by Zara Mustapha

When Danny Bowman was at school, he spent 10 hours a day taking more than  200 selfies trying to find the perfect image, all in a bid to attract girls.

Bowman was slowly getting addicted to taking selfies at age 15, so much that he dropped out of school and lost a great deal of weight.

He did not leave his house in Newcastle upon Tyne for six months, and when he failed to take the flawless shot, he tried to kill himself by taking an overdose.

Daily Mail reports:

His mother, Penny, managed to save him, but he was forced to seek help after his addiction had spiralled out of control.

The 19-year-old believed to be Britain’s first selfie addict, has now had therapy to treat his technology addiction, OCD and Body dysmorphic disorder – an excessive anxiety about personal appearance.

He has not taken a picture of himself in seven months, and has realised that achieving perfection is impossible.

He told the Sunday Mirror: ‘I was constantly in search of taking the perfect selfie and when I realised I couldn’t I wanted to die.

I lost my friends, my education, my health and almost my life.

‘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.’

He would look at photos of his ‘idol’ Leonardo Di Caprio and would then replicate his poses.

Danny’s dream was to become a male model, and it was an successful casting session in 2011 that ignited the obsession.

He would take 10 photos of himself before he washed and would sneak out of class three times every hour.

At 16, he dropped out of school so he could focus on his addiction, and his diet began to deteriorate.

Danny, seen with Christine Bleakley, dreamed of becoming a model after a successful casting session in 2011

Anxiety: He told ITV’s Daybreak programme that he would constantly take photos for 10 hours every day

On the sofa: Danny met presenters Aled Jones, Lorraine Kelly, and Dr Linda Papadopoulos on Daybreak

His parents, who are both mental health nurses, tried to confiscate his phone, but he became aggressive.

When he posted the images on Facebook, he said people would write negative comments, with one saying his nose was too big while another mocked his complexity.

He told ITV’s Daybreak: ‘Perfection is impossible. I just kept taking them and taking them.

‘I wanted to have one that was completely flawless. It was ten hours a day, 200 selfies.

‘I think this kind of thing can happen to anyone, for me it manifested itself in selfies; it could be something different for someone else.

‘This would not have happened if it was not in the media age.

The programme’s psychiatrist Dr. Linda Papadopoulos said that modern day pressures are getting to some younger people.

He joined Dr. Linda Papadopoulos who said that the online culture was putting pressure on some teenagers

The teenager from Newcastle took his first selfie at the age of 15, and it soon spiralled into an obsession

 

 

 

Danny appeared on Daybreak to talk about body dysmorphic disorder and met presenter Phillip Schofield

She said: ‘You add on to that this cultural need to almost release press releases for ourselves.

‘It’s like people saying “look at my life” and “look how exciting my life is”.’

The selfie craze has grown in past five years, with stars, ­politicians and even Pope Francis posting getting involved in the sensation.

But one psychologist at a clinic where Danny was treated said the addiction with taking selfies has now become a mental illness.

Now determined to raise awareness of the anxiety disorder, Danny is working with Fixers – a national charity helping young people ‘to ‘fix’ the issues that matter to them.

He said their help has kept him alive and called on others to seek help before they end up in hospital.