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You know that dread that keeps you reaching into your pocket ten times an hour? That subtle pat-down you give yourself as you leave the house? The little twitch you do when you hear someone else is getting a text message? It's called "nomophobia."

Yes it is a real thing.

Nomophobia is a word coined about a decade ago for people who get extremely anxious when they have poor cell coverage, when their battery is running low, or when they leave their phones at home. In case you're curious, it's not a Greek word like most phobias, it's just short for "no mobile phone phobia." It affects an increasing number of us and while it's not recognized as an official ailment — yet — its effects have been described as on par with the fear of going to the dentist or wedding-day jitters.

Back when this word was coined, it wasn't something that everyone suffered from. Today I'd challenge you to find anyone between the ages of 10 and 80 who doesn't obsess over their phones to a possibly unhealthy level. Peak nomophobia seems to have entered the world with older millennials, although boomers and GenX are jus as susceptible.

Strangely, GenZ, the first generation to have completely grown up with cell phones, doesn't suffer as much. In fact you'll find a strange obsession among GenZ people. They're more interested in simple "dumbphones," so they can text and take calls and that's about it. They, among all of us, seem to have figured out how to separate themselves from those addictive black slabs.

Are you a nomophobe?

Do you take your phone out just because others have theirs out? Do you stop in the middle of a sentence to answer a text? Are you one of those people who text at the movies? Do you stay to one side of the house because the coverage is better there? It's ok to admit it. Even if you don't do those things, I bet you still look at your phone at the same time you're looking at TV or other media. It's just incredibly common today.

Smartphones are a pretty new phenomenon if you think about it. They've only been with us about 15 years. We haven't really figured out how they'll affect our society long term. In truth we won't really understand the way that always-on internet has rewired our brains for 40 or 50 more years. In the short term it's pretty clear they've turned the world into an attention-deficit-friendly mess. It's enough to convince people to drop out, turn off their phones and start living. Or at least you'd think. As I said, GenZ seems to have it figured out but the rest of us probably couldn't give up our phones if we tried.

But hey, how much fun would that be anyway? I

f you're a nomophobe, maybe what you need is a cell phone signal booster. You can get one at Solid Signal. Maybe the best thing to do is find a way to live with your addiction… because going cold turkey could be pretty rough. Seems to me a booster's a much better idea. After all, you never know. That next notification could be the one that changes your life.


The post Keep your phone on all the time? It's called "nomophobia" appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

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