Call for help

Manika Ahuja

Do you check your smart-phone the first thing on waking up? Do you hear it buzzing even when it’s not? Do you experience fear, anxiety and perspiration when you suspect that you have lost your mobile phone or when its battery is just one per cent and it is going to switch off any moment? Well, experts say, you could be a victim of No Mobile Phobia, the fear of having no mobile phone - Nomophobia! Surprisingly, nine out of every 10 people, aged below 30, suffer from “Nomophobia”.

Dr Priti Arun, Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector-32, Chandigarh, shares, “Nomophobia is a recognised behavioural pattern. Youngsters are heavily addicted to their mobile phones, which naturally has psychological implications. They need to understand that there is a flip side to everything. Anything used to an excess is detrimental and so is the case with mobile phones.” She adds that smart-phones offer connectivity, but technology should be used wisely. “We see a lot of cases where people of varied age groups feel absolutely lost and helpless when their mobile phone is not close. This is not a good sign,” Priti warns.

Dr Sandeep Grover, Assistant Professor, PGIMER, Chandigarh, who conducted a study on Nomophobia with Dr Ritu Nehra, says, “Through the study we investigated the psychological and physiological changes in participants when they were separated from their smart phones. Gadgets have become an extension of our selves today.”

Commenting on the psychological effects of Nomophobia, Grover shares, “Youngsters need to be reminded that technology must be used rationally. Many of them use their mobile phones as a tool to cope with bad moods and stress. That’s what 70 per cent of 200 undergraduate students we studied said. Nearly 50 percent felt ‘incomplete’ without it.” He says the addiction does not cause obvious physical problems but can lead to serious psychological issues like: anxiety, sleeplessness, to neglecting studies or job to drifting away from close ones.

Assistant Professor, Psychiatry, GMCH, Chandigarh, Virtu Chongtham, says, “You can see youngsters hooked on to their cell phones even in social gatherings and events like New Year’s for that matter. This addiction with the mobile phones definitely hampers the psychological capacity of a person. The social relations clearly get affected for the worse. ”

“I get this urge to scroll through my smart-phone first thing in the morning,” says Nisha Garg, a student of Department of English, Panjab University. She adds, “I feel weird without a cell-phone. Besides, not getting messages on WhatsApp and Facebook makes me nervous. I don’t know what to do about it”.

The findings from a survey showed that of the 35 million smartphone owners in the tricity, one in six looks at their phone more than 50 times a day. Nearly a third reach for their smart-phones within five minutes of waking up (not including turning off the alarm). Results showed that separation from their mobile phones resulted in poor cognitive performance, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate and greater levels of self-reported anxiety.

So, are we becoming too attached to the phone? If so, take care!