Andrew May on 106.5 Body & Soul talking Nomophobia

Andrew May talks about our addictions to Mobile Phones


Remember the ‘monster mobiles’ we used in the late 80’s and early 90’s? I remember back in high school when Mum and Dad were having a cuppa and sponge cake, proudly looking over the finished plans that had been dropped in by Macka the builder. ‘What’s he like?’ I asked, taking a huge bite. ‘Really successful,’ replied Mum. ‘He’s got a mobile phone’.

Today’s mobile phone is faster, lighter, stronger and more convergent than ever before. Not only do we use them to talk and text, they are a digital camera, movie camera, diary, phone book, GPS, radio, MP3 player, web browser, data storage device, encyclopedia, alarm clock, Dictaphone, personal organizer, flash light and a whole lot more.

Now don’t get me wrong, mobiles used wisely are a great productivity tool. But more and more people from teenagers to the twilight years are showing signs and symptoms of mobile addiction.

Are you a mobile addict?
1. Do you get anxious if you don’t get an instant response to an SMS?
2. Does the thought of turning your mobile off send you into a shiver?
3. When you go out to dinner, do you sit the mobile on the table in front of you?
4. Do you feel unloved if your phone doesn’t ring, ding or zing for a few hours?
5. When you hop off a plane or finish a movie, is the first thing you do to check your phone?

If you answered YES to any of the above – you may just suffer from mobile mania.

Mobiles in Australia
Researchers at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) led a study on mobile phone addiction. They found the average Australian spends an hour a day making calls and sending text messages. 22% of respondents were classified as ‘heavy’ or ‘very heavy’ users spending up to 4 hours or more a day on their mobiles. Interestingly, only 11% of phone time measured in the survey was related to business.

Mobiles around the world
• 2 billion people worldwide are now hooked on to a mobile phone
• Half the people in the world are expected to have mobiles in the next 2 years
• 4 out of 10 young adults in Spain are considered mobile phone addicts
• 48% of Spaniards between 18 and 25 spend more than 4 hours a day talking and texting
• In South Korea, where 40.2M people from a total population of 49M have mobiles, the government is considering a ‘curfew’ limiting the amount of time teenagers spend on their phones
• Orange Tree Theatre in London has a zero tolerance policy to mobiles going off during productions and has a bonus waiting for the first actor to lead the entire cast off stage until the offender has been ejected from the theatre
• A Scandinavian chauffeur booked himself into a clinic for SMS addiction after his habit left him sending more than 300 text messages a day
• Psychologists are predicting mobile addiction will become one of the biggest issues over the next 5 years

Symptoms of mobile addiction
While the 5 questions were a bit of fun, hard core mobile addicts will tend to neglect obligations and even important activities like work or study, can drift apart from family and friends, send and answer messages throughout the night and the thought of switching off their phone can even cause anxiety. They also tend to suffer more from sleep disorders and sleeplessness. The majority of mobile phone addicts have low self esteem and feel the urge to be constantly in contact with other people via their metallic mobile devices.

What about teenagers?
Mobile addiction is becoming more and more of a problem for teenagers. Discovering whether or not your child is a mobile addict is not an easy task. It’s much easier to see if someone is sitting at their computer for 8 hours a day. Reasonable use of mobiles can be positive for social development, yet too much can lead to withdrawal and decreased face to face contact. It is a good idea for parents to be proactive and monitor their child’s mobile usage.

Mobile mantra
1. Practice turning your mobile off when at movies or sporting events – you don’t need it on 24/7
2. When you do need to concentrate or finish a project quickly – turn your mobile off to avoid interruptions
3. Go out to dinner with your loved ones, family, or friends – not your mobile. Turn it onto silent and put it in your pocket, not on the table!
4. Set some mobile hours – learn to turn it off at night
5. Don’t sleep with your message alert on – this can wake you up throughout the night and cause disrupted sleep patterns
6. If you do need to have your mobile on keep the ring tone on a quiet setting – the whole world doesn’t need to know that your phone is ringing!
7. Try going mobile free for a day or two – you might even enjoy the peace and silence.

Andrew May
Main sources:
Queensland University of Technology Mobile Survey; Sydney Morning Herald – Mobile phones becoming a major addiction; Global Technology Forum – Addicted to the phone; Science News