Have you heard of the latest and more dubious mental illness nomophobia? This is a rather new term which is not coined from Ancient Greek, but from the simple world play “no mobile.” Nomophobia is a fear or great anxiety of not being able to use your phone because it was lost, stolen or you have poor reception, no battery power and etc. It was recently proposed that this strange condition should be added to DSM (the Dignostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders). In others words, it may soon officially acquire the status of a mental disorder.
Nomophobia patients are reported to experience symptoms like nervousness, discomfort, anguish and anxiety. There are also a number of physical symptoms like sweating, breathing difficulties and rapid heartbeat. It is believed that children can also be affected by nomophobia. However, the condition’s symptoms among them are slightly different and are said to include tantrums and crying. There are even documented cases of people who were unable to put down their phone, because they feared that they would lose contact with the world and would not be able to reach anyone in case something bad happens with them.
