Nomophobia – what is it?
Today, in the modern world, most people are active users of all kinds of gadgets that allow you to stay in touch with family and friends, as well as giving you the opportunity to know what is happening around. Being practically inseparable from the means of communication, such people experience tangible discomfort even at the mere thought of a situation where it will not be possible to use a smartphone or tablet. Such fear leads to severe stress and is a harbinger of a psychological pathology that is becoming common among people of all ages.
Features of nomophobia and its key symptoms
A psychological disorder in which an excessive fear of being without your mobile phone is manifested is commonly called nomophobia . Such a new concept in psychology is associated with extremely rapid technological progress, when gadgets for communication and entertainment became available to mankind. Having quickly got used to their presence, people now cannot imagine their lives without smartphones and tablets. Therefore, even the very thought of the impossibility of using a familiar gadget for a long time gives rise to a whole range of unpleasant sensations at the psychological and even physical level.
Despite the fact that today there is no official statistics on the number of those who suffer from nomophobia , experts in the field of psychology confirm that the number of people with this disease is growing every day. At the same time, representatives of both sexes are almost equally susceptible to the disorder, regardless of their social status.
Since nomophobia is not just an unrelenting dependence on a mobile phone, but a real type of anxiety disorder, it is characterized by a number of symptoms on several levels. Among the emotional signs of the presence of an ailment, there are such moments as:
– confusion of thoughts when the phone is not in close proximity;
– anxiety in case of need to put the gadget aside for a certain time;
– panic when it is impossible to use the phone when it suddenly fails;
– stressful feelings in a situation of not being able to check the smartphone if desired.
Physical symptoms include disorientation, dizziness, palpitations, shortness of breath, and tightness in the chest. Such signs make themselves felt at the slightest thought of separation from the adored gadget.
Absolute attachment to the subject of communication leads to the fact that representatives of the male and female part of the population tend not to part with the phone even in the toilet and in the process of taking a bath. The desire to monitor the battery level every free minute and replenish the account balance in time leads to a pathological dependence on the gadget, which quickly becomes a substitute for full-fledged communication with people in real life.
The main causes of the emergence of nomophobia
Due to the fact that the phenomenon of extreme dependence on technology to communicate with the outside world arose relatively recently, it has not yet been fully studied. However, specialists working on the study of this phenomenon note a trend in which adolescents and young people are most susceptible to psychological disorder due to the vulnerability of the psyche.
Among the factors influencing the appearance of the disease, there is a fear of isolation from loved ones and society as a whole. Today, the telephone is the main means of maintaining contact with important people who are at some distance. Therefore, the prospect of losing your phone can pretty much ruin your nerves, sowing endless fear. A smartphone can act as a cure for loneliness, creating the illusion of a large social circle. The inability to get in touch with virtual friends gives rise to a fear of being left exclusively alone with oneself.
Having the painful experience of losing your phone along with the valuable numbers of the right people contributes to the fear of history repeating itself. Such thoughts make a person keep the gadget always next to him, making it the most important item in life.
The inability to solve your own personal problems can lead to the need to spend free time with a smartphone, distracting from all sorts of unpleasant thoughts. Instead of establishing real contacts with representatives of the same or the opposite sex, a person plunges into the virtual world, gradually losing touch with the outside world.
Despite the danger posed by modern gadgets, they can bring tangible benefits with the right approach to using the miracle of technology. It is enough to follow simple rules for handling communication means, which will not allow you to plunge headlong into virtuality, but will give satisfaction from using smartphones.
Effective ways to get rid of nomophobia
The emergence of an addiction not to part with the means of communication can be prevented even at the stage of inception. It is necessary to pay attention to alarm bells, among which the following points stand out in particular:
– thoughts about the inconvenience caused by the inability to use a smartphone periodically arise every day;
– emotional experiences associated with the gadget interfere with the normal flow of sleep;
– worries about the phone do not allow you to fully enjoy real communication;
– Anxiety leads to health problems.
If you managed to track such reactions, you need to seek the advice of a psychologist who will help prevent the further development of the phobia. When time is lost and the problem gets worse, you need to force yourself to gradually do without a gadget when doing important things. It is advisable to involve relatives to help so that they can control the process of weaning from the means of communication, gently guiding in the right direction.