New phobia: afraid to be unplugged

Technology creates new social fears not only for teenagers, but for adults too:

Feb 16, 2012. CNet ...66 percent of the 1,000 people interviewed worry about being without cell phone contact. This is up from just over 50 percent four years ago, when the phobia [nomophobia] was first identified.

When sorted by age, the highest incidence of nomophobia is in 18- to 24-year-olds (77 percent), followed by 25- to 34-year-olds (68 percent). The third highest rate is among those 55 and older.

Traditional religious communities know how to deal with the problem. For example, orthodox Jews do not use technology on Sabbath. It would be interesting to see whether there's any difference in nomophobia frequency between them and their secular peers.

tags: social, psychology, problem, solution, interface