Lt Col Nazmul Huda Khan :
Nowadays, if we think about what we see around, the answer would probably not be our family or friends nor television or books. The most feasible option would be the mobile phone, the small device that forms a large part of our lives with calls, emails, messages, social networks or videos etc. In extreme cases, it can lead to what is known as “nomophobia”, a disorder that experts have described as the disease of the 21st century.
Nomophobia, a blend word for “no mobile phone phobia”, refers to the discomfort or anxiety caused to a person by the non – availability of a phone. It is a term describing a growing fear in today’s world – the fear of being without a mobile device or beyond mobile phone contact. The term was conceived during 2008 by a UK based research organization, to evaluate anxieties experienced by mobile phone users. Nomophobia arises from a feeling of not being able to make and receive phone calls, send or receive text messages, losing internet connectivity and access to social networking sites and being able to access information online.
This phobia has emerged as cellular phones become more technologically developed and versatile in applications and communications. The growth of these smartphones has been exponential. The use of mobile phones worldwide has increased substantially since 2005. Statistics reveal that the current number of smartphone users in the world is 6.648 billion, which means that 83.4 per cent of the global population has one of these devices, compared to 4.43 billion in 2017, 5.095 billion in 2018. In Bangladesh, there were 178.5 million cellular mobile connections at the start of 2022. The number of mobile connections in Bangladesh has been increased by 10 million between 2021 and 2022. Among those, smartphone users are around 68 per cent of the total connection.
Obviously, mobile phones make our life easier in the contemporary era; they are also regarded as stressors. Cell phones are possibly the biggest non-drug addiction of the 21st century, which can lead to dependence on such technologies as a driver of modern life style. Teenagers are more attached to their phones than adults. If they receive a call and they do not have their mobile phone at hand, they feel that they are disappointing and fear takes hold of them.
A study conducted by Lisa Merlo, a US clinical psychologist revealed that, 70 per cent of the respondents check their phones in the morning within an hour of getting up; 56 per cent check their phones before going to bed; 48 per cent check their phones over the weekend; 51 per cent constantly check their phones during vacation and 44 per cent reported that, they would feel very anxious and irritable if they did not interact with their phones within a week.
Though World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet classified nomophobia as a mental pathology, experts warn of the growing dependence on this small electronic device since the appearance of smartphones. Nomophobia may present with respiratory alterations, trembling, perspiration, agitation, disorientation and tachycardia, dry mouth and throat, chest pain, increased blood pressure and difficulty in breathing. Emotional aspects like irritability, loss of temper, having a high state of anxiety when separated from mobiles, feelings of indifference, frustration, lack of appreciation, depression, guilt, feeling fearful, paranoia leads us to negative attitudes. Behavioral aspects consist of insomnia, uncooperativeness and unwillingness, smoking, social withdrawal in favor of terminal time.
Psychological studies in Britain found that nearly 70 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men are afraid of being without a mobile phone. Research finding in Indonesia stated that cellphone use among teenagers which showed nomophobia levels in the very high category was 5 per cent, high category 31 per cent, medium category 35 per cent. The study conducted on Indian medical students claims that, nearly 75 per cent of the participating students had nomophobia disorder and 83 per cent of them had experience panic attacks when they were not able to access mobile phones.A study conducted in Bangladesh exploring the nature of nomophobia among the students of a university found nearly 70 per cent with moderate level of nomophobia and 20 per cent with severe level.
Currently, empirically proven treatments are very limited due to its relatively new concept. There are some simple actions to prevent nomophobia from leading to extreme dependence or a major disorder. Among the most effective are the followings: Turn off the cellphone in a scheduled daily times; balance screen time and in-person time each week; try a technology fast every month, where you actually go for a day or more without a tablet or phone; uninstall some applications that we consider to be waste of time such as games; do not use at mealtimes; mute notifications; set specific times to consult it and decrease the time of use; never look at it, if we are chatting, eating, sharing leisure time with other people; let us not use it as an alarm clock, as it can interfere with our sleep cycle; it is proved effective if we can keep our phone at least 15 feet away during sleep at night, better to carry it out of the bedroom; we can practice going out without a telephone.
The health threats of nomophobia are gradually increasing which harm human being both physically and mentally. The young generations are at higher risk with this phobia. Identification of causing factors and taking measures accordingly will be worthwhile to make the concerned free from this increasing health risks.
(Lt Col Nazmul Huda Khan, MBBS, MPH, Mphil is a public health specialist and PhD researcher).
