Science Confirms The Obvious And Links Selfies To Cases Of Narcissism And Mental Illnesses

Our love of selfies is clearly on the rise, with Instagram and Facebook accounts clogged with photo evidence of our tendency to turn our iPhone cameras on ourselves.

But the trend has turned dangerous, culminating perhaps with a UK teen trying to kill himself after he still couldn't get the perfect pic after taking 200 selfies.

Now scientists are saying that the narcissism and vanity tied to taking these pictures isn't just a social media fixation — it's a real illness linked to various mental disorders.

Psychiatrist Dr. David Veal has already pinpointed at least one mental illness that's being exacerbated by our generation's overuse of the selfie:

"Two out of three of all the patients who come to see me with Body Dysmorphic Disorder since the rise of camera phones have a compulsion to repeatedly take selfies."

The Mental Health Department in Thailand agrees that the selfie trend could be messing with our young minds, and contributing to a paralyzing lack of confidence.

"To pay close attention to published photos, controlling who sees or who likes or comments them, hoping to reach the greatest number of likes is a symptom that 'selfies' are causing problems."

And the addictive nature of taking selfies has already caused hospitalization in the UK; in addition to Danny Bowman, public health officials say they commit over 100 patients each year for overuse of social media, including popular channels like Facebook and Twitter.

via IB Times, Top Photo Courtesy: We Heart It