Monday 11 August 2008

Do you suffer from nomophobia?

I learnt a new word today: "nomophobia". Nomophobia is the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. According to this article: "Getting married, starting a job or going to the dentist have long been recognised as sources of great stress. But it seems they are now matched by a new, peculiarly 21st century affliction - the fear of being out of mobile phone contact. Millions apparently suffer from "no mobile phobia" which has been given the name nomophobia. They have become so dependent on their mobile that discovering it is out of charge or simply misplacing it sends stress levels soaring."
I believe I can still do without my mobile phone. I definitely switch it off at night and when I go to the movies or theatre. And the few times I forgot my phone at home I didn't panick and just checked my messages (if any) after I returned home. Thinking back, I didn't even have a telephone at all for a year or so in 1986. My brother lived upstairs from me and we shared one telephone line (to save money) and as the subscription was on his name when he moved out the line was cancelled. I was relatively poor at the time and never bothered to get a new phone line until I moved a year later. For all you children, in those days there were telephone booths all over the place and it was easy for me to call. And when people needed something from me, they just wrote a card via snail mail with guaranteed delivery the next day. No, I don't think I will ever suffer from nomophobia.

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