Yeah, it’s “your friend” who has the problem.

I find that every time I log onto Facebook or Instagram these days, I start losing respect for other people.

Oh look, Darren posted a fake news article again – this time about a Japanese restaurant serving human meat.

Pro tip, pal – put the name of the restaurant into Google and the first thing that pops up is a Snopes article debunking the story.

[Then a few days later you see it’s still there, even after you sent him the link – people are the worst.]

Keep scrolling – 15 baby pics, new car humblebrag, a sunset pic (#nofilter, you’re wild) checking in at the airport humblebrag (first class lounge, nogal), selfie.

And another selfie, and another selfie – gross.

Now that I’ve taken a few deep breaths let’s just deal with the Telegraph‘s story about ‘Selfitis’ – the obsessive need to post selfies:

‘Selfitis’ is a genuine mental condition and people who feel compelled to continually post pictures of themselves on social media may need help, psychologists have warned.

The term was first coined in 2014 to describe obsessive selfie-taking in a spoof news story which suggested the American Psychiatric Association was considering classifying it as a disorder.

Turns out that spoof article was onto something, because researchers at Nottingham Trent University and Thiagarajar School of Management in India decided to investigate whether there was truth to ‘Selfitis’.

Spoiler alert – “your mate” has a problem:

They have now confirmed the ‘selfitis’ does indeed exist and have even developed a ‘Selfitis Behaviour Scale’ which can be used to assess its severity.

The scale, which runs from one to 100 was developed using a large number of focus groups with 200 participants to determine what factors drove selfitis. It was scale tested using  a survey of 400 participants.

Participants were based in India because the country has the most users on Facebook, as well as the highest number of deaths as a result of trying to take selfies in dangerous locations.

And now we’re going to spell out that scale, so that you “your mate” can take some meditation classes during the holidays and try and just, like, really find yourself and your place in this world.

[#namaste#relax#centred#blessed]

That scale:

Borderline cases are people who take selfies at least three times a day, but do not post them on social media. Next is the ‘acute’ phase of the disorder where the pictures are posted. In the third ‘chronic’ stage, people feel an uncontrollable urge to take photos of one’s self round the clock, posting them more than six times a day.’

And now for the ‘The Selfitis Behaviour Scale’:

MUST. GET. THE, LIKES. FOR. VALIDATION.

Anyway, not everyone is a believer in the scourge of ‘Selfitis’. Take Sir Simon Wessely, Professor of Psychological Medicine at King’s College London, for example:

“The research suggests that  people take selfies to improve their mood, draw attention to themselves, increase their self confidence and connect with their environment.

“If that is true then this paper is itself an academic ‘selfie’.”

And Dr Mark Salter, a spokesman for The Royal College of Psychiatrists:

“Selfitis doesn’t exist, and it shouldn’t exist.

“There is a tendency to try and label a whole range of complicated and complex human behaviours with a single word. But that is dangerous because it can give something reality where it really has none.”

Tell that to Lion’s Head, currently battling the scourge of #fitfluencers traipsing up and down.

Anyway, you do you. I’ll take a selfie over a fake news post or new car humblebrag any day of the week.

Still judging, though.

[source:telegraph]