Selfies...The new American pass time phenomenon. I once read in an article that the "Selfie" generation was the onset of the "Narcissistic" generation. I was on my way home from a meeting this morning, when at a stop light a man on a bike had to stop to take a "Selfie". The light had turned green, yet I had to wait for this man to take his "Selfie" before he would go in order to post this on god knows where. Although excessively annoyed by his behavior, it got me thinking.
I thought about the article I had read about the "Selfie" generation creating a world of narcissism. But I wonder if it actually goes further than that. After speaking with my friend "Yoyo", and dissecting her emotional drama, I realized that maybe the idea of "Selfies" isn't so much about creating a world based on narcissism but one of denial.
As Yoyo spoke of her anger about an old boyfriend, she began to tell me the other issues behind this anger. A patient that had died due to an allergic reaction to medication she (Yoyo) had no control over. Her daughter's half ass attempt of suicide. And it made me realize that Yoyo was holding on to the drama of the boyfriend past was nothing more than a smoke screen; a way to avoid what she really needed to deal with on a conscious level.
And Selfies - is it really about a generation's addiction to themselves or is it merely a way not to have to look at themselves. A passage way of not having to look beyond the surface of their life and be forced to see what it is they too are avoiding in their lives.
Everyone does the Selfies, even the sheeples president does Selfies. Is that also his way of avoiding the issues that all Americans are facing? Is that the purpose of Selfies? "Hey, look at me", so that I don't have to look at myself, or the things in my life that I am avoiding".
Sounds good in theory, and as a new budding therapist - as long as they eventually land on my therapeutic couch - I say it's a win-win situation for me and them.
As long as they don't take "Selfies" during session...
