"First...Let Me Take a Selfie"

We see them far and wide. The infamous selfie. The photograph of a single individual, or a close-up of their face. Why has the selfie skyrocketed into acceptance as social media exploded into the world? I follow close to two thousand people on Instagram through the Stigmas and Stiletto's Instagram profile ( Instagram link is under the "Who is the crazy lady?" section) and one thing that really dismayed me was how popular the selfie was in the mental health community (I'm included). In order for me to explain the psychological facets to selfies I need to go directly to psychological authorities. 
Public health officials in the UK announced that addiction to social media such as Facebook and Twitter (Instagram) is an illness and more than 100 patients sought treatment every year (this is a low number). Selfies frequently trigger perceptions of attention-seeking social dependence from low self-esteem," (commonly associated with mental illnesses) said Pamela Rutledge in Psychology Today. The addiction to selfies has also alarmed health professionals in Thailand. "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," said Panpimol Wipulakorn, of the Thai Mental Health Department. The doctor believed that behaviours could generate brain problems in the future, especially those related to lack of confidence.
According to Dr. David Veal, selfies are not as harmless as they seem. Veal, along with other physicians and psychologists, warns that people who take a lot of self-portraits—“selfies”—with their phones or other mobile devices are at increased risk of various types of mental illness, including body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and others. It might not be surprising, given selfies’ obvious connection to how we look. However, avoiding a mental illness like body dysmorphic disorder or OCD requires self-control and the ability to set the phone down. That can be especially hard for teenagers who are still developing cognitively and who seek peer approval. Clinical psychologist Lucie Hemmen told Social Times that “because teenagers are often driven by insecurity to construct a desirable persona, they are particularly vulnerable to the negative side of self-portraiture.”

This answered a considerable part of my query to why selfies are so prominent in the mental health community. People sometimes have mental illnesses such as Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Major Depression, and Severe Anxiety. Time and again we are critically insecure, painfully depressed, crippled with anxiety, and urgently need to be complimented or "Liked" to have a boost, because we dangerously need it.
When we are depressed we take selfies because those compassionate comments and "Likes" are the only thing getting us through our day; even at the risk of a impugning comment (It is by The Lord's Grace that those impugning comments do not pop up during those lows). We want to hear that we are appealing because we do not believe it ourselves, but if others do than maybe it could be true. Many times we have to take "a hundred" snapshots before we post one, so since we do look charming in that one particular picture, we post it in remembrance that we are capable of beauty, because all we feel is failure and pain. The fact that we must take "a hundred" shows the body dysmorphia.

Many times we use selfies as means of self-expression, when we cannot voice our feelings. Our faces speak a thousand words.
For all the people that are wearing masks hiding their mental illness and cognitive battles...there is a selfie. So before you say "Not another selfie", or block/hide someone from your social media site because you see their face too often; try reaching out to them first. Usually the ones constantly exposing their face, are really hiding the deepest scars.

More to come.