What Is Selfitis? Obsessive Selfie Takers Could Have Mental Disorder

If you take at least three photos of yourself a day and post them to social media, you might have an acute case of selfitis, according to a new study published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

The study was conducted to try and verify a hoax story that was published in 2014 that claimed there was such a condition as "selfitis." People who have selfitis are those who take selfies or self-portrait-like photos of themselves to excess, the study said. That initial study from 2014 set in motion further studies on the possible condition and led to its eventual validation.

This sort of examination has happened with other new technologies in the past as well, like in 1995 when the idea of internet addiction was first introduced in a paper by Mark D. Griffiths. Griffiths was one of the first to suggest such technological addictions, like internet addiction, and also worked on the new study published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction.

This new study was conducted based on data collected from more than 600 students at universities in India were used to complete an exploratory factor analysis that revealed the findings of the study.

Researchers looked at six factors that helped them determine that selfitis is actually possible to assess through a behavior scale, but that more studies were necessary to completely be sure that selfitis in itself is a real condition. Those six factors that the researchers identified and studied in participants were environmental enhancement, social competition, attention seeking, mood modification, self-confidence, and social conformity, according to the study.

The researchers in the study published in the International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction used what they call a Selfitis Behavior Scale, or SBS, to examine six factors that determine whether someone has selfitis and how severely they have it. After conducting the research, the findings showed that the SBS was an effective addition to the other research in determining whether there is a case of selfitis, though the factors greatly differed in intensity level.

The researchers involved in the study also recognized that, "Selfitis is a new construct in which future researchers may investigate further in relation to selfitis addiction and/or compulsion." They also recommended further research into the acquisition, development, and maintenance of the selfitis.