'Selfie deaths have become a major public health problem'

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

More than 250 people died in the last six years while taking selfies, with many deaths coming when the individual tried to capture their visage near water or transportation, according to a study published earlier this year.

Researchers with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences found that 259 people died between October 2011 and November 2017 as a result of hazards that arose while they were taking selfies. The highest total of selfie-related deaths took place in India in that timespan, followed by Russia and the U.S., according to the study.

“The selfie deaths have become a major public health problem,” Agam Bansal, the study’s lead author, told The Washington Post.

Most of the deaths resulted from something that was happening around the person taking the selfie, the study reported. For example, many people drowned while trying to take selfies in the water, or died when trying to take a selfie in front of a train

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/409803-researcher-selfie-deaths-have-become-a-major-public-health-problem

Darwin candidates

[PoliticAverse]

1. They have their own Wikipedia page even...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_selfie-related_injuries_and_deaths

[roamer65]

11. Nice. It's like a Who's Who list for stupidity.

[matt819]

2. Awful, and stupid, but not a crisis

Gun deaths are a crisis. Opioid deaths are a crisis. Let’s keep things in perspective.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. They all deserve Darwin Awards for removing themselves

from the gene pool.

I find it very hard to have any sympathy for people who are so stupid and lacking in the smallest amount of common sense.

[dalton99a]

4. They are highly attracted to waterfalls

[secondwind]

5. A German tourist fell to his death in Macchu

Pichu. I’ve been there, it is glorious and enormous and there are no railings. You use the common sense that God gave you.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

6. There's also the overwhelming desire to get the most extreme selfies.

This young woman is making a career of it, it seems:

[ProudLib72]

10. You have to admit that's a cool pic

Worth it, though? Nope! But she has a good aesthetic sense.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

17. True. And she wasn't even a photographer when she started off.

Some of her photos involve either a remote control shutter release or a friend taking the shot. Hopefully she's not setting the self-timer and then rushing to get into position...

I doubt standing on a foot-square platform 65 stories in the air was on her bucket list of "What do you want to do when you grow up?"
I know it wasn't presented as an option during my high school's Career Day, but then again, neither was shooting frozen chickens into newly designed aircraft engines to see if they would survive a bird strike, so there's that.

[dalton99a]

12. I hope nothing bad happens

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/nation-now/2017/12/12/daredevil-dies-after-falling-off-62-story-skyscraper-china/943935001/
Daredevil falls to death after filming self atop 62-story skyscraper in China
Josh Hafner, USA TODAY Published 11:26 a.m. ET Dec. 12, 2017 | Updated 6:23 a.m. ET Dec. 13, 2017


Images of Chinese stuntman Wu Yongning falling from a building in Changsha, according to Singapore's "Straits Times."
(Photo: Twitter/@STcom)

[VOX]

20. Talk about Pyrrhic victory.

62 stories and whaddya get? One less Chinese stuntman. He knew the risk, I suppose.

[BootinUp]

7. A certain genetic branch comes to an end. Nt

[meadowlander]

8. Are they though?

If you look at the big picture, better they off themselves selfie-ing than someone else texting while driving.

[PNW-Dem]

9. Do they still give out Darwin Awards?

eom

[USALiberal]

18. I am sure their familys think you are a jerk. Nt

[Greg_In_SF]

13. 41.6 people

...a year is not a major public health problem.

[lounge_jam]

14. The selfie rage

I am not surprised by this finding. The selfie rage has gone quite out of control, not to mention the widespread use of GoPro head-mounts. Wrist pain caused by smartphone overuse is now medically referred to as "WhatsAppitis." There should be a similar diagnostic effort to address selfie-related behaviors.

[gopiscrap]

21. welcome to DU

[Separation]

15. I have an issue with this part.

“The selfie deaths have become a major public health problem,” Agam Bansal, the study’s lead author, told The Washington Post.

No, not really.

250 deaths out of what it looks like to be the entire earth's population in 6 years, is not even worth

[oberliner]

16. Why India?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

19. I can think of some bigger health concerns than 259 deaths in 6 years. CTFO.