SELFITIS — OBSESSIVELY TAKING SELFIES — SEEMS TO BE A REAL MENTAL DISORDER

A 2014, hoax story claimed that the American Psychiatric Association had declared ‘selfitis’ — the obsessive taking of selfies on phones — to be a mental disorder. An international team of researchers from the UK and India have investigated the phenomenon and have concluded that the disorder could well exist. The researchers conducted 225 interviews to create a Selfitis Behaviour Scale, then found a study group of 734 students to fit into the scale, which consists of three severities: borderline, acute and chronic. Amongst the participants of the study, 34% were borderline, 40.5% acute and 25.5% had chronic selfitis, with men being the major sufferers at 57.5%. The researchers also identified factors that cause selfitis, including social competition, attention seeking and mood, amongst others. They concede that the study had its limitations and that something like selfitis could well be a problem and requires further attention.