Can I Get life Insurance With A Selfie Obsession?

People are going crazy with selfies. President Obama raised quite a stir with his selfie at Nelson Mandella’s memorial service. Then, baseball star David Ortiz raised a ruckus with his selfie at the White House. All harmless fun, however inappropriate.

But there is unfortunately a serious side to the this phenomenon. Some people are literally going crazy with them. As reported by Rebecca Savastio in Liberty Voice, selfies are now being linked to narcissism, mental illness, addictions and suicide. She refers to the tragic case of …

a man diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder says he grew suicidal due to his addiction to taking selfies. Danny Bowman says he became so obsessed with trying to take the “right” selfie that he ended up shooting about 200 pictures a day while trying desperately to capture the perfect image of himself.

Wow. It sounds as if people can use some straight advice for using this technology without going overboard. Psychologist Pamela Rutledge makes some good points about this in her article for Psychology Today.

From a life insurance underwriting review, a selfie obsession could pose a new challenge. Let’s suppose the practice spins out of control, and medication or other forms of treatment become necessary. That could become an item the broker must address. The typical life insurance application has this question: “has the applicant been treated for chronic fatigue, stress, depression, anxiety, or any other emotional or psychological condition?”

If the answer is yes, then the broker must put that into proper perspective. The good news is that there are many underwriters who keep current on societal trends regarding mental illness. (I bet a number of them have a few selfies in their own phones). They should be willing to assess a very reasonable rate with the proper understanding.

Do you know people who have problems with selfies? Have they had trouble getting life insurance?