Can Selfies Make Us Mentally Ill? [Video]

A chilling video of a young man with dreams of being a model is making its way across the internet. In the video’s climax, the man begins purging and scrupulously caring for himself almost to the point of caricature. With such image problems, what is his major obsession? Taking selfies of himself to the get the perfect angle.

While selfies can be seen an the ultimate in image-obsessed narcissism, they’ve also been found to have some positive effects on teenagers, according to Thought Catalog.

“Selfies can increase the self-esteem and self-efficacy as it highlights what youngsters are going through. Posting the clothes they like makes them feel good inside as it does outside. It can definitely boost your confidence if someone compliments you. Selfies can also enhance the self-presentation by posting what is socially desirable. The halo effect, a cognitive bias, allows the famous fashion bloggers, who often have well-dressed and good-looking body, to be perceived as economically wealthy. Furthermore, selfies help us to preserve the special milestones such the first Instagram selfie on space by Steven Swanson, the first selfie in the deepest part of the world’s ocean by Don Walsh and Jacques Piccar, and even the precious miracle of birth.”

Do you think selfies can ever be a positive thing?

[Image via Flickr]