Selfie addiction disease. Selfie - a bad habit or a disease? Self-mania: a disease or the art of self-expression Reasons for selfie obsession

“Let’s take a selfie?”, “Will you make yourself?”, “Get a stick, we’ll take a picture!” is heard from all sides. Selfie mania has taken over the world. Today I will talk about how photographing yourself affects our lives.

Selfies (English selfie, from “self” - oneself, oneself) are photographs that are taken most often on the front camera of a mobile phone. You can also take a selfie with a camera and a mirror and a selfie stick. By the way, the first such self-portraits were recorded back in 1900.

The first peak in the popularity of this kind of photographs was presented by the popular MySpace resource - in the 2000s, self-made pictures appeared quite often. The second wave of selfie popularity, which continues to this day, was reintroduced by the famous Instagram, where it is important to photograph EVERYTHING you see, eat or feel. The phenomenon of popularity of this kind of photography is clear to me: it is fast, simple, and the result is immediately visible. You don't have to ask anyone to take your picture. Now you yourself can see how you turn out and, in which case, quickly change the position, reshoot.

Celebrities are also pouring fuel into the fire of the flaming cult of "selfies". A picture of Dmitry Medvedev in an elevator on an iPhone has become a popular meme, giving rise to a great many parodies, the so-called “phototoads”.

Other celebrities also do not hesitate to take a picture of themselves on the front camera and post the results online. Moreover, social orientation is absolutely not important here! In general, in our age of technology, it is difficult to imagine a person who at least once did not do “himself” - even Pope Francis did not escape this.

Our smaller brothers do not lag behind fashion: dogs, cats, kangaroos, monkeys. Such photos of animals like selfies just blew up the Internet. Of course, animals can’t press the shutter button, so to take such a photo, it’s enough to click, for example, a cat when he stretches his paw towards the smartphone.

A new fashion vision for interesting selfies: the selfie statue. The pranksters at the ancient Greek museum decided to get creative with classical art and took a photo of the statues like a selfie:

Photos with statues have spread all over the Internet, and the new mainstream has rushed to the masses. Museum employees are not very happy with such an increase in those wishing to photograph ancient and not very sculptures. For example, in May of this year, selfie lovers in Italy broke the statue of Hercules.

Amid the new height of fashion, a monument to an Ottoman prince has been erected in Turkey: in the city of Amasya, crowds of tourists queue up to be photographed with the prince, who is photographing himself. The smartphone in the hand of the statue was broken by some vandals (it is possible that these are the same people who ruined the monument to Hercules in Italy), but this does not bother tourists at all.

Are selfies harmful? Real and Esoteric Answers

One can talk endlessly about the dangers of "selfies", however, as well as about their usefulness. People are ready to do anything to make a beautiful shot, because of which they periodically receive injuries of varying degrees of complexity, and some even lose their lives.

Ramon Gonzalez, the famous rapper, decided to take a selfie while driving his motorcycle. As a result, a departure into the oncoming lane and a collision with a car. Another case: the girl Silvia from Spain wanted to be photographed on the bridge. She climbed onto the ledge, holding on to it with one hand (the other, of course, was a smartphone). As a result, the girl's leg slipped, and she fell down onto a concrete support.

As you can see, selfies cause problems for people when they are focused on something that is not right. This happens for the following reasons: when we do something, for example, drive a car, our energy flows are tuned to a certain rhythm. Concentration may not be maximum, and in this case the setting saves us. But when we take a photo, the energy flows behave differently. We come out of a state of concentration, we try to relax and smile. And here is the situation: just now you were focused on one thing and then you are trying to relax, being distracted by a completely different thing (a photograph). This is unsafe and can lead to sad consequences. This is especially true for those people who do not know how to quickly switch energy flows, get out of depression for a long time and slowly give up habits.

In 2014, Roskomnadzor warned about the dangers of selfies. Allegedly, due to head contact, during a general photo, pediculosis and other diseases can be transmitted.

From an esoteric point of view, selfies do not harm our energy in any way if they are taken in the right place. But a photograph with your face against the background of something unpleasant will capture the information of that time forever. For example, a photo in an anomalous zone, even after a lapse of time, can influence your usual course of life with its energy. And this applies not only to personal photos.

As much as you want to look original amidst the worldwide selfie craze, remember that safety is paramount. The photograph itself does not cause harm - circumstances and inattention bring harm. Take pictures of friends, loved ones, pets as much as you want. After all, the more positive in shooting, the better! Take only safe selfies!

Finally, I will share my own selfie:

The selfie, which first became widespread in 2002-2010, is now recognized by the vast majority of scientists as a disease. The American Psychiatric Association sounded the alarm after the suicide attempt of a teenager named Danny Bowman. The boy tried to take his own life because he did not like his selfies, before that he spent about 10 hours a day trying to take the perfect self-portrait. So is selfie addiction a real disease?

Reasons for the selfie obsession

Scientists put forward different theories of the emergence of such a hobby as a selfie.

Dysmorphic disorder symptom

This symptom is a constant unreasonable concern about your body, about the presence of various infections and diseases in the body, and one of its manifestations is the fear that something is wrong with the appearance.

As a result, there is a constant obsessive desire to check your physical condition, as an option - through a photo. The push for selfies also gives the popularity of this activity, that is, the fact that it is "fashionable."

Self-doubt, complexes

The most likely reason for addiction to self-photography is the complexes of a modern person and his self-doubt. The fear of being lonely, unpopular, unrecognized gives rise to the desire to advertise oneself as a successful selfie. Such people strive to get the sympathy of others, to assert themselves, sometimes to be like their idols, because many world stars often post their selfies on the network.

Insecure people are more inclined towards such hobbies than others. Many tend to take photos in order to keep up with the general trend, many in order to expose themselves from the most successful angle and thereby win more sympathy. This seemingly funny hobby eventually develops into a disease. People can't tear themselves away from their smartphones, the problem comes to the fact that a person takes fifty photos a day.

predisposition to narcissism

There are people who just really love themselves. This love begins to influence both friends and social networks. Such people post photo after photo, trying to demonstrate themselves as much as possible. This form of narcissism eventually develops into selfie addiction.

There are other theories about the emergence of a new disease. Among them: excessive dependence on society, social networks, obsessive thoughts, the desire to attract attention.

Many scientists take selfies lightly, calling it just a temporary fun of the Internet, however, the majority still considers frequent self-photography to be a number of mental illnesses.

Are selfies dangerous?

Photographing yourself is not dangerous in and of itself. However, if a person is overly dependent on selfies, then there is undoubtedly a threat to his health. The uncontrollable urge to take pictures of oneself can take the possessed person far.

Over the past couple of years, "unusual" photos in extreme conditions have become especially popular. So, at least one hundred deaths from rash selfies were recorded. People, especially teenagers, climbed on the roofs of high-rise buildings, trains on collapsing mountain slopes, put loaded pistols to their temples, which subsequently fired. Ridiculous deaths could not help but add horror to the new hobby.

Selfie addicts also died because of inattention: the need to be photographed distracted them from danger. Cases of accidents due to inappropriate self-photography are known. This disease also affects the physical health of a person. Patients lose kilograms in an attempt to take a good photo, renounce the real world, which does not pass without a trace and is reflected in their eyes and skin.

With the advent of the disease, more than 100 people were prescribed treatment every year. In particular, the popularity of smartphones with a high-quality front camera has increased, a special selfie-stick has been created - a stick that makes it easier to photograph oneself. If you believe the forecasts, this addiction will either lose its popularity in the near future, or continue its active development and fully enter the list of mental illnesses.

Many tend to consider the constant posting of selfies a disease, a psychological disorder that needs to be treated. When does a way of self-expression turn into a disease? Where is this border?

Typical selfie, photo from the site sovets.net/3022-pozy-dlya-selfi.html

Photographing yourself

It's not a secret for anyone, the very word "selfie" is translated as "self" or "self". In fact, in modern parlance it has become synonymous with self-photography. There is nothing special about photographing yourself that indicates a psychological illness. It is quite logical that a person will take pictures of himself, for example, on a trip, since there will simply be no one to ask about it - in this situation, this is the only way to capture all the significant moments of the trip. Other pictures taken for the sake of remembering important events have a similar meaning. Posting photos on social networks is also not a sign of addiction either to selfies or to social networks themselves. Who doesn't post their photos? Almost everyone does it.

Psychological disorder

The problem arises when a person wants to take selfies all the time, when he simply cannot help but be photographed every day. This state of affairs can only be described as narcissism. In recent years, many teenagers have been addicted to selfies. Constantly taking pictures of yourself and posting almost identical pictures on social networks for the majority of the younger generation is becoming the norm. But what is the meaning of these actions?

Almost the same selfies, the number of which in the memory of gadgets is increasing every day, do not represent any aesthetic value. Self-mania is like a drug: a person takes pictures of everything and takes pictures of himself, he wants to take as many pictures as possible.

There is concern when people risk their lives for a spectacular selfie or try to commit suicide because they cannot take as many photos as they want.

Opinions of experts about what self-mania is are divided. Some people think it's a disease. The risk group includes those who take more than five selfies a day. Scientists associate the concept of "self-mania" with a transitional adolescence and an unstable psyche, and also identify it with narcissism and selfishness.

Other researchers are of the opinion that the constant desire to photograph yourself is just a way of self-expression, allowing you to establish yourself in your social circle.

The development of technology and the emergence of social networks have provided us with an obvious way to increase self-esteem: just take a photo of yourself, put it on public display and collect the treasured "hearts" - likes. In our handbags or pockets, there is always a smartphone or tablet that can be taken out at any time to take a good shot.

However, in some cases, seemingly harmless fun turns into an obsession. The desire to take an original photo leads a person to potentially dangerous places, and also motivates them to take risky actions.

So the fashionable hobby got a medical name - selfie addiction, which American psychologists recognized as one of the types of mental disorder, but in Russia this manifestation is referred to as addictive behavior.

How to recognize selfie addiction, and what measures to take to cure this fashionable disease, you will learn in our article.

First, let's look at the essence of the phenomenon. Selfies, also referred to on social media as “selfies” or “crossbows,” became a trend in 2013 and are still very popular with social media users to this day.

Mobile device manufacturers began to equip new models with a front camera so that everyone could take a self-portrait at any convenient moment. In addition, mirrors are used for selfies, and now special monopods, which allow you to increase the viewing angle of the camera, by fixing the smartphone on a long handle.

Some types of selfies have also acquired a separate name:

• photo with a loved one - selfie;
• photo of legs in different shoes on a beautiful background - shufiz;
• if in the photo the lips are folded in a tube and stretched forward, it is called duckface;
• frame-reflection in the mirror of the elevator - liftoluk;
• photo of your own buttocks - Belfi;
• extreme selfie - photos taken while doing extreme sports or under dangerous circumstances.

Why is there an obsessive desire to take a selfie?

Let's try to understand the causes of this strange fashion. What drives young people to take lots of photos of themselves and fill their social media accounts with them?

First of all, "self-photography" was carried away by teenagers. There is a simple explanation for this: in adolescence, the formation of the social self takes place. The question is put forward in the first place in importance: “How do others see me (especially peers and friends)?”.

Teenagers doubt their own attractiveness, their self-esteem is unstable, which is why they constantly want to know the opinions of society. A simple and always affordable way to get feedback from the environment is to take a selfie and post it on your page on a social network.

However, the virtual community very often gives an inadequate reaction in the form of insults, negative comments or indifference. Many automatically like all the photos in the feed. Thus, teenagers find themselves disoriented and look in vain for ways to get a positive reaction all the time, increasingly falling under the influence of the opinions of social network users.

If an adult is captured by selfie mania, this may indicate low self-esteem, infantilism, and a similar desire to gain the approval of society.

Signs of selfie addiction

The presence of a large number of selfies in the account in itself does not indicate illness. Research shows that selfie addiction can be identified by the following signs:

• taking at least three pictures of yourself a day;
• permanent posting of these photos on social networks;
• tracking the number of likes and comments.

Another characteristic is also spending a lot of time on taking selfies and giving it too much importance.

Distinguish between the initial, acute and chronic stages of the development of the disease. At the first stage, a person begins to take selfies more often and stores them on his phone, while in the acute stage, he or she constantly posts his or her self-portraits on social networks and monitors the reaction of society. At the chronic stage, the creation of "selfies" becomes an obsession, and the inability to take a picture of oneself or post a photo is very painful, can cause mood swings and poor health.

What causes selfie mania?

The obvious consequences of selfie addiction are unstable self-esteem and a tendency to narcissism, as well as wasted time spent creating and posting photos.

In addition, selfie mania can push you to take risky actions. In pursuit of a good shot, teenagers and adults forget about reality and do not think about the possible consequences.

Infatuated with self-photography, a person may overlook warning signs or climb to heights where any awkward movement is a potential risk of injury. So, many get broken arms and legs.

Sometimes the desire to get a unique shot can even be fatal. In America, this happened to a 22-year-old guy named Meng who wanted to take a photo with a box of fireworks on his head.

In Russia, accidents have also begun to occur against the backdrop of selfie addiction.

How to cure selfie addiction?

If you have found in yourself or your friend all the signs of the described disease, we recommend that you immediately contact a psychologist. A qualified specialist will help you understand the causes of its occurrence and give recommendations that will allow you to change your attitude to selfies and forget about obsessive thoughts. In especially severe cases, drug therapy may be prescribed.

However, if you wish, you can try to overcome the developing addiction on your own. To this end, psychologists recommend taking the following actions.

• Get a notebook and pen or take notes on your smartphone in which to write down your feelings and thoughts, especially in those moments when the desire arises to take a selfie.
• Get in the habit of planning your time - making a schedule for the day and a plan of affairs. It is important to limit the possibility of photographing by setting a time limit and a fixed number of frames.
• As an alternative to virtual communication, you should try to find hobbies and like-minded people in real life. It can be dancing, creative or sports activities, meetings with friends, classmates, and so on.

If your real life is rich and interesting enough, there will be no place for selfie addiction. The main thing is to actively spend your time so that you simply have no time to pick up a smartphone.

We don't like them, but we do them anyway. We look askance at those who do this, but sometimes we ourselves become like them. Admit it, we all take selfies. And about why we do this - in our article.

How it all began

Since ancient times, when there were no smartphones with a front camera yet, people looked at themselves in all reflective surfaces - water, dishes, mirrors, and so on. And they did it not only in order to monitor their appearance. Later, too enthusiastic looking at one's own image began to be condemned as narcissism, but people, no, no, yes, showed their tongues to their reflections against the public will.

Keeping pace with progress, humanity learned to take self-portraits first on canvas, then on antediluvian cameras with magnesium flashes, then on the “soap dishes” we are used to, and later managed to make self-portraits even with the help of heavy digital cameras. But all this was not given much importance, until people had at their disposal the most convenient and perfect device for "self-saws" - mobile phones.

Front cameras, which appeared in phones for video calls, quickly got another use - selfies. And this phenomenon, like an infection, like a snowball, spread, grew and captured more and more new horizons, until we got to the point that at the Oscars ceremony in 2014, the host of the show, Ellen DeGeneres, invited some guests to take a group photo on her sponsored smartphone.

After this picture, everyone seemed to have completely lost their minds. Even the most ardent opponents of "self-photography" were forced to admit that the selfie has firmly entered our lives and has become almost normal. But is it really that bad?

Modern insanity or global psychotherapy

Now people around the world have hundreds of phone models at their disposal that can take not just a picture with a mediocre front camera, but a quite efficient self-portrait, focused and illuminated with a flash, if necessary.

Smartphone app stores such as App Store with its recent thematic selection, there are endless varieties of programs. Some of them are able to improve even the most unsuccessful shots, others can add the desired effects. All these applications are aimed at making beautiful selfie to collect likes. After all, it is for the sake of this that we are taking all these photographs.

It is vital for a person, as a kind of social animal, to be recognized, seen and noticed. And the "self-saws" are made specifically to share them with friends and everyone who is interested in them. And as soon as the author of a selfie receives likes for his picture, recognition and admiration trigger a psychological mechanism due to which we begin to do what the encouragement brought us, more and more. Such psychotherapy makes people more productive in many ways, not just in the ability to take self-portraits. So it’s safe to say that selfies are practically psychological tool, motivating people not only to look better, but also to be better. Suddenly? Further more.

Dr. Selfie or how I stopped being afraid and fell in love with the front camera

Absolutely all categories of citizens are subject to the phenomenon of narcissism. All boys and girls, young and old, make at least a couple of their own portraits almost every day, and from now on it is absolutely normal and even useful.

For example, selfie has taken root in the field of socially vulnerable people - teenagers and pensioners. For the first selfies, they became an integral part of life and communication, because it is not for nothing that the young audience supplies the Internet with the largest share of all self-saws. As for the second, I suggest you remember about grandmothers and grandfathers, who lead an active life in their 60+ on both sides of the screen. With the help of selfies in their optimistic instagrams, they not only remind their offspring of themselves, but also bask in the rays of their own significance and usefulness, while collecting likes.

Well, the last positive effect of a selfie is the opportunity for each of us to perceive ourselves as both a subject and an object of creativity at the same time. According to psychologists, photographing yourself alone with yourself allows you to practically be both a director and an actor on your personal set. This is an opportunity to show oneself not only as the owner of a certain set of qualities and things, but also as a feeling subject, the ability to simultaneously perceive and be perceived - yourself.

Such a two-sided perception helps society as a whole and each individual in particular to learn to more fully perceive not only their own emotions, but also the emotional state of other “selfie lovers”. So, selfies actually help us understand each other better, no matter how unexpected such a conclusion may seem.

The most affordable medicine

So it's time to confess to yourself, ladies and gentlemen. We need selfies. As a preventive procedure, for example, medication in some way. Or at least in order not to dissolve in a huge stream of media that has flooded the entire human Internet. Thanks to our self-portraits, we constantly remind everyone who is interested in us. We indulge our own vanity and vanity, counting the “hearts” and comments that have flocked to our selfies. Together with self-portraits, we create ourselves, who we want to see and who we strive to become. We are chasing fame in order to feel needed and significant in the virtual world, if this feeling is not enough in real life.