Hajra finds the most interesting topics. I didn’t even know what “nomophobia” meant until she brought it up as a topic suggestion. See what else Hajra is talking about over here! Take it away Hajra!

Just a few weeks back I was reading about Nomophobia. Nomophobia is the fear of staying away from your mobile; the term being an abbreviation for no mobile phone phobia.

Now for me this is a very surprising thing: are we really so addicted to our phones that we actually had to coin a word for it?

At a family get-together recently, I was surprised to see how my younger and [some older] members of the family are alert about the movements their mobile is making. Not a single vibration or a beep is gone unnoticed [or unattended – whichever meaning you intended]. Call me old school, but family gathering always meant that mobile should be in your purses or stored away from the dinner table and unless you aren’t expecting a very serious call, there isn’t really anything to worry about.

Now I see people in buses, on roads, in coffee shops or just about everywhere being constantly busy on their mobiles. An article by the Huffington Post reports that according to a British survey about 66 percent of us are afraid to be away from their mobiles. It just gets worse.

Teenagers actually claim to use the mobile phone to “lift their mood”. What happened to good old television or just books for good company?

Mobiles are a necessity in today’s life and there’s no two ways about it. But is it so necessary for us to be in constant touch with it? When I was in college, I admit to have being a little addicted to my smart phone especially when they launched the chat options and it felt like talking to our friends the whole time!

Is it tough for you to stay away from your mobile phones, even for an hour? Do you feel the urge to check it again and again? Do you check your mobile first thing in the morning, even before you get out of bed?

photo credit: Thomas Hawk