The selfie craze has gone overboard. From being banned by the Archeological Survey of India at certain historical places, to it becoming an addiction, this narcissistic urge to overdocument oneself is creating a huge chasm in terms of an addiction. Most recently, a news article stated that doctors in Nimhans are treating patients who are compelled to take as many as 100 photos of themselves at a time. Over the past six months, doctors have been treating two patients with chronic selfie addictions.
The city-based psychiatrist Dr Manoj Sharma from the SHUT Clinic which deals in such new-age issues explains the gravity of the situation, “I feel that people take a lot of selfies just to get the appreciation and feeling of well-being from their peers. I also feel that for some, it is a matter of personality. Social media too is a culprit here. The likes and comments that people get from peers makes them take more selfies. The first thing that people can do is acknowledge that they have an addiction, make themselves aware of what it’s doing to their lives, and lastly engage themselves in other productive activities.”
An analyst in a city-based firm, Sanjana Vasireddy feels that selfies are an obsession today. She adds, “I think clicking pictures of oneself should be more natural than forced. I also feel social media influences people to take more selfies based on the likes they get. I would say the best way to cure people who are affected by selfies is to realise that they should not let social media affect them.”
Many others also mull over the fact that we are at a time where everyone judges us on everything we do. BA graduate Madhu Manjunath says, “For people who are being judged every day, their outward appearance matters a lot, and they want to show how good they look or what they do is important. I think one of the main reasons why people become addicted to selfies is to get as much attention as possible from people in the form of likes and social media comments.”
City-based entrepreneur Huzefa Kalangi also delves into the recent fatal incidents that taking a selfie have led to, “There was one instance where I had gone to the Kuranagani Hills in Munnar. I was trekking back to the base camp and saw this cliff, right at the edge. I knew that I had to take a picture there. I stopped right at the edge and took a selfie.” Which is also why even the tourist department in certain states is cautioning on taking selfies at dangerous locations.
