Millions of people take selfies, some more than others. And some, take an obsessive and unhealthy amount of selfies.
According to a recent study, it has been discovered that taking an excessive amount of selfies is linked to various mental illnesses, such as, narcissism and addiction.
People take selfies of themselves to post on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok and Twitter. Typically, this is done in order to gain likes, comments and to garner some attention.
This behavior is associated with narcissism. A condition where you pursue too much gratification on your physical appearances and abilities.
Researchers also found that posting a ton of selfies is closely related to psychopathy. Now this doesn’t mean that if you post a ton of selfies that you are a 100% psychopath. The study reveals that the more selfie pictures you post, the more you’re likely you are to fall within the narcissistic and psychopathy spectrum.
The study also shows that selfies fall into two types of narcissism. The first one is vanity. This’s a situation where someone enjoys admiring their outstanding self-appearances.
The second narcissism type is leadership. It’s a public figure or celebrity character that motivates oneself to promote a particular agenda.
There are other types of narcissism, such as admiration and self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency means that one would post selfies to make others understand or be aware of your independence. One may also post selfies to prove to others that you’re superior to them.
Selfies are also associated with impulsiveness. The self-satisfied feeling you get while uploading and getting validation on social media can be extremely addictive.
Mental illness or addiction also correlates to the selfie-picture taking culture. The study’s results showed that when one is having low self-esteem issues, that mental time period can result in selfie-taking behavior. This causes mental disorders or disapproval of oneself. By feeling low, taking a selfie, posting it social media and getting those likes and comments, can increase ones mood and give them a false sense of self worth. Once the likes and comments stop, the underlying issues of low self esteem reveals itself once again. Typically, the selfie cycle would be repeated in order to feel good about ones self again. Thus, creating an addiction.
Posting a few fun selfies to social media is rather harmless. Posting selfies daily can be a cause for concern. Posting numerous selfies per day, everyday, is something one may want to evaluate and look a little deeper into why they need to post so many selfies.
