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Have you ever wondered what your life would be like without a smartphone? Some may envision a life of peace without distraction, whereas some may see a life with less convenience and connection. Others, however, may feel terrified of the idea entirely.
Psychological research has uncovered a new fear: “nomophobia”—where individuals become filled with dread, anxiety and panic at the thought of being without their smartphone.
To measure the severity of this phobia and its impact on daily life, researchers have developed a test designed to assess and diagnose nomophobia….Story continues…
Source: A Psychologist Describes A New Phobia On The Rise: ‘Nomophobia’
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Research suggests that mobile phone use is negatively associated with satisfaction with life. Although mobile phones can make life easier, they are also regarded as stressors. Reasons like high work pressure, frequent interpersonal communication, rapid information update and circulation, these reasons make mobile phones crucial tools for most people in their work and life.
Once the mobile phone is dead or suddenly dropped notification frequency, some people will occur anxiety, irritability, depression, and other symptoms. The study shows that a wider range of mobile phone use is usually due to lower happiness, mindfulness, and life satisfaction.
In Australia, 946 adolescents and emerging adults between ages 15 and 24 participated in a mobile phone research study (387 males, 457 females, and 102 chose not to report a gender). The study focused on the relationship between the participants’ frequency of mobile phone use and psychological involvement with their mobile phone. Researchers assessed several psychological factors that might influence participants’ mobile phone use with the following questionnaires:
Mobile Phone Involvement Questionnaire (MPIQ), Frequency of Mobile Phone Use, Self Identity, and Validation from others. The MPIQ assessed behavioral addictions using a seven-point Likert scale (1 – strongly agree) and (7 – strongly disagree) that included statements such as: “I often think about my mobile phone when I am not using it… … I feel connected to others when I use my mobile phone.”
The results demonstrated moderate difference between the participants’ mobile phone use and their psychological relationships with the mobile phones. No pathological conditions were found, but there was an excessive use of mobile phone indicating signs of attachment. Participants who demonstrated signs of excessive mobile phone use were more likely to increase their use when receiving validation from others.
Other factors considered, the population studied was focused on adolescents and emerging adults are more likely to develop mobile phone dependency because they may be going through a self-identity, self-esteem, and social identity. Those with panic disorders and anxiety disorders are prone to mobile phone dependency. A study in Brazil compared the symptoms experienced due to mobile phone use by heterosexual participants with panic disorders and a control group of healthy participants.
Group 1 consisted of 50 participants with panic disorder and agoraphobia with an average age of 43, and group 2 consisted of 70 healthy participants with no disorders and an average age of 35. During the experiment participants were given a self-report mobile phone questionnaire which assessed the mobile phone use and symptoms reported by both groups.
About 44% of group 1 reported that they felt “secure” when they had their mobile phones versus 46% of group 2 reported they would not feel the same without their mobile phone.The results demonstrated that 68% of all participants reported mobile phone dependency, but overall the participants with panic disorder and agoraphobia reported significantly more emotional symptoms and dependency on mobile phones when compared to the control group when access to the mobile phone was prohibited.
Nomophobia occurs in situations when an individual experiences anxiety due to the fear of not having access to a mobile phone. The “over-connection syndrome” occurs when mobile phone use reduces the amount of face-to-face interactions thereby interfering significantly with an individual’s social and family interactions. The term “techno-stress” is another way to describe an individual who avoids face-to-face interactions by engaging in isolation including psychological mood disorders such as depression.
Anxiety is provoked by several factors, such as the loss of a mobile phone, loss of reception, and a dead mobile phone battery. Some clinical characteristics of nomophobia include using the device impulsively, as a protection from social communication, or as a transitional object. Observed behaviors include having one or more devices with access to internet, always carrying a charger, and experiencing feelings of anxiety when thinking about losing the mobile. People usually reduce sleep when they overuse their mobile phones.
Lack of sleep can lead to depression and lack of care, which makes people willing to indulge in mobile phones. Research shows that the dependence on mobile phones is due to adverse mental health. Compared to other people, their sleep time will be shorter, the longer they use the phone, the more severe their depression. The increase in mobile phone usage is related to the decline in self-esteem and coping ability.
Other clinical characteristics of nomophobia are a considerably decreased number of face-to-face interactions with humans, replaced by a growing preference for communication through technological interfaces, keeping the device in reach when sleeping and never turned off, and looking at the phone screen frequently to avoid missing any message, phone call, or notification (also called ringxiety).
Nomophobia can also lead to an increase of debt due to the excessive use of data and the different devices the person can have. Nomophobia may also lead to physical issues such as sore elbows, hands, and necks due to repetitive use. Irrational reactions and extreme reactions due to anxiety and stress may be experienced by the individual in public settings where mobile phone use is restricted, such as in airports, academic institutions, hospitals and work. Overusing a mobile phone for day-to-day activities such as purchasing items can cause the individual financial problems.
Signs of distress and depression occur when the individual does not receive any contact through a mobile phone. Attachment signs of a mobile phone also include the urge to sleep with a mobile phone. The ability to communicate through a mobile phone gives the individual peace of mind and security. Nomophobia may act as a proxy to other disorders.Those with an underlying social disorder are likely to experience nervousness, anxiety, anguish, perspiration, and trembling when separated or unable to use their digital devices due to low battery, out of service area, no connection, etc.
Such people will often insist on keeping their devices on hand at all times, typically returning to their homes to retrieve forgotten cell phones. Nomophobic behavior may reinforce social anxiety tendencies and dependency on using virtual and digital communications as a method of reducing stress generated by social anxiety and social phobia.
Those with panic disorders may also show nomophobic behavior, however, they will probably report feelings of rejection, loneliness, insecurity, and low self-esteem in regard to their cell phones, especially when times with little to no contact (few incoming calls and messages). Those with panic disorder will probably feel significantly more anxious and depressed with their cellphone use. Despite this, those with panic disorder were significantly less likely to place voice calls.
Nomophobia has also been shown to increase the likelihood of problematic mobile phone use such as dependent use (i.e. never turning the device off), prohibited use (i.e. use in any environment where it is forbidden to do so), and dangerous use (i.e. use while driving or crossing a road).
Additionally, nomophobia’s third factor—the fear of not being able to access information—has the greatest impact on the likelihood of engaging in illegal use while driving.
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