Nomophobia in Britons on the rise

As humans, we have a phobia for almost everything, be it of the dark, water, closed spaces or heights. ‘Nomophobia’, may not be a popular word, yet, but albeit, unknowingly, some of us probably may be suffering from it. Nomophobia, which means fear of being away from one’s mobile phone, according to a recent survey in the UK, is on the rise. Commissioned by SecurEnvoy, a survey was conducted on 1000 people who were interviewed about being away from their phones. About 66 percent people said that they worry about being without their cell phones. Compared to four years ago, when the word was identified, the figure affected by this phobia has increased.

Tied down to your phone? (Image Credit: Getty Images)

Andy Kemshall, SecurEnvoy CTO and co founder, stated, “A reversal on the 2008 findings is that, back then, it was men that were more afflicted yet today it’s women. I’d be inclined to draw the conclusion that, perhaps because more men have two phones, they’re less likely to misplace both and therefore be left phone-less. There is another study into mobile phone use that found people check their phones, on average, 34 times a day so it wouldn’t take long for you to realise if you’d misplaced your device.”

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This phobia was found to be more in women than men. But more men have two phones, and this could possibly be the reason behind this. Taking into account age groups, Nomophobia was found highest (77 percent) in individuals belonging to the age group between 18 to 24, followed by 25 to 34 at 68 percent and finally third highest was at age group 55 and higher. However, people are likely to worry more about not having their phones, while travelling or in times of emergency when they need to keep in touch with relatives or family members. One may not necessarily want to be with their mobile phone all the time. Nevertheless, we’ve been relying on the phone way too much, as it now serves as a multi-functional gadget and not just as a device to call and text. This may see a rise in the way we rely on our mobile phone and of course chances of further elevated Nomophobia cases.