I'd never heard of it until about a week ago, but it is clear from this article [via Jack] that I suffer from nomophobia.
Brought about by such triggers as a lost phone, poor reception, interrupted coverage, dead batteries, or lack of account credit, the condition — known as nomophobia — is characterized by the disproportionate “discomfort, anxiety, nervousness, or anguish caused by being out of contact with a mobile phone or computer,” ...
“Generally speaking, [nomophobia] is the pathological fear of remaining out of touch with technology,”....
Like internet addiction, it is a modern malady, arising from changes the mobile phone has made to human habits, behaviours, identity, and “common ways of perceiving reality.”
Sure, I'm addicted to the internet. I have been for decades. In fact, one reason I put off getting a smartphone several years ago was that I knew I would be on it a lot of the time. My signs of nomophobia:
- Free wifi is so important, I've been known to stand outside some places for hours where I can pick up a faint signal.
- I have checked my phone for messages between entrances/appearances in a play. I have even carried my phone on stage at times (fortunately with the ringer off), and at times in some shows, people (including me) have been known to check their smartphones to review the script.
- I once bought a dumbphone from a different provider to carry in an area where my cellphone provider had no service; I had no idea how to text using it.
- I have charger cables and plugs all over the place and in two different shoulder bag/cases that I sometimes carry.
- And yet, one feature I really like on my Samsung is that I can exchange the battery for a backup battery when one is running low.
- Nevertheless, I also carry a backup charging device.
- When we took the train between Regina and London a few years ago, I was lost in the areas of Northern Ontario where there was no cellphone service; and I was frustrated when the train had to make an unscheduled stop in some small town that had no cellphone service and no establishments with wifi.