Fixated on Taking Selfies? You Might Have these Psychological Issues
By: Aravind Balakrishnan
Tags: Technology, Mental Health, Psychology, Culture, Social Media

Fixated on Taking Selfies? You Might Have these Psychological Issues

#2 needs to be fixed right now

Photo by Cristina Zaragoza on Unsplash

Is that the picture of a glass of milk? No, that’s a glass of black tea taken in my uber-cool new selfie camera!Apparently, the camera doesn’t like the ‘dark’ tone.

I know that joke is a bit of a stretch, but selfie cameras and the Artificial Intelligence powering them, have come close to creating a near-perfect version of anything it captures. They remove the spots, patch the scars, pull the beauty filters, and do a million things you can’t imagine.



Take a stroll down the mobile shop, see how the industry has raced to near saturation in selfie technology. The punch hole camera, the twin optics, the lens that magically appears from nowhere, all sorts of innovation within a tiny space at the top of your 6-inch device. We happily pay a premium for them. And we revel in posting selfies.

But does taking selfies mean you have some psychological condition?

After all, it’s a harmless means of fun that doesn’t poke into someone’s territory. Your face. Your camera. Your rules.

But let me tell you that taking excessive selfies can be an indication of an underlying psychological problem. But here is the million-dollar question: What’s ‘excessive’? What is the limit one has to cross to be bothered about it?

How much is too much?

The American Psychiatric Association (APA), in a study, confirms three levels of disorders linked to an excessive affinity for selfies.

The Borderline: Taking (atleast) three selfies a day, but not posting them on social media. The Acute: Taking (atleast) three selfies a day and posting them all on social media. Chronic: An uncontrollable urge to take selfies all day and post them (atleast) six times a day.

The author calls such people with an excessive affinity for selfies as SELFITIS.

So based on the above measure, are you a selfitis? Even if you are not one, I will encourage you to read further. I will tell you four reasons why people show a craving for taking selfies. No offence.

#1 You Could be a narcissist!

“The narcissist enjoys being looked at and not looking back.” — Mason Cooley

A narcissist is a person who pursues gratification from vanity or egotistic admiration of one’s perfect self-image.

From blowing his own trumpet to an outright exhibition of arrogance, a narcissist would seek to build his image, and no wonder selfies occur to him as a convenient tool.

To maintain his own meticulous and perfect image, a narcissist has to post his flawless pictures. While letting someone handle the camera can go, either way, the ability to control his picture, with the perfect angle and the right looks, gives him the necessary control that allows him to have the image exactly as he wanted it.

Besides, narcissists are also people who want them to be considered special. A selfie lets him be the lone subject of a photograph and feeds his craving to be the star. It allows them to set the exact public image they yearn for.

A study published in The Open Psychology Journal, done by researchers from Swansea University and Milan University, confirms the link between selfie craving and narcissism. Out of the 74 test subjects in the study, those who used social media through excessive visual posting showed a 25% increase in narcissistic traits.

#2 Do You have problems presenting your body?

Low self esteem involves imagining the worst that other people can think about you. — Roger Ebert

Many people are not impressed by the way they look, and much like a narcissist, they want to be in control of their images, albeit for a different reason.

From being fat to having a slightly long nose, there is a myriad of details about themselves they would like to either hide or project. In my part of the world, fair skin is another illusion that’s coveted. And hence the cams that turn black coffee to milk!

Selfie looms in the air as a rescue for all such people nursing a low self-image, for you can have the ‘perfect’ shot to your design.

They adjust the angle, tweak the settings, put the filters, and use every big and small feature to ensure that what they don’t want is not captured and what they want is standing out and staring at the beholder.

In a study published on Sciencedirect.com, done with a participation of 259 young women, it was found that social networking sites’ selfie activities are linked with body-related and eating concerns.

However, such negative impressions of oneself can work the other way round too.

For instance, if you have abysmal self-esteem, so much that you think your ‘poor looks’ cannot be fixed with any advanced effect of your smartphone, you might entirely withdraw from the act of taking selfies.

#3 How is your social life going?

A healthy social life is found only, when in the mirror of each soul the whole community finds its reflection, and when in the whole community the virtue of each one is living. — Rudolf Steiner

If you take a lot of selfies and are alone in most of them, you better ask this question yourself.

Ideally, a picture should be taken to cherish a special moment. But if most of your selfies are not encompassing such moments and instead show you in different backgrounds, it could be a strong indication that you are not entirely content with your social life. Perhaps you yearn to mix more but just cannot.

Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol, who researched the connection between personal characteristics and selfie addiction, says that selfies are meant to improve self-disclosure and social communication on social media sites, and therefore, essential for those who experience loneliness.

Posting pictures and getting feedback from social media websites can enhance their social communication. However, the approach can backfire as relationships erected through social media communications can often be shallow. This could further worsen your loneliness.

Your loneliness can have several reasons behind it. It is possible that you recently broke up with your partner or that you have social anxiety issues. It makes sense for you to build a healthy social life or address the core issue, rather than seeking temporary relief in selfies.

#4 Look at me!

Seek respect, not attention. It lasts longer.

Some people can’t get enough attention and approval. Taking your pictures and engaging them on social media is one of the easiest methods to draw eyeballs towards you. Besides, with all those filters and smiley faces, you can build a ‘my-life-is-cooler-than-yours’ aura around you.

For such people, their mind perceives the ‘likes’ and ‘reactions’ they receive as a token of acceptance. Needless to say, if your self worth is invested in someone else’s opinion about you, you will end up living a life to impress. You will seldom listen to your inner calls.

Besides, such attention-seeking behavior, in the long run, may adversely affect your self-confidence.

For instance, if one of your pictures fails to draw the same successful results as your previous one did, suddenly, you may start doubting yourself. “Have people stopped loving me” “Don’t I look good in that photo” a million questions erupt.

In an article published in psychologytoday.com, the author, Martin Graff Ph.D., says that attention-seeking may be one of the main reasons people take selfies and use social media. He adds that people would do so to feel more popular.

Letting others’ opinion dictate your life is not the way to live. If you are posting more selfies to gain attention, you need to rethink your priorities.

Final thoughts

If you go through the image gallery of your smartphone, rest assured, you are going to find quite a few selfies. But that wouldn’t make you a sefitist or an addict. You have already read the parameters of becoming an addict. If you don’t fit that profile, you have nothing to worry about.

However, if you are overly drawn to your front camera, with an irresistible temptation to post them on social media, there are things to ponder. You have to start introspecting now!