Type in ‘selfie’ on google and you will get a myriad of information about this new word that the Oxford Dictionary dubbed as the word of the year for 2013. A selfie is simply a photograph taken of oneself and posting to one of many social media sites. You will also see an endless supply of examples when you hit ‘images.’ You will notice a trend with selfies as you scroll down and look at what people have chosen to display to the world.

Despite the content of the actual picture, let’s take a look at the nature and behavior that impels someone to take their selfie and sometimes continue to take them over and over. When you take a picture of yourself, think about how you feel. The act itself just exudes a bit of ego. You take the picture, look at it, and post for the world to see, or maybe just a select few to start, but by performance alone you are feeding your sense of self in one way or another. What’s the next thing you do? Wait for a response! If it is posted to a site for all, you quietly wait to see how many ‘likes’ it receives. I have been with my 18 year old niece and heard her say countless times how many ‘likes’ so and so’s picture received and then she and her friends will sit there and critique the picture itself or the motivation behind the picture. It’s safe to say that selfies are by nature slightly (or more) narcissistic.
Narcissism is being obsessed with receiving recognition and gratification from one’s looks. It is becoming a big problem in our digital age with the advent of social media. According to recent research, mental health workers now link selfies to various health conditions related to narcissism and a person’s obsession with their body in one form or another. Psychiatrist Dr. David Veal, says that 2 out of 3 of his patients with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) since the use of camera phones also have a compulsion to repeatedly take and post selfies on social media sites. What is BDD? BDD is a psychological disorder in which a person becomes obsessed with imaginary defects in their appearance. According to WebMD, the person has symptoms of a medical illness, but the symptoms cannot be explained by an actual physical disorder. As a result, people see themselves as ugly and sometimes avoid social interactions or turn to plastic surgery to try and improve their appearance.
BDD has symptoms similar to eating disorders and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. While someone with an eating disorder may only be concerned with their overal weight, a person with BDD will often scrutinize a particular body part and become obsessed with perfecting it. The most common areas that people tend to focus on are weight, facial features, hair, and skin imperfections. Just like someone with OCD, a person with BDD will start to engage in ritualistic behaviors such as looking in the mirror or picking at the skin. Can you see how the nature of a selfie could be linked to behaviors listed with these disorders?

Men's Selfie

We all have heard the story of the British teenager who became obsessed with taking the perfect selfie. Over time, he became so obsessed that he would spend up to 10 hours a day taking picture after picture and in the process lost 30 pounds, lost his friends, dropped out of school, and didn’t leave the house for 6 months. Thankfully his parents stepped in and were able to get him help before he was successful at his suicide attempt. Parents today need to be very aware of what their children are doing on their phones and computers. Even when kids go off to college, it is vital that parents stay ‘in the loop’ and communicative with them. Anytime a parent sees a warning sign, know it’s time to take action. Warning signs can include engaging in repetitive and time consuming behaviors, constantly asking for reassurance regarding the body or overall beauty, problems that occur at work or school, and just any change in social behavior. Suddently becoming shy or anxious, self-conscious behavior, and seeking medical intervention are also things to pay attention to as a parent. It is never too invasive when you are talking about the health and well-being of your child.
Besides feeding the ego and creating this narcissistic society, the nature of selfies has brought up another issue, their sexual nature. Jessie Hanselman is a student at Purdue. She talks about this sexual nature and how she feels it affects women. Jessie feels that sexual objectification of women devalues them intellectually and emotionally. She also believes that girls take selfies to derive a sense of worth, as they feel more beautiful with every ‘like’ they receive from their selfie. She wants to remind women on her campus and elsewhere that they are more than just a pretty picture or number of ‘likes.’ Women do not need approval of their physical appearance to be respected. Sound like a feminist? She doesn’t mind. Women have tried so hard at becoming respected for attributes not related to external beauty, yet here in 2014, we seem to be turning back the clock a bit and it needs to be stopped.
Sexual predators have also taken wide advantage of the power of a selfie. Just recently a former Mississippi middle school teacher received minor punishment for his acts of showing nude photos of himself to his students. He is not alone. The list is long for teachers and administrators who have abused the phone and used it to behave in criminal acts against children and minors. The problem is only compounding. Protected by unions and contracts, there is little punishment for these adults and therefore very little deterrent to stop them.
If you’ve come to the realization that it’s time to Just Say No and ditch all those selfies you’ve taken on your phone, maybe because you’d like to free your mind and ego a bit or maybe you have just realized what’s private should stay private, keep in mind that erasing them on your phone doesn’t necessarily mean you are truly erasing them. Avast, a Czech republic security firm reported that they bought 20 smartphones on Ebay. From these phones, they were able to extract 40,000 stored photos. Photos of children and families, and of course numerous sexual photos of both men and women. Countless emails and texts were also able to be read. Research has shown that even using a master reset button on your smartphone doesn’t always erase all the data. Sometimes the safest way to remove all data from your phone is to simply destroy it. Just remember, once you’ve taken the picture, the possibility of it becoming viewable to the world now exists. Be careful with your words and actions in this digital age.
One last hint for those that seem to be wrapped up in this selfie world. If you do something illegal, please don’t take a selfie and post it for the world to see. One pregnant girl recently stole a dress and took a selfie of her wearing the dress and posted the picture for the store owner to see. She was arrested. One example of selfie gone narcissism for sure!
Just Say No to Selfie’s

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