Hey, You! Put That Phone Down, Slowly…
Do you feel uncomfortable without your phone?
Do you fidget non-stop if you can’t use your phone because it’s out of juice?
Are panicking because you’re somewhere with no reception of service?
Or maybe you’re very afraid of not having credits for phone calls or text?
If you answer yes to even one of this then you have a problem. A mental problem…
Cellphone Addiction? You’re not wrong but you’re not exactly right either.
What you might have is a phobia – a nomophobia.
Nomophobia is short for ‘No Mobile Phone Phobia,’ a mental condition where people with this phobia felt extreme fear or anxiety of not being able to use their phone, and their phone’s services due to variety of reasons. It’s a psychological problem that involves over-dependency on one’s mobile phone.
Nomophobia is a part of the new type of phobias (techno phobias) that emerges due to recent technological breakthrough. And it’s actually more common than you think.
Majority of people who use mobile phones actually have varying cases of nomophobia, the only different being the severity.
Some cases are mild to the point that it’s debatable to even call it a phobia while some cases are so severe that it’s affecting their daily lives.
In other words, you and I might have nomophobia.
You’re Sick, Kid. Go Get Some Help…
Nomophobia is a relatively new mental disorder that only crops out fairly recently. It means that we know very little about the phobia, which also means that there’s no medicine for it yet.
Heck, nomophobia was so recent that it’s not even listed latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) yet. Even mental health experts have a hard time deciding on the formal diagnostic criteria for this condition.
It’s hard to say whether extreme nomophobia can also become a debilitating mental disorder like extreme depression. What we know for certain though was that people with nomophobia developed attachment to their mobile phones.
People with lighter case of nomophobia will only feel slight anxiety or fear when they’re away from their mobile phones. But people with extreme case of nomophobia would show extreme anxiety and fear to the point that they might feel unwell.
These people with extreme cases might even show physical symptoms like sweating, fidgeting, and shivering. Some might even become depress if their mobile phones were taken away from them.
It’s obvious to see that people with extreme case of nomophobia needed professional help. But even those with light to moderate case of nomophobia would benefit from counseling.
Don’t think that just because your case is not severe that you’re on the green. A light case of nomophobia could easily become severe as time passes by. The stronger your attachment to your mobile phone grew the bigger the risk of developing severe nomophobia.
If you don’t want to see a counselor then your best bet was to change your lifestyle.
Go Out and Take the Dog for A Walk or Something…
One of the method to cure nomophobia was to change our lifestyle AND mentality.
As mentioned earlier, nomophobia is a mental disorder that developed from an attachment to one’s mobile phone. The attachment could be because of low self-esteem, excess use due to one’s extroverted personality, other preexisting mental disorder and so on.
We cannot do something about our preexisting mental disorder without professional help but it’s possible to increase our self-esteem and reduce the excessive use of our mobile phones.
If you’re case was not that severe but noticed yourself growing more to attach to your mobile phone then it might be a good idea to distance yourself from it.
A severe case of nomophobia obviously require the help of a counselor but those with light to moderate case can prevent their condition from worsening by slowly reducing the use of their mobile phones.
Meditation, yoga, exercising, going out for walk or run, or even just walking the dog without bringing along your mobile phone for an hour or two a day could go a long way in minimizing the effect of nomophobia.
If you want something to take your mind off of your mobile phone then I suggest you read a book – the real one not the digital version. Motivational and self-help books are recommended since they might be able to help with our low self-esteem.
You can also watch movies, or use your computers to play games or something. Just not for too long. You don’t want to be cure of nomophobia only to develop another addiction because of it.
In my opinion, the best activities are those activities that involve nature like camping, hiking, mountaineering, biking, and so on.
Actually, any activities that would lessen our contact with our mobile phones would be helpful in our rehabilitation.
Closing Thoughts
Nowadays, almost everyone have a mobile phone. It’s a very useful device that’s integral to our modern society. It connects people from around the globe and makes us closer by shrinking the world (not literary of course.)
But like everything else, anything in excess is bad. When use in moderation, our mobile phones is a great tool of communication. But when use in excess, it’s nothing but a hindrance to our normal lives.
I’m not saying that we should forsake our mobile phones for good when I write this article nor do I wanted you to because that’s pretty much impossible at this time and age.
What I really wanted to do was to raise awareness that nomophobia exist and that we should be concerned of its effect on our normal life and mental health.
We should take it seriously and not shrug it off because it has a strange and non-threatening name.
Anyways, that’s all from me for now. I hoped you learned something from this article.
Thank you for reading and God Bless.
