There seems to be a name for every bizarre fear these days, ideophobia is the fear of ideas! Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth! And geniophobia is the fear of chins! So what is nomo phobia? Nomo phobia is the fear of being un-contactable because your mobile phone is not working!
You Gov have surveyed 2,163 people for research that the head of telephony at the Post Office has commissioned. The survey shows that one in five mobile phone users feel as stressed as when they move house or break up with a partner when they cannot be contacted by their mobile phone.
There are 45 million mobile phone users in the UK and 53% of users experience anxiety over losing their mobile phone, losing network coverage, or running out of battery life. You Gov discovered that men felt more anxious than women about their mobile phones, with 58% of men feeling anxious compared to 48% of women.
20% of all the people surveyed never turned off their mobile phones, and 10% of people surveyed needed to be contactable at all times due to their jobs and 9% of people become anxious when there mobile phone was switched off. 55% of people gave keeping in touch with family and friends as the main reason for being so attached to their mobile phones.
Nomo-phobia could be caused by our 24/7 culture, or maybe people are just becoming too attached to their mobile phones. Personally I am astounded by the surveys results and can't understand why somebody could feel so stressed about their mobile phone.
