'Selfitis' - an addiction to taking selfies - could be a real condition, say psychologists
'Selfitis', a concept coined as a spoof in 2014, might actually bear some truth, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
The term is used to describe an addiction to taking selfies and now researchers have looked into whether it could be classed as a real condition. This is the latest study into a range of technological illnesses that have developed during the digital age. Nomophobia, for example, is the phobia of not having a mobile phone to hand.
The paper was written by Dr. Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction at Nottingham Trent University, and Madurai-based Janarthanan Balakrishnan and published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.
The pair looked at the behaviour of 400 people using social media in India to determine if the condition was a real thing. The ｃountry was chosen because it currently has the highest number of Facebook users in the world but also the highest number of deaths as a result of trying to take selfies in dangerous locations.
The scientists developed a ‘Selfitis Behaviour Scale’ which was used to assess the severity of the condition and determine what causes people to become addicted to taking selfies. The scale ran from one to 100 and it was found that people can suffer from three different levels of Selfitis.
The “borderline” level applies to people who take three selfies a day but don’t post them online. “Acute” applies to those who actually post them and “chronic” is when someone takes selfies consistently and posts them online more than six times in a day. Factors which provoke the condition included lacking self-confidence, attention seeking and social competition.
Dr. Griffiths says: "This study arguably validates the concept of Selfitis and provides benchmark data for other researchers to investigate the concept more thoroughly and in different contexts.
"The concept of selfie-taking might evolve over time as technology advances, but the six identified factors that appear to underlie Selfitis in the present study are potentially useful in understanding such human-computer interaction across mobile electronic devices."
Article Source: https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/health/what-is-selfitis-addicted-to-selfies-a3720106.html
Image Source: https://informationstrategyrsm.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/woody-selfie.jpg?w=479
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Coin (v.) ~ invent or devise (a new word or phrase)
2. Spoof (n.) ~ a humorous imitation of something, typically a film or a particular genre of film, in which its characteristic features are exaggerated for comic effect
3. Assess (v.) ~ evaluate or estimate the nature, ability, or quality of
4. Severity (n.) ~ the fact or condition of being severe
5. Arguably (adv.) ~ it may be argued (used to qualify the statement of an opinion or belief)
6. Benchmark (n.) ~ a standard or point of reference against which things may be compared or assessed
7. Provoke (v.) ~ stimulate or give rise to (a reaction or emotion, typically a strong or unwelcome one) in someone
8. Underlie (v.) ~ be the cause or basis of (something)
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. According to the article, what is the ｃountry with the highest number of Facebook users and death because of taking selfies in dangerous places?
2. Have you heard of 'extreme selfies'? What does it mean?
3. What are the factors that could provoke people to become addicted to selfies?
4. If 'selfitis' is a real psychological disorder, what do you think are the possible ways of treating the problem?
