Oxford, England (The Adobo Chronicles) – Each year, new words are added to the Oxford Dictionary — which describes itself as “the definite record of the English language” and published by the Oxford University Press.

Among the new words added this year is “Selfitis.”

In March this year, The Adobo Chronicles  broke the story that the American Psychiatric Association (APA)officially classified ‘selfies’ as a mental disorder, calling it “Selfitis.”

The disorder is defined as the obsessive-compulsive desire to take photos of one’s self  and post them on social media as a way to make up for the lack of self-esteem and to fill a gap in intimacy. APA said there are three levels of the disorder: borderline, acute and chronic selfitis.

In deciding to add “Selfitis” to their dictionary, Oxford said that “no other word in the history of the English language has caught the attention of millions of people worldwide within a short period of time, dominating news stories, songs, television shows, Facebook posts and Tweets, as has “Selfitis.”

In  responding to criticism that “itis” means “inflammation” and that the disorder as defined by the APA is more of an addiction, Oxford decided to add a second definition in its dictionary entry, as follows:

Selfitis (self-i’tis) n. inflammation of the ego

However, the word “Selfitis” failed to be named Oxford Dictionaries’ “Word of the Year.”  The 2014 Word of the Year is “Vape,”  used to describe the process of inhaling and exhaling the vapor produced by an electronic cigarette (or “vape pen”).

Last year’s word of the year was “Selfies.”