are much more than
your looks.