Nomophobia- The fear of being without one’s cell phone

Let’s face a fact that in today’s  fast moving generation we are not able to survive without our cell phones. In every 5 minutes we are called by our cell phones as if they are personified to be our twin sister or brother and they need us badly or may be we need them badly. 5 minutes is also a humongous time for some of us. So to quote with “Our mobile phones have made us unsocial”  irrespective of being active on social networking sites. What an irony??? Being at home we are not spending quality time with each other rather we are terribly busy on our phones.

Though with the aid of smart phones we can access unlimited information and get connected to people which was not possible otherwise, smart phone dependence can be very harming and problematic. Addiction to smart phones is thought to be similar to that of an addiction of surfing the internet or excessive shopping. Everyone wants to have the latest version of  smart phones as they are representing the social status of a person. It can lead to social media addiction as well leading to impaired self-esteem and work performance and interpersonal conflicts as well.

Teenagers are the targeted audience as they are confronted and very well known with all the features and configuration a particular smart phone is offering , whether to buy it or not, from where to buy , at what price , and how to use it. They are reluctant, or rather  I would say that they are addicted to have selfies, check out their snaps and insta stories, and any other out of the blue term which  may be unknown to a common man, they are very well versed with those terms. Recently, studies have shown that they are experiencing negative alterations in the brain development thus leading to hampered brain connectivity due to problems caused in the parts of the brain responsible for decision-making, impulse-control, and regulating emotional ability and they tend to socialise less. They are subject to harmful consequences like being addicted to alcohol and tobacco.

Usually adults are confronted with symptoms like intolerance, loses track of time, uses cell phone in order to tackle unwanted emotions, experience digital eye strain, etc.

Every now and then being a college-ite, I come to across my classmates using their cell phones while attending the lectures, while having their meals, even while their roll numbers are being called out and I don’t know why they get anxious when the phone’s battery gets low. They also tend to panic if their cell phone gets misplaced. Even while driving they are engaged on their cell phones rolling their screen out which can be devastating to one’s life. They are wasting their precious time being online rather than devoting it on something recreative and constructive. To conclude with, people are subjected to nomophobia – “the fear of being without one’s phone.”