So it’s confirmed: taking and posting a lot of selfies, according to health authorities, can not only annoy your family and friends but also put your health — mentally and physically alike — in grave danger.

Perhaps there’s nothing wrong with sharing on social media a selfie or two per week. However, it’s a completely different story if it seems like you are going to have an anxiety attack if you do not snap and upload a selfie every 15 minutes or so, and you also feel like it’s the end of the world if you fail to get more than a hundred likes in the first 5 minutes.

Experts say that being addicted to taking selfies can in fact wreak havoc on your physical health and mental wellbeing in all kinds of ways, and this article will get you introduced to some of them.

Got tons of family members and friends who live, eat and breathe posting selfies online? Then make sure that you share this article on your various social media sites later on so that they, too, may also learn the fact that being hooked on taking and sharing selfies can be associated with the following:

Selfie Elbow

Perhaps you have already heard or read about tennis elbow — a type of tendinitis (inflammation of the tendons) that stems from overusing the muscles of the forearms. And despite of its name, anyone could end up with tennis elbow and not just seasoned tennis players.

Did you know that you can also wind up battling tennis elbow if you are a selfie addict? Some experts these days are referring to it as selfie elbow instead of tennis elbow, and you are at risk of it if you like snapping lots and lots of selfies that require you outstretch your arm in a strange angle and also click on the shutter button of your phone’s camera.

If you cannot completely turn your back on snapping selfies, use a selfie stick. Or you can simply considerably reduce the amount of time you spend on taking selfies.

Depression

There’s no denying that a lot of people on the face of the planet are obsessed with their faces — currently on Instagram there are nearly 400 million posts with the hashtag #selfie. Clearly, everyone is taking and sharing more selfies than they really should.

Have you noticed that most of the smartphones being manufactured these days have front-facing cameras? And here’s a clear proof that the makers of smartphones are making taking selfies even more exciting: the front-facing cameras they integrate their offerings with have more impressive specs than rear-facing cameras.

Mental health experts say that taking selfies can encourage self-objectification, which is something that can easily lead to depression. This is especially true if those who live to take and upload selfies feel that they’re probably not pretty enough as their posts aren’t getting as many likes and comments as the selfies of others.

Addiction

Taking too many selfies can in fact be a sign of addiction — yes, you could be hooked on selfies if you cannot get taking selfies out of your mind and also it’s already keeping you from carrying out your everyday duties and responsibilities without trouble.

In Britain, there’s a 19-year-old teenage male who is believed by mental health experts to be actually addicted to selfies. That’s because he quit school and spent half a year in isolation trying to capture that perfect selfie. Eventually, he overdosed on medications but, luckily, he survived and is now receiving treatment for his addiction.

We all know that people can be addicted to the likes of alcohol, prescription medications, illegal drugs, gambling and porn. But based on the story told above, you can now add taking selfies to the list.