I have just emerged from a traumatic few days during which I realised that I am an addict – and all because my little grandson spilt bubble stuff on my iPhone.
The death of my smartphone left me feeling like an untethered astronaut bouncing weightlessly across the barren surface of the moon! If this analogy sounds a bit over-dramatic, I can assure you it is not. The experience really scared me, and still does, even though I have now discovered that I was simply suffering an episode of Nomophobia, which is a common and recognised disorder.
It may have started out as a bit of a jokey acronymic term for the anxiety one feels when separated from their mobile phones, but Nomophobia (an abbreviation of “no mobile phone phobia”) is now being seriously scientifically studied, particularly in the United States.
The Jitters
The term was, however, first coined apparently during a study by the UK Post Office as long ago (in modern technology terms!) as 2010.
The good old PO commissioned YouGov to take a look at the anxieties suffered by mobile users, and the results showed that 53% of respondents were anxious when their phones were lost, out of battery or credit, or away from network coverage. In other words, even in 2010 more than half of phone users were at risk of Nomophobia when parted from, or prevented from using, their devices.
At the time (according to an article in Psychology Today) sufferers experienced stress levels “on a par with those of wedding day jitters and trips to the dentist”.
With the proliferation of mobile phones since then (37-million adults in the UK now have one) and the ever-more sophisticated apps and functions inherent in smartphones, it’s a pretty sure bet that not only the incidence, but also the severity, of Nomophobia has increased proportionately.
Outed as an addict
A recent study by the University of Missouri found that people denied their mobiles showed symptoms of actual separation anxiety: mounting heart rates, increased blood pressure, sweaty palms and the like.
That’s not the worst of it though! Without their phones the subjects in the study were found to perform worse on cognitive tests. As one commentator put it “cell phone (mobile) separation makes us dumb”. Postulations were that this could have been because anxiety affected concentration and focus.
For me, though, the recent bout of Nomophobia I experienced was not frightening because of the symptoms (which were instantly relieved once I had a new mobile connected up), but because it “outed” me as a smartphone addict!
Perhaps, like me, you are addicted – checking your phone as soon as you get up; idly scrolling through the app icons even when you know there’s nothing new to see; answering texts at the supermarket counter; waving demanding kids aside while you check your emails; bath with the phone within reach (not to mention carrying it with you when you visit the loo!).
If you’re not sure how much mobile dependency is too much – try this test devised by the Centre for Internet and Technology Addiction.
Never fear – if you think you’ve got a problem, there is plenty of advice out there on how to deal with tech addiction of all sorts. How to find it … well, Google it on your smartphone of course!
Good for Business
Nomophobia is certainly a positive thing for businesses that rely on digital marketing (and that means ALL businesses nowadays) because it keeps an ever-growing mobile audience tuned in and receptive to advertising and branded messages.
It’s just one more reason why it’s vital for any enterprise, large or small, to be making the most of social media and ensure websites are mobile and tablet responsive.
Besides running our national online directory of businesses and services, dentons.net, Dentons has a creative wing that provides a variety of bespoke services including
Website design
Website hosting
Domain registration
Mobile App development
Social Media campaigns and advertising
Print and brand design
Copywriting & Proofreading
DON’T SUFFER WITH NOMOPHOBIA – GET IN TOUCH!