Smartphone separation anxiety

[Marjo]

Happy Friday guys! 

I read an interesting article about smartphone separation anxiety. Have you heard of this before? There was a study about this recently, and apparently nomophobia (fear of being without a working mobile phone) is increasingly becoming a problem. I didn't know it has its own name. 

In the article it said that it's not just about not being able to call someone, but it's about how all the personalisation and ability to capture and share memories on them creates a strong attachment, making it difficult to be without the handset for any length of time.

Related to this I wanted to ask how you feel about your own mobile devices. Do you get anxious without them? Are you able to be without your phone for an extended period of time without thinking about it? Or are you like me that you cannot even go to the bathroom without it!? (don't laugh!) It's like an extension of my hand sometimes...

[Wa10]

Related to this I wanted to ask how you feel about your own mobile devices. Do you get anxious without them? Are you able to be without your phone for an extended period of time without thinking about it? Or are you like me that you cannot even go to the bathroom without it!? (don't laugh!) It's like an extension of my hand sometimes...

Are you sure it's your phone you're talking about @Marjo?

To be fair though, and I never thought I'd say it, I do know exactly what you mean. I've lost/broken phones in the past and it's been nothing more than an inconvenience, however when I lost my phone at Glastonbury earlier in the summer I was definitely having a bout of separation anxiety! I think part of it was down to the environment, as I was in the middle of a field with literally hundreds of thousands of people I didn't know and I'd lost my only point of contact with the outside world. The group I camp with use WhatsApp as the main method of communication, so without a phone I was cut-off from a lot of the discussion, and worried that I'd find it difficult to meet up with people etc.There was also a major issue that my return coach ticket was on the phone.

I did get over it pretty quickly though, and once I'd got my head around the idea I actually felt that it set me free to enjoy the festival so much more. Coach ticket situation was resolved (and the ticket itself would have been no good, given I was only going to bed at the time I was due to board the coach...so no hope of making it!) and I managed to meet up with people when I wanted/needed to without any real problems. 

It was a very anxious few hours though I have to say. 

[Marjo]

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@Wa10 wrote:

Related to this I wanted to ask how you feel about your own mobile devices. Do you get anxious without them? Are you able to be without your phone for an extended period of time without thinking about it? Or are you like me that you cannot even go to the bathroom without it!? (don't laugh!) It's like an extension of my hand sometimes...

Are you sure it's your phone you're talking about @Marjo?

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Exactly what are you implying? Lol

Well just so you know, my cats also follow me to the bathroom. They can't handle it if someone is in a room where they don't have visibility!

And yeah that's actually quite impressive how many things you can nowadays do on your mobile. Train tickets, boarding passes for flights, food takeaway orders, grocery shopping... 

[Glory1]

I love my phone and it is always by my side except (please note @Marjo) when I'm in the bathroom.

My phone is definitely my contact point with the outside world and I couldn't be without ii.

Have never lost a phone so don't know how I would react if I did. But I imagine it would be seriously traumatic as I do everything on my phone others do on their computer. Just the thought of losing my phone gives me nightmares 😓

[Cleoriff]

My phone goes everywhere with me.....(even in the bathroom...though it's left on the shelf) If it's out of my sight I panic. There you go separation anxiety. I even take it up to bed with me....