Alert with selfies: they can be a symptom of a mental disorder

The obsession to take pictures of oneself may be related to Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

As a consequence of technological advances, social networks and the presence of photo cameras in practically all cell phones, selfies have become a hot topic in recent years, selfies are a hot topic nowadays.

Selfies and mental disorder

Both famous and anonymous people enjoy immortalizing "that moment" in different situations of their daily lives. Selfie fever has led researchers at Sony Brook University in New York to conclude that the excessive use of this fad may lead to a predisposition to develop an anxiety and depressive disorder in adolescents, especially in females, who are more likely to develop anxiety and depression.The selfie fever has led researchers at Sony Brook University in New York to conclude that the excessive use of this fad can lead to a predisposition to develop anxiety disorder and depression in adolescents, especially in women, who tend to compare their realities with those they see in this "ideal" world of social networks.

Many experts warn us of the association between narcissism or low self-esteem and the obsession to take this kind of pictures.

The selfie phenomenon can become a sign of Body Dysmorphic Disorder.

Dr David Veale, a psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in London, comments in a recent article published in the Sunday Mirror: "Two out of three patients who come to my practice with Body Dysmorphic Disorder have an obsession with selfies".

According to Veale,

"Taking selfies is not an addiction, it is a symptom of Body Dysmorphic Disorder that involves being constantly aware of their appearance. Fans of selfies can spend hours taking snapshots so as not to show any visible flaws."

Selfies in the image society

Along the same lines, psychologist Jonathan García-Allena specialist in cognitive-behavioral therapy for adolescents, has declared to Psychology and Mind:

"Selfies are a consequence of the culture and socioeconomic system in which we live. We have been educated to consume aesthetics, leisure and spectacle because they are axial elements of a society that tends to the alienation of people and the normativization of certain criteria on beauty and entertainment. Undoubtedly, the interest of these dynamics of alienation-consumption constitute a very profitable business".

On the psychological disorders associated with the culture of image and consumerism, García-Allen and consumption, García-Allen points out that:

"It is not surprising that people's values in the West are influenced by the media and the marketing of the big companies in these sectors. This culture leads to a series of disorders if people are not educated to prevent this way of thinking. The pathologies associated with the new technologies will increase to the extent that they tend to detract the subject's genuine identity to expose it to a false showcase of social acceptance, whose maximum exponent is the social networks".

Therefore, García-Allen concludes, "the main problem is not the new technologies.the main problem is not the new technologies, but the pathological use of them".".