Nomophobia is a term first coined by British researchers during 2008 to denote people who experienced anxiety when they had no access to mobile technology—such as their mobile phones.
This unfortunate-sounding condition (you must enunciate well when you say it) is an abbreviation for no-mobile-phone-phobia.
Smartphone addiction is a very sly and cunning condition. Unlike other addictions, you won’t even come to know that you’re suffering from it.
People who are said to suffer with this addiction report being unable to turn their phones off—ever. They worry over running out of battery power. They constantly check for new emails and text messages and calls. And they don’t even want to go to the restroom without their phones.
Mentioned below are 5 symptoms of a smartphone addict, according to DigitalTrends.
1. You’ve spent more on accessories than on your phone.
It started out with something harmless like a car charger, but then you stepped up to the car FM transmitter, armband, a different case for each day of the week, spare batteries, screen protectors, a stereo Bluetooth adapter, wireless speakerphone, and even a dock powered by tube amps. You realize that it’s just a phone, not a kid, right? And that none of it will work when you inevitably buy a new device?
2. You have 30 different apps installed. And use them all.
We’ve all gone through app-installing binges where we’ve installed some questionable stuff on our cell phones. Two weeks later, we either figure out it’s garbage and delete it, or leave it to stagnate. But those of you still checking on your digital iPhorest trees, using Shazam to find that song that’s playing on the radio, or just lying on the bed in your pajamas playing poker on your phone are the real nuts.
3. A full battery charge barely lasts the day.
After brushing your teeth and washing your face, your last ritual before bed is plugging in that smartphone. Because if you don’t, there’s no way that sucker’s lasting another full day after the workout you gave it today. We’ll admit that the battery life on some modern smartphones is pretty dismal, but if you’re downing a full charge day after day, you might need to lay off the juice.
4. When you meet people with the same phone, you can only talk about the phone.
“You have an iPhone too? Oh awesome, have you tried the Moves app yet? Yea, this case is pretty cool, but I’m getting this metallic one soon that’s even slimmer.”
If this sounds at all like a conversation you might have upon meeting someone with the same smartphone, you should reconsider your smartphone addiction and your social life.
5. You use it in the bathroom.
This is just wrong. But not for hygienic reasons as you all suspect. If you’re using your smartphone on the can, you’ve just robbed yourself of your last refuge from interruption. You’ve tainted mankind’s last fortress of solitude by dragging the entire equivalent of a computer into the equation. Can’t you live five minutes without e-mail? Really?
If you exhibit the above symptoms, then you, my friend, are a smartphone addict.
Let us know below if you are!
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