Nomophobia At Its Peak: Decoding The 'No Mobile Phone' Phobia

While reading this article or while driving, we all have the innate urge to open, check and re-check our mobile phones. But why do we do this? Is it a lack of self-control or escapism that soothes us while making us obsessed? We all have heard about certain side effects of having an increased screen time which go from having back problems to straining our eyes yet what underlies these physical issues are several mental and psychological issues that we should check on. 

How Fatal Can Nomophobia Be?

Nomophobia translates to the fear of being detached from your mobile phone or 'no mobile phone' phobia. The word phobia here implies the psychological fear or anxiety one suffers about someone/something, for example, claustrophobia (fear of being in a tightly closed space), aerophobia (fear of flying) and so on. Nomophobia can affect an individual's daily life and make them irritable and anxious if they do not check or use their phone for an hour or more.

In 2017, a study was conducted by the National Institute of Health on 145 first-year medical students in India which concluded that 60% of participants had moderate nomophobia, 17.9% had mild nomophobia and the rest 22.1% had severe nomophobia. Although the study was published in 2017, the current rate seems to be much higher, especially among teenagers.

Emotional and Physical Symptoms

According to Healthline Media, the physical and emotional symptoms to look out for are as follows. Emotional symptoms include worry, fear, or panic when you think about not having your phone or being unable to use it, anxiousness and agitation if you have to put your phone down or know you won’t be able to use it for a while. Physical symptoms can include tightness in your chest, trouble breathing normally, trembling or shaking, increased sweating and rapid heartbeat in extreme or severe cases.

For many people, using their mobile phones while doing even the smallest of tasks is mandatory or normal, it can look like taking your phone to your bed, bathroom and shower, checking notifications as and when they appear, feeling helpless or even miserable without using your phone for several hours. This behaviour has been normalised to such an extent that people who do not have enough phone usage are seen as 'anti-social', which further pulls a lot of traction towards mobile usage. 

Lifestyle Dependency Or Escapism? Take Your Pick

With the majority of people being possessive about their phones, we do realise that in 2024, working without our phones is not an easy task. From ordering food and groceries,  using Google Maps, and having alarms, we use our phones for every nitty gritty and have become dependent on it. A block of metal and batteries has made our survival dependent on itself even though we are self-aware about all the harms and side effects. For many people using mobile phones, it is not just dependency on lifestyle but escapism.

The need to escape and dive into a world that satiates their needs virtually, be it entertainment in the form of celebrity news, cooking videos, fashion reels or the infamous 'get ready with me' videos. We have started using other people's lives to fall back on and escape to. This correlates to the increased stress levels and decreased attention span found commonly in not only teenagers but adults too. Consumption of fast content like reels and shorts has broken our patience and persistence to shreds, which makes it hard for us to withdraw from a habit. 

This article just lays down surface details and certain critical points revolving around nomophobia but we were all aware of these impacts and consequences. The problem is much bigger if we continue to work on this trajectory despite knowing the decline of it. To overcome this, we must slowly start reducing our dependence and taking our phones to places where they shouldn't go (beds and bathrooms), teenagers should be given mobile phones on a time constraint which should be monitored and parents must themselves set up an example to decrease mobile usage.

Views expressed by the author are their own.