Should I Worry About The Mental Health Of Selfie Lovers?

Have you worried before about the mental health of selfie lovers? I worried about my mental health as a selfie lover.

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I have been called an old soul on multiple occasions. Sometimes, it is a compliment, which means that I am wiser than my peers. Other times, however, it indicates that I am slow when it comes to technology.

The reason for the latter is that I do not enjoy taking and posting selfies or using social media channels to flaunt them. No offense to anyone, but I cringe at the thought of posing for the camera every day and updating the world about what I am doing, eating, or wearing. Although I love myself, I don’t think I am too important for my Facebook and Instagram friends to want to see me post selfies multiple times daily. Narcissism just isn’t in my blood, I think. Although I’m also not saying that people are posting selfies because of narcissism, it’s different.

Developing My Selfie Loving Practice

Now, my little sister has an opposite view about posting selfies. Ever since we gave her the latest iPhone as a reward for doing well in school, we have often seen her holding it up at different angles, taking and posting pictures of herself. Sometimes, when we dine out, she stops us from digging in until all our orders have arrived because she wants to take pictures of them on camera, too. And it has become a bit dreadful to go on trips with her because of her selfie taking. She feels the need to take 50 or more selfies at every spot in the location.

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Then, once we come home, no one can talk to my little sister for a solid two hours. It is not because she goes to her bedroom and locks herself there; it is because of her selfie habits. She ignores everyone while trying to pick the best photos to post on social media. By this point, it’s almost like she has a mental health addiction to taking and posting selfies. She typically says, “It is a full-time job to try to look good for the camera. You wouldn’t understand it, guys.”

My usual reply to that is, “Finally! We now have something to agree on.” My sister is right – I genuinely do not understand why most people waste hours selfie taking then going through and editing photos that contain their faces. It is not as if they are models or professional photographers who get paid to do it. No, they merely love being in front of the camera and perhaps seeing their faces often on pictures.

Do I Need To Worry About The Mental Health Of Selfie Lovers?

Since I share a home with a young selfie lover – and my parents are more helpless than me tech-wise – they have tasked me to figure out what is possibly going on in my little sister’s head. My parents even tried to confiscate my sister’s phone once to make her stop taking and posting photos – the latter wailed and whined as if she had lost a limb or a loved one. They do not think that her behavior is normal; they worry that excessive selfie lovers mental health is affected by taking and posting too many photos.

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I do not think my little sister will go to a disorder or addiction psychologist with me without giving in to the urge of posting selfies and photos there. So, I have decided to go to the clinic by myself to start talking to a professional for advice diagnosis or treatment and additional information. I laid out everything we found odd about her actions and showed her my sister’s social media pages. 

After browsing her profiles for a few minutes, the psychologist says, “Let me tell you the positive points that I have seen first. For one, your sister does not post photos of herself in skimpy clothes or while posing provocatively. Many teenagers tend to do otherwise when they seek attention or affection from others, especially if they cannot get it at home.”

Relieved that attention seeking and narcissism are out of the way, I smile and ask the psychologist to continue. 

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She adds, “Another thing that you may have also noticed is that your little sister hardly uses filters. You told me that she scans too many selfies and merely picks one or two out of them, but she does not deem to alter it too much. Her freckles are still visible; she does not hide her baby fats or wear makeup in some photos. It likely indicates that she posts them because she happy to share them with her friends and family.”

“So, are you saying that there is nothing to worry about now?” I ask.

“Oh no, there still is. Your little sister may have a healthy mind now, but being exposed to social media and taking selfies daily may keep her from making good decisions later. And as you have said, she forgets to interact with you and your parents when she is too focused on her phone and deemed to see it as her life. It may eventually form a barrier between you, which is not ideal for any family.”

“What should we do?”

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The mental disorder psychologist suggests, “You can try talking to your sister about your worries and explain why you want to limit their cellphone usage. Doing so will keep her from being rebellious and acting up. Ideally, she will listen to you and reduce her selfie hours so that you can bond as a family.” That’s her diagnosis or treatment

Six Months Later

I shared what the psychologist advice diagnosis to my parents, and we conducted a little intervention on the same day. Of course, my little sister protested in the beginning, saying that we were taking away her happiness. But I corrected her and said, “You can still go on taking selfies and posting them online – that’s okay. However, there will be a cellphone curfew because we miss talking and catching up with you. We haven’t done much of that because of your new hobby.”

As more days passed, my sister found a balance between her life and her love for selfies.

As for the visit with the psychologist, I was relieved that my sister’s posting habits didn’t seem borne from narcissism, low self confidence, or a new mental disorder. If anything, she seemed like she wanted to post better memories online. But again it was a bit worrying because there is actually such a thing as “selfitis,” and it’s not something made by satire pages like Adobo Chronicles. In fact, there is a “selfitis behavior scale,” supported by the American Psychiatric Association. Again, not satirical like Adobo Chronicles. This scale tackles how often someone is posting selfies, and it is supported by the American Psychiatric Association. And I think this time with regards to health and addiction, the behavior they’re talking about might be related to narcissism. If not narcissism, it might be depression or anxiety disorder. Perhaps it could be a different mental health disorder altogether.

In truth it is not just about selfie addiction; too much social media use is scary. This is because it can possibly lead to a host of mental health disorders, such as bipolar disorder, personality disorder or others alike. It can cause teenagers and adults alike to have a low self esteem and self confidence. Current beauty standards can also push some people to fall to self objectification and develop the obsessive compulsive desire to fit into a mold, possibly leading to eating disorders, depression, narcissism, and even lower self confidence. So, check up on the mental health of selfie lovers as they might actually be suffering from a mental health disorder or developing a disorder.

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