Selfitis: An obsessive compulsive disorder of taking too many selfies

By NewsGram Staff Writer

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has officially deemed taking selfies as a "mental disorder".

The APA made this classification during its annual board of directors meeting in Chicago recently. Giving the name "selfitis" to the disorder, the APA defined the disorder as a type of an obsessive compulsive disorder to take one's own pictures and post them on social media. They also stated that this condition is a mechanism used by people to make up for their low self esteem and increase intimacy with other people.

According to the APA, there are three levels of selfitis,

1. Borderline Selfitis: Taking selfies at least three times a day, but not posting them on the social media.
2. Acute Selfitis: Taking selfies at least three times a day, and sharing them all on social media.
3. Chronic Selfitis: It is defined as an uncontrollable urge to take one's own pictures round the clock and posting them on social media platforms more than six times a day.

Recently, the term "Selfitis" also made it into the Oxford Dictionary of English according to a website.

Makati City, a city in Philippines was named the "selfie capital of the world" by Time magazine recently. This news of selfies being looked at as a mental disorder, might make things dismal for this Filipino city.