The advent of smart phone with a forward-facing camera was the watershed moment. Today everybody is pretty aware with the word ‘Selfie’. The word “selfie” has been bandied about so much in the past that it has been included in the Oxford Dictionary online in August 2013. People have become smart with the smartest technology in hand, not much realizing that this smartness can be the ‘Call of the Death’.

Today the world has been crowded with voracious selfie clickers. They are dying to take it and post it as soon as possible in the social forums to gain popularity through increasing number of likes. It is a disease both contagious and fatal. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has officially classified taking ‘Selfies’ as a mental disorder, claiming the name of the disorder as ‘Selfitis.’ The APA has defined it as: “the obsessive compulsive desire to take photos of one’s self and post them on social media as a way to make up for the lack of self-esteem and to fill a gap in intimacy”, and has categorized it into three levels: borderline, acute, and chronic.

Selfies have a bad reputation. It has been noted that people are so engrossed in this spell that they forget the world which is just within their vicinity. The oblivious state of their mind with the easy, smart technology is taking their lives not only in India but also across the world.

In 2015, Indians taking selfies died while posing in front of an oncoming train, in a boat that tipped over at a picnic, on a cliff that gave way and crumbled into a 60-foot ravine and on the slippery edge of a scenic river canal. Also in September, a Japanese tourist trying to take a selfie fell down from the steps at the Taj Mahal, suffering fatal head injuries. Mumbai police has identified more than a dozen “no-selfie zones” around India’s largest city after three young girls were swept out into the Arabian Sea while taking selfies in a rocky part of the Bandra few days back.

Lead researcher of Ohio State University, Jesse Fox said that, for many, a dangerous selfie is worth it for the number of likes and comments it will generate. “Likes are a quantifiable way of measuring popularity and these days it isn’t enough to just post a picture of yourself, because everyone is doing that. The more extreme it is, the more likely you are to stand out and get lots of likes and comments.”

The problem isn’t just restricted to India.  A university graduate died after trying to take a selfie while hanging from a Moscow bridge. A 17-year-old boy fell to his death from a rooftop as he tried to take his picture for his Instagram page. He had previously taken a number of similar pictures of himself posing on high rooftops in the city of Vologda. A Californian man was bit by a rattlesnake and a Mississippi woman got flipped over by a bison at Yellowstone National Park while trying to snap selfies, making this art form a dangerous one.

The problem has to be cured. People should realize that the few minutes popularity enjoyed in social media will not change their lives but the effort to get that popularity risking one’s life, might change the game. Those posing a smile while taking a selfie should ensure that they stay alive and retain their smile on their face. Minimizing stay in social media and taking the best of life’s moment without the need of seeking approval or commentary from others should be the MANTRA OF CURING ‘SELFITIS’. Say ‘NO’ to deadly selfies.

 

 

 

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