Break my bone, but not my phone, a study discovers fear of losing phones

Do you feel anxious on the thought of losing your phone? Do feel scared of going out without your phone? If you do, then you might be suffering from “Nomophobia.” The term was coined by UK Post Office and is an abbreviation of no-mobile-phone phobia. Nomophobia is the fear of not having your mobile phone or not being able to use your mobile phone.

The study found that issue is widespread and the adoption in the teenage demographic is on the rise. It saw that around 53 percent of the people in Britain tend to feel anxious when they can’t use their mobile phones. It saw that the stress levels of people suffering from nomophobia were comparable with those of wedding day jitters!

The situation was direr in the US where around 66 percent suffer from nomophobia. Shockingly 34 percent answered phone calls during intimate moments. Also, one in every five people is more likely to forget wearing shoes than take their mobile phones.

Adam Alter, the author of ‘‘Irresistible,” conducted a study to observe the rise of nomophobia in teenagers. He asked teenagers a very simple question, “Imagine you have this very unpleasant choice. So, you can either watch your phone tumble to the ground and shatter into a million pieces or you can have a small bone in your hand broken.”

He found that people of older age found the proposition ridiculous as they came out with straight forward answers. They valued their health over a commodity that is replaceable.

Teenagers proved to be quite polarizing. Around 40-50 percent of the teenagers preferred to have their bones broken than to have their phones broken. Yes, it might be because phones have gotten quite expensive nowadays.

But Alter believes that there are other reasons as well. He believes that mobile phones act as the gateway to their social life.
He observed that many teenagers would ask which hand would be targeted? They would ask questions like “Will I be able to use my phone after my bones are broken?”

Yes, it is quite possible that at the moment before their bones are broken, they have a change of heart. But the thought of giving precedence to a worldly commodity is indeed concerning.

People can blame bad parenting for this rising trend. As time has progressed, parents have started to neglect their children more often. This could be because both parents are working, or maybe because they don’t spend time with their children more often and much more.

We believe that this act has forced them to form a bond with their phone in such a way that it has now become an integral part of their lives.