People Who Love Taking Selfies Said to Have Mental Disorder, Researchers Say

“Selfitis” – or the obsession with taking selfies – appears to be a genuine mental condition, research has suggested. Now, psychologists have devised a self test which you can take to see where you fit on the “selfitis” scale.

Borderline selfitis occurs when people take selfies at least three times a day, but do not post them on social media. Someone is classed as acute if more than three are taken and actually posted online. To be deemed a chronic selfie-taker, you’d have to feel an uncontrollable urge to take photos of yourself around the clock, posting them to Facebook and Instagram more than six times a day. Yes, there are people out there who actually do this!

This research was carried out with a scale, which runs from one to 100. It was compiled after tests were done on focus groups with 200 participants that looked at what factors drove the condition of “selfitis”. Then, the team tested out the scale by carrying out a survey on 400 participants. The research, which was published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, took part in India, the country that has the most Facebook users. Aside from that, India shockingly also has had the highest number of selfie-related deaths, where a person dies while trying to take a picture of themselves, according to research published in July.

The study, which looked at figures from March 2014 and September 2016, discovered the country accounted for 60 per cent of all such mortalities. The physiologists found that typical “selfitis” sufferers were attention seekers and often lacked self confidence. They constantly post images of themselves in hope that they boost their social credentials and to feel part of a group.

So, apparently “selfitis” is something people do suffer from! Got anyone in mind? Also read: Teen Busy Taking Selfie on Railway Track Gets Hit by Train, Suffers Severe Injuries