HomeGeneral Health MattersSelfies Health Effects And At Point It Become Good or Bad?

Selfies Health Effects And At Point It Become Good or Bad?

Recently, the World Health Organization classifies video gaming as a mental disorder. Moreover, smartphone and social media addictions are both rising in trend. And, there are studies on selfies health effects, as well.

Selfies Health Effects

Selfies Health Effects

There are studies that show selfies can either be good or bad but up to what point? Now, many people might say selfies make them feel good especially if they get a lot of likes on social media.

In today’s advancements in smartphones, the front cameras use for selfies are getting better and smarter. Hence, it is really difficult to resist not to take one and eventually post it on social media platforms.

And here’s a thing, most of the time, the primary purpose of selfies for the majority is for posting on social media sites. In fact, there is a term for it, selfitis.

A paper in the International Journal of Science and Research says taking selfies can be a disorder to some extent.

Mental Health Effects of Taking Selfies

Now let us take a quick look at selfies health effects. Researchers say that selfitis is already a real condition. However, such diagnosis is still questionable as there are studies to show social media can either be good or bad for mental health.

For instance, people who are naturally happy, posting selfies on social media makes them happier. In fact, one study1 in the Psychology of Well-being says it is a way of sharing and creating a more sense of connectedness.

The findings can offer insights for designers to create systems that enhance emotional well-being.

In another study2, researchers say that posting selfies on Facebook for personal connection to friends lead to happier experience.

The present data support the idea that online interactions do influence well-being. Yet the effects depend on how people use the sites: simply reading about friends, receiving text communication from weak ties, and receiving one-click communication did not affect well-being, while receiving personalized, effortful communication from close friends was linked to improvements in well-being.

This is one of the positive selfies health effects depending on a person uses social media for posting selfies.

What About Selfies Effects On Teens?

Probably, among the major groups of social media users who use social media for posting selfies are teens. So, how does posting on social media affects them?

One study3 in the Adolescent Research Review says taking and posting selfies can be a part of a bigger digital media pattern to maintain healthy relationships.

Besides texting, posting selfies make teens feeling their relationship with friends online is just as real as face-to-face conversation. Note that, these are for teens who are already friends and have known each other personally.

When Does Posting Selfies on Social Media Go Bad?

This is where posting selfies on social media can have a detrimental effect, particularly in mental health. People who don’t feel good about themselves may not benefit from posting selfies on social media.

Most of these people are looking for likes and approval from other people. The bad part is that regardless those people clicking the like button are actually friends or not. Because on Facebook, for instance, you can have thousands of friends even if you don’t know them personally.

Probably, this is one reason why many people getting friend requests from those they do know personally. A lot of them are simply looking for people to like them whenever they post something on social media.

One researcher says people who have low self-esteem received more responses on their positive posts than negative and support-seeking posts.

Although there have been no studies yet on selfies shared on social media, most likely, these are seeking positive responses. However, such kind of feedback does not help someone struggling with low self-esteem.

Selfies As Creative Photography’s Healing Power

Here is one of the interesting and useful selfie health effects with its potential to heal. Psychiatry professor Dr. Harold Bursztajn suggests taking and sharing pictures including selfies could have a healing effect.

Particularly, it is helpful on people struggling with traumatic experiences and pains. Dr. Harold Bursztajn says it can be therapeutic in everyday life. It offers people an opportunity for self-expression and a potential way to help them connect with others in a sincere manner.

His article suggesting this benefit originally appear in StatNews and Psychiatry Times.

Final Thoughts

Taking and posting selfies has many purposes. Hence, always consider your motivation behind sharing your selfies on social media.

If you are posting selfies seeking more likes and positive feedback from other people regardless if you know them personally or not, can be a bad thing. Making this way as a means to find inner peace and happiness is not effective.

Instead, try getting involved in a regular meditation or mindfulness practice.

On the other hand, taking and sharing selfies to truly connect with your friends is a good thing. It creates more sense of connectedness and has a similar effect to talking in person face-to-face.

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