New Mental Disorder 
A mental disorder is a disease of the mind caused by repeated behavior or a pattern of actions that affect the ordinary life of a human being. Mental disorders are under a field known as psychopathology. Psychopathologist use acts, feelings and perceptions to tell whether one has a mental disorder. The repeated acts or behavior affect a particular part of the brain leading to an individual going against naturally accepted norms of the society. Psychiatrists always use some questioning techniques to find out whether one has a mental disorder.
“Snap chat” is a new mental disorder that arises as a result of the tremendous change in technology. It mostly affects people who are addicts of the social media. Users of platforms like, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, Tumbler, and 2go are the most likely victims of the disease. I chose the name ‘Snap Chat” because the illness relates to the chatting patterns on these platforms. The word “snap” refers to the photos taken by way of “selfies”. The word “Chat” refers to the communication between two or more users of these platforms. Mostly via either text messages or communication using the photos.
The photo chat particularly is a common phenomenon on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp social media platforms. The excessive use of these social media platforms to the extent that such acts affect the normal functioning of the human being is what I refer to as a mental disorder called “Snap Chat.” The associates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are particularly some of the most affected with Snap Chat because of their level of advancement in technology. The internet plays a critical role in the infection of the mental disorder. This paper will, therefore, proceed to examine some of the diagnostic symptoms of Snap Chat.
One of the key symptoms of Snap Chat is the extreme use of the social media to the level of affecting the normal behavior of the user or other people surrounding him. Individuals with this symptom will always abandon the duties assigned to them for the sake of chatting on the social media. They will go on their schedules and programs and at the end of the day find that they did nothing. The major house chores are abandoned, students leave their homework and classes, Doctors cause patients to die because of chatting, drivers cause road carnage and so on. These people do not even care about the amount of time spent on the social media.
The second symptom is the inability to withdraw from the social media platforms. There is an indication of pronounced addiction in people with who possess this characteristic that they cannot do without chatting or taking “selfies” and posting online. If someone, for example, took away their social media gadgets like phones, tablets, computers and iPads, they become so angry, annoyed and morose to the extent that they become violent.
The third symptom is that the users are so tolerant with the social media. For them, the use of the social media affects their brain that they cannot do without the feeling of being online. The excessive use attacks the brain to release some neurons that trigger a particular feeling that becomes so persistent. The brain always records the opinion and behavior to produce the same feeling in future. The communication of these feeling via the neurotransmitters is what causes the persistent feeling of chatting on the social media and thereby making the users so tolerant.
The last symptom is that the addict becomes fond of committing many harmful activities but would not stop. The social media, for example, has made people liars leading to breakage of many trust relationships. The lies might even break a marriage relationship, but the addict sees it as a normal condition. Many young become today will be engaged in numerous stupid confrontations with their parents or guardians when instructed to work, but they would rather chat than do it. Excessive users develop a feeling of being always tired. Such is a very negative effect because no work will be done.
The average life loses meaning because without working an individual will be tempted to commit crimes to satisfy his/her needs. The social media also separates friends and family members. The excessive users would prefer to communicate with their friends and families on the social media platforms unlike physically visiting them. When they visit physically, it would only seem that the bodies are together but everyone is either on a phone or a tablet.
Indeed, these gadgets appear to be smarter than human beings. The worst part with the addicts is that their regular schooling it significantly affected. The students will miss doing their assignments and fail to concentrate in class. The result is cheating in exams that lead to discontinuation of their programs. Indeed, a social media addict is the same as a drug addict. Any person who is fond of using the Social media platforms could fall a victim of Snap Chat.
The causes of Snapchat Syndrome can instigate from the following factors. First, it is an addictive application amongst the youth since it has no restrictions. It allows taking photos of anything and sharing them with associates all over the world. It has an incredible speed that makes it possible to send snaps and videos very fast. Also, the application is worthwhile in chatting, inserting emoticons, and following preferred personalities. One can see live snap chat stories of towns worldwide. These features make it very addictive to use.
The second cause of snap chat syndrome is peer pressure. At my age, most of the peers use the application. Peer pressure influences how I use Snapchat application. Mostly, we send videos, messages and snaps to each other. Unfortunately or fortunately, we are in the same groups that make chatting inevitable. The social media posts by my peers also influence what I post in Snapchat.
Also, the Snapchat syndrome is likely caused by lack of self-esteem. Lack or low self-esteem can control the use of snap chat. Some people use the application to send snaps so as to seek to acknowledge from the friends. If one lacks self-esteem, he/she will be physiologically affected and as a result, use the media to address such discomfort. Lack or low self-belief makes one draw attention from any possible source so as to forget the nagging issue.
Another cause of Snapchat Syndrome is Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Any person suffering from BDD think about their actual or supposed defects and express them by taking a lot of snapshots. They post the snaps in social sites to attract attention.
Lastly, the syndrome is possibly caused by idleness. As a result, most of the people keep themselves busy through their phones rather than engaging in useful activities. On this note, they use Snapchat to justify their busyness and chat with friends. After a long time, they become addicted to using the application, without control, any time they use idle.
Treatment of Snapchat Syndrome will involve the use of different methods. First, the victim ought to seek individual therapy that takes in pursuing psychotherapy assistance from a qualified psychiatrist. It is a procedure that explores human behaviors or emotional state in a safe and trusted setting. The victim will be able to address the factors that stimulate Snapchat Syndrome, understand him/her (self), establish individual objectives and work toward the preferred change.
Also, cognitive behavioral therapy is an expedient treatment that assists the patient to moderate his/her compulsive behavior concerning his/her appearance. It is an interactive psychotherapy that can aid to regulate victim’s difficulties by changing his/her way of reasoning and behaving. The victim will be in a position to amend the additive conduct of chatting through Snapchat.
One can tackle the Snapchat Syndrome through creating time to do inventive activities when idle rather than chatting. That will moderate the time spent in using Snapchat. Likewise, making a personal resolution to reduce chatting time can assist the victim to deal with the set of symptoms.
In conclusion, the article describes what is Snapchat Syndrome, the signs, the causes and possible treatment. It is a condition affecting most of the youths. Notably, it is possible to control the syndrome successfully. As a new mental disorder, there is need to research more about the condition.
