Mumbai : A 14-year old schoolboy, who was trying to take a selfie on his cell phone atop a stationary train wagon at Nahur on Tuesday, was electrocuted and died late in the evening. The teenager’s death has brought to fore the high risks and extreme consequences that people are exposed to owing to their penchant for clicking excessive selfies. Health experts are veering round to the view that the selfie ‘viral’ impinges on a person’s mental as well as emotional state and is fast becoming a psychiatric problem. City-based psychiatrists point out that obsessive selfie clicking has been recognised as a mental health disorder and termed ‘Selfitis’ by the American Psychiatric Association. Dr Yusuf Matcheswala, a city-based psychiatrist, said, “Excess selfie clicking can sometimes lead to major accidents. The craze for selfies among teenagers is turning out
to be a huge cause of concern. The uncontrollable urge translates into these selfies being later uploaded on the social networking sites.” Psychiatrists further state that people who are obsessed with selfies will go to any extent to click one. They further add that by uploading selfies on social media, people seek attention and an identity in the visual world. Experts explain that such people often feel a compulsive need to click at least three selfies in a day. Psychiatrists explain that such people can be identified on the basis of the number of selfies they click and upload on social media, following which they can be categorised and provided treatment. They add that these people can be put on competitive behavioural and psycho-analysis therapy to understand their internal and emotional issues.
HOW SELFIE ARE YOU?
Doctors say that ‘Selfitis’ is a form of obsessive compulsive disorder which can be broadly divided into three types: Borderline (taking at least three pictures of self but not posting them on social media), Acute (taking at least three photos of oneself every day and posting them on social media) and Chronic severe (taking at least six photos of self every day and posting them on social media).
