19-year-old Danny Bowman is
England’s and perhaps the world’s first
self-confessed selfie addict. It might
seem funny, but this addiction is every
bit as serious and dangerous as any
other. In fact, the young boy almost lost
his life over his obsession of taking the
perfect selfie photograph.
Danny used to spend about 10 hours
taking over 200 selfies on his iPhone,
every single day. At one point, his
addiction got so bad that he stopped
going to school and didn’t leave his
house for six months. He even lost almost
30 pounds trying to make himself more
photogenic. When his parents tried to
stop him, he turned aggressive. And in a
final, drastic attempt to cure himself of
his disease, Danny overdosed on drugs.
“I was constantly in search of taking
the perfect selfie and when I realized I
couldn’t, I wanted to die,” he said. “I
lost my friends, my education, my
health, and almost my life.”
Fortunately, Danny was saved by his
mother Penny, before the his selfie
addiction claimed his life. He is now
being treated for technology addiction,
OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder,
which is an excessive anxiety about
personal appearance.
“The only thing I cared about was having
my phone with me so I could satisfy the
urge to capture a picture of myself at
any time of the day,” said Danny. “I
finally realized that I was never going
to take a picture that made the craving
go away and that was when I hit rock
bottom. People don’t realize when they
post a picture of themselves on Facebook
or Twitter it can quickly spiral out of
control. It becomes a mission to get
approval and it can destroy anyone. It’s
a real problem like drugs, alcohol or
gambling. I don’t want anyone to go
through what I’ve been through.”
According to Dr. David Veal, one of the
top psychiatrists at Danny’s clinic, selfie
addiction is slowly gripping the nation.
“Danny’s case is particularly extreme,”
he said. “But this is a serious problem.
It’s not just a vanity issue. It’s a
mental health one which has an
extremely high suicide rate.” Clicking
selfies has been all the rage for the past
five years or so, especially with
celebrities. The word ‘selfie’ was named
the ‘word of the year’ last year by
Oxford English Dictionary – that’s how
popular the phenomenon has become.
Danny began posting selfies online when
he was only 15 years old. When his
pictures received a few negative
comments, he slowly began to seek
approval from his peers. “I would be so
high when someone wrote something nice
but gutted when they wrote something
unkind,” he said. Ultimately, Danny’s
aim was to become a male model. But a
modelling agency rejected him in 2011.
“They told me that my body was the
wrong shape to be a model and that my
skin wasn’t up to scratch. I was
mortified.” That’s when the addiction
took a turn for the worse.
When he got home that night, he stood
before his mirror and took a picture of
himself. He didn’t like it, so he took
another, and another. And he just
couldn’t stop. Within a fortnight, he was
taking almost 80 pictures even before he
left home for school. As soon as his
alarm went off in the morning, he would
take 10 selfies. Then, 10 more after
showering and 10 after moisturizing. He
played around with the lighting and
tried various rooms and backgrounds.
“I swiped through them on my phone. I
would spend hours looking at them,
scrutinizing my features and skin. I
took selfies in bed, in the bathroom, and
all day into the early hours. I would
pore over pictures of my idol, Leonardo
Dicaprio, and then take selfies in
different poses, trying to look like him.
But I felt so ugly.”
Things didn’t get better when Danny got
to school. He’d become really anxious
about how he looked in the middle of his
classes. So he’d sneak out to the
bathroom, click more pictures and lock
himself in a cubicle to look at them until
a teacher came to get him. At age 16, he
finally dropped out of school, limiting
himself to an apple and a bowl of
couscous a day to become thinner and
improve his skin. Although he dropped a
lot of weight, he could only see an
‘overweight monster’ in his pictures.
Danny’s parents worried for him, but
they were helpless. All of their efforts to
stop him were only met with aggression.
And then, on a fateful day in December
2012, tragedy struck. Danny began to
pop pills, unable to cope with his
disappointment over the pictures. Oddly
enough, when he woke up in the hospital
groggy and in pain, the only thing he
could think of was what he would look
like in his next picture.
I think Danny was extremely fortunate
to be saved on time. He was referred to
London’s Maudsley Hospital, where he
has been receiving the appropriate
treatment. According to Dr. Veal, “The
common treatment is where a patient
gradually learns to go for longer periods
of time without satisfying the urge to
take a photograph, along with therapy to
address the root cause of the problem.
This can be anything from low self-
esteem to problems with bullying in the
past.”
The whole situation has been a terrible
ordeal for Robert and Penny, Danny’s
parents. “We are both qualified mental
health nurses and this was always our
worst nightmare,” said Robert. “There is
a huge lack of understanding about the
dangers social networking and mobile
technology can pose if a young person
already has any insecurities – which
most do. It’s important parents are
aware of the dangers and keep a close
eye on their children’s behavior and
seek help if they feel it is needed.”
The good news is that Danny has now
been ‘selfie-sober’ for the past seven
months. He agrees that it sounds trivial
and harmless. “But that’s the very thing
that makes it so dangerous,” he said. “It
almost took my life, but I survived and I
am determined never to get into that
position again.” He has now realized
that ‘people don’t really look at you’
and he just wants to be comfortable with
himself. Good luck, Danny!
England’s and perhaps the world’s first
self-confessed selfie addict. It might
seem funny, but this addiction is every
bit as serious and dangerous as any
other. In fact, the young boy almost lost
his life over his obsession of taking the
perfect selfie photograph.
Danny used to spend about 10 hours
taking over 200 selfies on his iPhone,
every single day. At one point, his
addiction got so bad that he stopped
going to school and didn’t leave his
house for six months. He even lost almost
30 pounds trying to make himself more
photogenic. When his parents tried to
stop him, he turned aggressive. And in a
final, drastic attempt to cure himself of
his disease, Danny overdosed on drugs.
“I was constantly in search of taking
the perfect selfie and when I realized I
couldn’t, I wanted to die,” he said. “I
lost my friends, my education, my
health, and almost my life.”
Fortunately, Danny was saved by his
mother Penny, before the his selfie
addiction claimed his life. He is now
being treated for technology addiction,
OCD and Body Dysmorphic Disorder,
which is an excessive anxiety about
personal appearance.
“The only thing I cared about was having
my phone with me so I could satisfy the
urge to capture a picture of myself at
any time of the day,” said Danny. “I
finally realized that I was never going
to take a picture that made the craving
go away and that was when I hit rock
bottom. People don’t realize when they
post a picture of themselves on Facebook
or Twitter it can quickly spiral out of
control. It becomes a mission to get
approval and it can destroy anyone. It’s
a real problem like drugs, alcohol or
gambling. I don’t want anyone to go
through what I’ve been through.”
According to Dr. David Veal, one of the
top psychiatrists at Danny’s clinic, selfie
addiction is slowly gripping the nation.
“Danny’s case is particularly extreme,”
he said. “But this is a serious problem.
It’s not just a vanity issue. It’s a
mental health one which has an
extremely high suicide rate.” Clicking
selfies has been all the rage for the past
five years or so, especially with
celebrities. The word ‘selfie’ was named
the ‘word of the year’ last year by
Oxford English Dictionary – that’s how
popular the phenomenon has become.
Danny began posting selfies online when
he was only 15 years old. When his
pictures received a few negative
comments, he slowly began to seek
approval from his peers. “I would be so
high when someone wrote something nice
but gutted when they wrote something
unkind,” he said. Ultimately, Danny’s
aim was to become a male model. But a
modelling agency rejected him in 2011.
“They told me that my body was the
wrong shape to be a model and that my
skin wasn’t up to scratch. I was
mortified.” That’s when the addiction
took a turn for the worse.
When he got home that night, he stood
before his mirror and took a picture of
himself. He didn’t like it, so he took
another, and another. And he just
couldn’t stop. Within a fortnight, he was
taking almost 80 pictures even before he
left home for school. As soon as his
alarm went off in the morning, he would
take 10 selfies. Then, 10 more after
showering and 10 after moisturizing. He
played around with the lighting and
tried various rooms and backgrounds.
“I swiped through them on my phone. I
would spend hours looking at them,
scrutinizing my features and skin. I
took selfies in bed, in the bathroom, and
all day into the early hours. I would
pore over pictures of my idol, Leonardo
Dicaprio, and then take selfies in
different poses, trying to look like him.
But I felt so ugly.”
Things didn’t get better when Danny got
to school. He’d become really anxious
about how he looked in the middle of his
classes. So he’d sneak out to the
bathroom, click more pictures and lock
himself in a cubicle to look at them until
a teacher came to get him. At age 16, he
finally dropped out of school, limiting
himself to an apple and a bowl of
couscous a day to become thinner and
improve his skin. Although he dropped a
lot of weight, he could only see an
‘overweight monster’ in his pictures.
Danny’s parents worried for him, but
they were helpless. All of their efforts to
stop him were only met with aggression.
And then, on a fateful day in December
2012, tragedy struck. Danny began to
pop pills, unable to cope with his
disappointment over the pictures. Oddly
enough, when he woke up in the hospital
groggy and in pain, the only thing he
could think of was what he would look
like in his next picture.
I think Danny was extremely fortunate
to be saved on time. He was referred to
London’s Maudsley Hospital, where he
has been receiving the appropriate
treatment. According to Dr. Veal, “The
common treatment is where a patient
gradually learns to go for longer periods
of time without satisfying the urge to
take a photograph, along with therapy to
address the root cause of the problem.
This can be anything from low self-
esteem to problems with bullying in the
past.”
The whole situation has been a terrible
ordeal for Robert and Penny, Danny’s
parents. “We are both qualified mental
health nurses and this was always our
worst nightmare,” said Robert. “There is
a huge lack of understanding about the
dangers social networking and mobile
technology can pose if a young person
already has any insecurities – which
most do. It’s important parents are
aware of the dangers and keep a close
eye on their children’s behavior and
seek help if they feel it is needed.”
The good news is that Danny has now
been ‘selfie-sober’ for the past seven
months. He agrees that it sounds trivial
and harmless. “But that’s the very thing
that makes it so dangerous,” he said. “It
almost took my life, but I survived and I
am determined never to get into that
position again.” He has now realized
that ‘people don’t really look at you’
and he just wants to be comfortable with
himself. Good luck, Danny!
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