5 signs you have nomophobia
Did you know, ‘nomophobia’ is short for ‘no mobile phone phobia’? The first time I heard this word I immediately thought it was the clinical term for an unbalanced fear towards clownfish. It took me five seconds to realize I had mistakenly associated the word with the Pixar movie called — according to me — Finding Nomo. It was only later that I realized nomophobia is the proposed word to describe the extreme fear of not being able to use your phone.
Now, we’ve all been in a situation where we’ve panicked because our phone battery is dead or because we’ve misplaced our device, but does that mean that you have nomophobia? Well, we’ve managed to come up with five (non-conclusive) signs that can tell you if you suffer from it.
1) You can’t be anywhere without your phone.
Can you feel completely comfortable giving your phone to the bartender to charge it? Can you go to your local shop with no buzzing inside your pocket? If you can’t remember the last time you decided to explore the world commando(tech-wise), it might be that you have the nomo.
2) You get irritated when you can’t access your smartphone.
If you feel like ripping apart your shirt and shorts, and dropping a gallon of green paint on your body while yelling “Hulk needs to scroll” because you can’t reach your phone, probably you might be a bit nomophobic.
3) You do reckless things to check your smartphone.
Texting and driving? Swiping and biking? Juggling a pair of machetes in flames and sending a voice note? If you have done any of the aforementioned, then let there be no doubt, you definitely have a phone addiction.
4) Your phone is the first and last thing you check every day.
Hitting snooze on your alarm doesn’t count as checking your phone, but if the first thing you do as soon as you are awake is checking your DM’s, it might be time to recognize your nomophobic patterns.
5) You feel anxious when your phone is running out of battery.
If you are the kind of person that, wherever you go, requires a charger or a power outlet, then 1) there are easier ways to charge your phone on the go (whispers ‘Brick power banks’ coercively into the breeze), and 2) Yeah, you might have a complicated relationship with your phone.
So what is left to do if you have nomophobia?
Two things. First, please do not panic. Given the technological times that we live in, it is very understandable to feel reliant on your smartphone. In fact, 53% of the population shows signs of mobile phone dependency¹.
Second, try to assess the areas in your life where you feel intense anxiety because of your phone not working and find out what you can do to fix them. Even though we’re fully — Google — trained psychologists, we’ll leave all that deep emotional digging to you. But! If you get triggered when your phone’s battery hits -30% or when you have to leave your phone while it charges, then you can try using an app like Brick. These rentable power banks allow you to charge your phone — stress-free — wherever you go.
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