Nomophobia: Does it Affect You?

Add to our existing list of day-to-day stresses, the fear of having "no mobile" - you end up with "no-mo-phobia" or nomophobia. Researchers in Britain have found that lacking mobile phone coverage affects about 53% of people. Apparently factors like low battery, running out of credit, being outside the coverage zone and misplacing the phone have affected millions of people throughout the world causing high levels of panic and stress.

Most people are wedded to their phones to keep in touch with friends and family for 24/7. For some their job mandates them to carry their phones 24/7. Aside from these reasons, the cell is a blessing during emergencies like car breakdown, illness during travel, etc. There are countless other perks of having the cell phone - it is a personal diary, email dispatcher, calculator, video-game player, camera and music-player. It is a handy entertainer and personal assistant - it can sail us through a monotonous traffic jam and remind us of our daily engagements.

With so many potentials rolled into one gadget, why would we not be afflicted by nomophobia? But the good news is, many factors causing nomophobia are within our capacity to change - so we can take active steps to minimize the stress. Here are some tips.

1. Pay your phone bill on time and avoid losing your service. If you have a pay-as-you go plan, go with the auto-recharge option.
2. Carry you cell phone charger and periodically charge your cell. Keep a car-charger in your car and charge your phone while driving.
3. If you are running low on battery and have no means to charge it, do not use your phone to listen to music or to play games. Turn it of off for a while to conserve power for an emergency.
4. Periodically back-up the information of your contacts that you store in your cell for the event that you misplace your phone or lose power. Back-up all other data too (like emails, music, pictures, etc.).
5. If you misplace a phone that you use for office communications, inform your company to take appropriate steps to protect sensitive information.
6. Select a carrier for your phone based on who offers the best coverage in the places you live and work out of the most.
7. Provide alternate contact numbers to your friends and family so that they can still reach you when you do not have coverage.
8. Do not carelessly leave your phone somewhere - allot a fixed place to keep the phone at home and at work if you do not carry it on yourself. This habit is helpful especially if you are absent-minded and turn your cell to silent-mode at work or during meetings because calling your cell to locate it will not return any response.
9. If you are the kind to upgrade your phone to move with latest trend, save an old cell phone that is in good working condition - if you misplace your existing phone, you can get a new SIM card and use it with the old phone until you buy a replacement.
10. Just do not fear the worst when your connectivity is out - practice staying calm everyday by switching off your cell for a couple of hours. After all, 10-15 years ago, we still lived happily without a cell!

So take control with these tips and do not let nomophobia hold you back!