Do you suffer from selfitis?

We all know someone who’s obsessed with taking selfies and now it turns out that it is actually a real condition.

Researchers at Nottingham Trent University and the Thiagarajar School of Management in India have now confirmed the existance of ‘selfitis’ and have even created a scale to measure the severity of the behaviour.

The study took place in India as they have the highest number of Facebook users and the highest number of deaths as a result of taking selfies in dangerous locations.

Their findings were pusblished in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction and confirmed that there are three levels of ‘Selfitis’.

Borderline: Taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day but not posting them on social media.

Acute: Taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day and posting each one on social media.

Chronic: Uncontrollable urge to take photos of one’s self round the clock and posting the photos on social media more than six times a day.

Dr Mark Griffiths, Professor of Behavioural Addiction in Nottingham Trent University’s Psychology Department said: “A few years ago, stories appeared in the media claiming that the condition of selfitis was to be classed as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.

“Whilst the story was revealed to be a hoax, it didn’t mean that the condition of selfitis didn’t exist.

“We have now appeared to confirm its existence and developed the world’s first Selfitis Behaviour Scale to assess the condition.”

His research colleague Dr Janarthanan Balakrishnan said: “Now the existence of the condition appears to have been confirmed, it is hoped that further research will be carried out to understand more about how and why people develop this potentially obsessive behaviour, and what can be done to help people who are the most affected.”

How to test for Selfitis using the Selfitis Behaviour Scale

Using the statements below, rate them 1-5, where 5 is strongly agree, and 1 is strongly disagree. The higher your score, the greater the likelihood is that you suffer from selfitis.

Taking selfies gives me a good feeling to better enjoy my environment

Sharing my selfies creates healthy competition with my friends and colleagues

I gain enormous attention by sharing my selfies on social media

I am able to reduce my stress level by taking selfies

I feel confident when I take a selfie

I gain more acceptance among my peer group when I take selfies and share them on social media

I am able to express myself more in my environment through selfies

Taking different selfie poses helps increase my social status

I feel more popular when I post my selfies on social media

Taking more selfies improves my mood and makes me feel happy

I become more positive about myself when I take selfies

I become a strong member of my peer group through selfie postings

Taking selfies provides better memories about the occasion and the experience

I post frequent selfies to get more ‘likes’ and comments on social media

By posting selfies, I expect my friends to appraise me

Taking selfies instantly modifies my mood

I take more selfies and look at them privately to increase my confidence

When I don’t take selfies, I feel detached from my peer group

I take selfies as trophies for future memories

I use photo editing tools to enhance my selfie to look better than others