There are many phobias in the world, i.e. varieties of fear of certain objects, phenomena, words, etc. However, the usual fear of closed spaces or the number 13 will no longer surprise anyone. The age of modern technology dictates its own rules, including regarding phobias, which also “keep pace” with technological progress. What phobias have appeared in the dictionary in recent years? What has social media, computers and digital technology led to fear? Estet-portal will talk about this in this article.
We live in a world of our fears. Fear of confined spaces, darkness or heights is a thing of the past. Today, people are driven crazy by internet trolling, a forgotten smartphone, or a lack of likes on photos on social networks. We tried to penetrate the world of phobias of modern man and identified 7 phobias-consequences of NTP.
Causes
- The fear of being left without a mobile phone is similar to drug addiction. A person feels physical or mental dependence on something and cannot find a way to stop this dependence.
- People tend to feel phobic when they are insecure, or lack self-control and discipline, become slightly bored or impatient, or lack other distracting activities, etc.
- Humans are social animals, needing constant communication and having a desire to talk and connect with others. Therefore, this phobia is not so unnatural considering the fact that cell phones are easily available everywhere and are used by men and women of all ages.
- A person who has had the negative experience of being without a cell phone may develop lifelong nomophobia.
How to overcome nomophobia: treatment methods
In most cases, it is impossible to get rid of pathological fear on your own, since nomophobia deprives a person of the ability to reason and act logically, adequately, and expediently. Therefore, if you suspect the development of a phobic disorder, you should consult a psychologist.
The specialist will determine what causes the panicky fear of being left without a mobile phone and will suggest the most appropriate ways to correct the condition. Very often, overcoming nomophobia requires a radical transformation of character and personal portrait . During the sessions, the psychologist will help you get rid of internal complexes and acquire adequate self-esteem. He will teach methods of harmonious interaction in society. Encourages the client to acquire healthy hobbies.
In severe cases of nomophobia, the intervention of a psychotherapist . Psychotherapeutic techniques are focused on deeper work with the inner world of a person. During the sessions, the psychotherapist will help you impartially examine your personal history and identify past factors that triggered the onset of the disorder. The work of a psychotherapist is focused on identifying and transforming destructive thoughts, instilled stereotypes, and dysfunctional styles of behavior.
To prevent nomophobia, psychologists recommend adhering to the following rules:
- While at home, you need to stop carrying your phone around the apartment and put it in a certain place.
- When going to bed, turn off the power to the gadget.
- Put your smartphone on charge at night. The battery charge of modern models will probably last for the next day.
- Set up a regular payment - top up your mobile provider account from a bank card once a month or once every 4 weeks. Choose a tariff sufficient for making calls and surfing the Internet.
- Strictly set the time for communication on social networks. The best option is 30 minutes in the evening. Half an hour is enough time to view important messages and respond to received correspondence.
- You should not install more than one game on a mobile device. Again, you need to clearly define exactly when to enter the game portal, and how much time to devote to the fun (no more than 30 minutes).
- Develop a habit: instead of conducting lengthy correspondence, it is better to make one call and find out all the details of interest.
- Once a week, be sure to visit places where there is no “coverage area”.
- When going fishing, use the gadget only in emergency situations.
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Signs
The disorder occurs in situations where people experience anxiety due to fear of not having access to a mobile phone. “Overconnection syndrome” occurs when mobile contact use reduces the amount of face-to-face communication, thereby significantly affecting a person's social and family interactions. The term "techno-stress" is another way to describe men or women who avoid personal relationships through isolation, including psychological mood disorders such as depression.
Anxiety is caused by several factors such as loss of mobile phone, connection and dead battery. Some clinical characteristics of nomophobia include impulsive use of a device to protect against social communication or as a transitional object. Observed behaviors include having one or more gadgets with Internet access, always having a charger present, and feeling anxious at the thought of losing a cell phone.
Other clinical characteristics of nomophobia are significantly less face-to-face contact with people, which is replaced by an increasing preference for communicating through technological interfaces, while keeping a device nearby while sleeping, never turning off and often looking at the phone screen to avoid missing any message, call or notification (also called a signal). Nomophobia sometimes leads to increased debt due to excessive data usage and the various devices a person may have. Nomophobia also leads to physical problems such as pain in the elbows, arms and neck due to prolonged strain.
Irrational and extreme reactions caused by anxiety and stress can be experienced by people in public places where technology use is limited, such as airports, academic institutions, hospitals and the workplace. Frequent use of a mobile phone for daily activities such as purchasing items can cause individual financial problems. Signs of apathy and depression occur when a person does not have any contact through the phone. The ability to communicate via a mobile phone provides individual peace of mind and security.
Nomophobia can act as a crutch for other disorders. Those who suffer from underlying social disorder experience nervousness, restlessness, sadness, sweat and trembling when they are deprived or unable to use their digital devices due to low battery, being out of service area, lack of connection, etc. Such people will often insist on permanent storage of their devices, usually returning to their own homes to retrieve forgotten cell phones.
Nomophobic behavior may increase social anxiety tendencies and dependence on the use of virtual and digital communications as a method of reducing stress caused by social anxiety and social phobia. Those who suffer from panic disorders may also exhibit nomophobic behavior and report feelings of rejection, loneliness, uncertainty, and low self-esteem in relation to their cell phones, especially with infrequent contact (a few incoming calls and messages). Those with panic disorder are likely to feel much more anxious and depressed when using their cell phones. Despite this, those suffering from panic disorder were significantly less likely to place voice calls.
Like all other phobias, the fear of being without a cell phone can also cause a variety of mental and physical symptoms, including:
- Increased heart rate, sweaty palms, rapid breathing.
- Most phobias are related to protecting your phone. People will also constantly check the fixture for battery life and/or messages.
- They will never turn off the device and will ensure the battery is charged so that you are not left without a gadget. Many people are known to keep multiple phones.
- Most phobia sufferers experience a full-blown panic attack when they are separated from their device for an extended period of time.
- They can use the mobile phone at any point they deem appropriate, regardless of how appropriate it is.
- Phone use often affects their relationships with people or even interferes with their work at school or office. Many nomophobes are known to be loners or have trouble dating or maintaining relationships.
- Most sufferers of this phobia understand that their fears are irrational and unnecessary; but they cannot control themselves. As a result, their health and mental well-being also suffer.
Where does nomophobia begin?
Modern mobile devices have a wide range of functions, without which the average user cannot imagine his life. But the most important opportunities are to always, at any time, anywhere, stay in touch and receive information of interest non-stop. The vast majority of smartphone owners are terribly afraid of losing all the valuable information collected on the device. This is where all the problems come from.
All users suffer from smartphone addiction to some extent . And the development of a serious phobia is influenced by deviations and psychological problems experienced by people during live communication.
Unable to overcome imaginary barriers, a person strives to realize himself, to assert himself in a non-existent world.
At the initial stages of a psychological disorder, the following manifestations are characteristic:
- transfer of reality into virtual space. Young people in the same room or sitting at the same table do not look away from the screens of their mobile devices for a minute. There is no live contact between potential interlocutors; life is in full swing in the virtual world;
- a sense of self-importance and importance. Constantly receiving calls and SMS from friends, a person cherishes feelings of necessity, of being needed by others. Inner emptiness hits you as soon as the phone goes silent;
- creation of a fictitious personality. Thanks to social networks, the user can present himself in a favorable light, covering his own life with tinsel and feigned glitter. All attention is concentrated on a non-existent reality, alienation and rejection of one’s own self occurs.
All these are prerequisites for the occurrence of a phobia . The fear of being left without a mobile phone, the fear of losing contact with a fictitious ideal world, quickly develops from an obsession into a pathological condition that requires immediate correction.
Treatment
Overcoming this phobia can be challenging, and while medical intervention is not always necessary, there are many options. Gradual exposure therapy and systematic desensitization are known to be the best treatments for this phobia. Other options include hypnotherapy, which can target the root cause of the disorder and completely eradicate it. Worst cases of this disorder may require anxiety medications.
The patient must also take steps to overcome his fear. This includes developing or practicing self-help techniques such as yoga, positive visualization, meditation, listening to soothing music, and/or attending support group therapy sessions. You can learn to overcome panic attacks by practicing deep breathing or doing exercises such as aerobic exercise, swimming, dancing, etc.
Currently, evidence-based and empirically tested treatments are very limited due to the relatively new concept. However, promising treatment options include cognitive behavioral therapy combined with pharmacological interventions. Interventions using tranylcypromine and clonazepam were successful in reducing the effects of nomophobia.
Cognitive behavioral therapy appears to be effective by enhancing autonomous behavior independent of technological influences, but this form of treatment lacks randomized pathways. Another possible treatment is "Reality Approach" or Reality Therapy, which asks the patient to focus on behavior without cell phones. In extreme or severe cases, neuropsychopharmacology may be successful with benzodiazepines and antidepressants at normal doses.
Patients have also been successfully treated with tranylcypromine in combination with clonazepam. However, it is important to note that these medications were developed to treat social anxiety disorder and not nomophobia directly. Sometimes it is quite difficult to treat this disorder directly, but it is more plausible to investigate, identify and treat the underlying mental phobias, if any.
Although nomophobia is a fairly new concept, psychometric scales can be validated in diagnosis, as exemplified by one of these scales, the Questionnaire and Test for Mobile Phone Dependence (QDMP/TMPD).
How to treat nomophobia
Realizing that a person is really addicted to the phone and is afraid to part with it is already a huge step towards curing a phobia. Intrusive thoughts about the subject of your fear lead to nervous exhaustion, and as a result, a deterioration in your psychophysical condition.
Typically, a patient turns to a psychotherapist for help when fear prevents him from living. In order to get rid of your fear, you need to find a good specialist who you can trust.
The most popular methods of treating nomophobia are visiting a psychotherapist and herbal medicine.
Psychological treatment
For patients with a mild form of nomophobia, a few sessions with a psychotherapist are enough to completely get rid of the phobia and live a normal life. But sometimes the problem penetrates too much into a person’s consciousness. Then it takes a lot of time and effort to get rid of it.
Psychotherapists use several basic methods of combating nomophobia in their practice:
- Reaction burnout is one of the simplest methods. The patient is asked to temporarily give up his mobile phone and computer and turn his attention to alternative pastimes. New interests and hobbies are a good distraction from thoughts associated with a phobia. The time without gadgets is constantly increasing. This is how a new habit is formed in the subconscious. The person realizes that it is within his power to cope with the phobia.
- Psychoanalysis. It involves searching for the cause of psychological fixation. This event has an inextricable connection with the patient’s current condition. When the “starting point” of the phobia is found, the doctor will try to eradicate its image from the subconscious.
- Hypnosis is a rather specific method of combating nomophobia, but it gives good results provided that the doctor really has this skill. The patient is conditioned to have a neutral or positive reaction to an object that causes fear.
For children, you can use the first method. The child's psyche is quite unstable, and this must be taken into account during treatment. You cannot forcefully take away a child’s phone. You need to gently but persistently organize his leisure time. You can enroll your child in sections and clubs, and spend more time with him in the fresh air.
Phytotherapy
In parallel with work on the internal fixation of the phobia, it is recommended to carry out herbal medicine - herbal treatment.
Taking sedatives with herbal components helps relieve nervous tension and associated symptoms. Herbs can improve sleep and daily routine, and they have virtually no side effects. Herbal medicine is also welcome in the case of treating children over three years of age.
It is recommended to drink a decoction of chamomile, motherwort, mint, valerian and lemon balm. You can take pharmaceutical drugs with the same composition. They are available in the form of tablets, syrups and alcohol tinctures.
It is not recommended to take them for people with personal intolerance to the components, for children under three years of age (alcohol-containing tinctures for children under 10 years of age), as well as for persons operating vehicles or industrial equipment, as they may cause drowsiness.
Herbal decoctions will help relieve nervous tension
Research data
With changes in technology, new challenges arise daily. Other types of phobias have appeared. Since the first mobile phone was introduced into the consumer market in 1983, these devices have become significantly popular in the majority of society.
Shambare, Rugimbana & Zhowa (2012) stated that cell phones are “possibly the worst addiction of the 21st century” and that college students can spend up to nine hours daily on their phones, leading to dependence on such innovations as the driving force of modern life and an example of the “paradox of technology” that liberates and enslaves.
A survey conducted by SecurEnvoy found that young adults and teenagers are more likely to suffer from nomophobia. The same survey reported that 77% of teenagers reported feeling anxious and worried when without their mobile phones, followed by the 25-34 age group and those over 55. Some psychological predictors to look for in a man or woman suffering from this phobia are “self-negating attitudes, younger age, low self-esteem and self-efficacy, high extroversion or introversion, impulsiveness and feelings of impatience and sensation-seeking.”
Among students, frequent cell phone use was correlated with decreased grade point average (GPA) and increased anxiety, which was negatively associated with life satisfaction scores (well-being and happiness) compared to students who used devices less frequently. A decline in GPA may be due to excessive cell phone or computer use, consuming time and attention while studying, attending class, working on assignments, and being distracted by cell phones during class. Excessive cell phone use will increase anxiety due to the pressures associated with social media and may take away the opportunity to experience the solitude that relieves daily stress and which has been associated with a component of well-being.
Nomophobia
Have you ever forgotten your cell phone at home or in the car? If at the same time you experienced discomfort, anxiety and a feeling of fear, you are highly likely to suffer from nomophobia - the plague of the 21st century. The term comes from the English phrase “no mobile phone” and is translated as the fear of being left without a mobile phone. Scientists identified this disease in a 2008 study that found that 66% of every 100 people experienced panic fear while being left without means of communication. They tried to constantly check missed calls, messages and emails.
It is worth noting that in 2008, the era of touchscreen smartphones with fast Internet access had not yet begun. And if more than half the population suffered from a phobia then, now the disease must have spread to everyone. Try to test yourself: turn off your phone for at least one day.
Other experiments
In Australia, 946 adolescents and adults aged 15 to 24 years participated in a study on the effects of mobile phones (387 men, 557 women, two chose not to report gender). The study focused on the relationship between the frequency of mobile phone use by participants and psychological dependence on their gadgets. The researchers assessed several psychological factors that may influence participants' cell phone use with the following tests: the Mobile Phone Questionnaire (MPIQ), frequency of use, self-esteem, and peer validation. The MPIQ assessed behavioral addictions using a seven-point Likert scale (1 = strongly agree) and (7 = strongly disagree), which contained statements such as: “I often think about my cell phone when I'm not using it... I feel connected to others when I'm using the gadget."
The results showed a moderate difference between participants' phone use and their psychological dependence on gadgets. No abnormal conditions were found, but there was excessive use of mobile phones with signs of attachment. Participants who demonstrated these symptoms were more likely to increase their use when receiving confirmation from others. Other factors that have been studied have focused on adolescents. Adults are more likely to develop cell phone addiction as they may undergo auto-identification, self-esteem, and social matching.
Those suffering from panic disorders and anxiety phobias are prone to addiction to mobile phones. A study in Brazil compared symptoms caused by technology use in heterosexual participants with panic disorder and a control group of healthy people.
| Group | |
| 1 | 2 |
| 50 people with anxiety disorders and agoraphobia with an average age of 43 years | 70 healthy participants aged around 35, no disorders |
During the experiment, a self-service questionnaire was provided via mobile phone, which assessed the use of gadgets and symptoms noted by both teams.
| Group | |
| 1 | 2 |
| 44% reported feeling “safe” when they had phones | 46% that they would not feel the same without their gadget. |
Results showed that 68% of all participants reported cell phone addiction, but overall, people with panic disorder and agoraphobia reported significantly more emotional symptoms and cell phone addiction when access to them was denied compared to controls.
