How to Recognize a Selfie Problem

Examining Your Cellphone Habits

Scroll through your images and count your selfies. Go through your cellphone images and add up how many selfies you have saved in your phone. If you have more than five to ten within a two week period, you may have a selfie problem. You may also notice that you only have photos of yourself or very few photos of other people besides yourself. This could be a sign that you are only using your cellphone to take pictures of yourself, rather than document others around you or events that happen in your life.

Notice if you take several selfies a day with your cellphone. Try to keep track of how many selfies you take a day. Notice if you take one selfie a day, such as right before you leave for work or for school, or if you take multiple selfies a day, such as once in the morning, once in the afternoon, and a few times a night. This may be an indication that you are taking a lot of selfies every day.

Check if you obsess over your selfies. You should consider how you view your selfies, especially if you take a lot of them. Maybe you enjoy how you look and want to share your appearance with others. But if you find yourself critiquing how you look in your selfies, you may not be comfortable with your appearance and this could be unhealthy. Ask yourself several questions, such as: Do I appreciate how I look my selfies? Do I manipulate my selfies with filters or settings on my phone to make myself look a certain way? What do the selfies mean to me? What purpose do they serve?

Ask your friends if they think you have a problem. You may need some perspective on your selfie habits to determine if you have a problem. Ask your friends if they feel like you take a lot of selfies on your phone and if they think you may have an addiction to selfies. You may also ask your friends if they feel you only use your cellphone for selfies and not for other things, as this could be a sign of a selfie addiction. Try to ask friends that will be honest and upfront with you. Be willing to accept their feedback and listen to what they have to say. Getting an honest, outside perspective can help you determine if you are a little too into selfies.

Looking at Your Social Media Habits

Notice if you post a lot of selfies every day. You should look at your social media habits and consider if you post a lot of selfies on social media every day. Though taking selfies on your phone may be enough for you, you may feel compelled to share it on social media with others. Too many selfie posts can be a sign that you are addicted to taking them and sharing them for others to see. You may scroll through your social media pages to see if many of your posts or the majority of your posts are selfies. This could be a sign that you are a little too into posting selfies and sharing them with others.

Pay attention to how often you check your selfie posts. You should also be mindful of how often you click open your social media and check your selfie posts. Are you constantly looking at Facebook or Instagram to see if your selfie post got enough likes? Are you upset when your selfies do not get as many likes or comments as you hoped? These could be signs that you have an unhealthy relationship with selfies and social media. You may start a tally of how often you check your selfie posts during one day. If you check your selfie posts more than one to two times a day or feel you are checking them compulsively, you may have a selfie problem.

Determine if your selfie habit is distracting you from your commitments. You should also consider how your selfie habit affects you commitments and daily routine. Notice if you are coming up short on your commitments because you are too busy trying to get the perfect selfie. You should also recognize if your selfie habit is distracting you from getting things done in your daily routine or taking up time in your day that should be spent on other commitments or tasks. For example, perhaps you notice that you spend 30 minutes trying to get the perfect selfie in the morning before school to post on social media. You may realize that by the time you get the perfect selfie, you have missed your bus or end up late for your first class. This could be a sign that your selfie habit is taking up too much of your time.

Dealing with a Selfie Problem

Limit the number of selfies you take a day. You can address your selfie problem by trying to limit the number of selfies you take per day. Aim to reduce your selfies to one or two a day, especially if you find yourself taking quite a few on a regular basis. This can help you address your selfie issue and still enjoy them, but in a more controlled, reduced way. Perhaps you avoid taking selfies at all for several days in a row to see if you can limit the number of pictures of yourself you take. Or maybe you allow yourself to take one selfie in the morning and no more.

Take pictures of other things besides yourself. Try shifting your attention from pictures of yourself to pictures of other things around you, such as your friends, your family, or individuals on the street. You may end up enjoying taking pictures of others so much that you are able to let go of the compulsion to take pictures of yourself. You may also find that you enjoy taking pictures of landscapes or interesting objects around you. Turn your camera on the environment around you and channel your creativity into taking interesting images of things around you, rather than just yourself.

Use social media in a different way. You can also deal with a selfie addiction by using social media in other ways beyond just a space to post selfies. Try posting inspirational quotes or personal thoughts on social media instead of a selfie. Or, post articles or essays that you find interesting on your social media to share with others. Sharing and posting information beyond a selfie can help you let go of your need to take selfies on a regular basis. You may also try expressing yourself by posting your favorite music or images of your favorite artist. This could be a more interesting way to express yourself on social media, rather than post multiple selfies.