Remember the days when you would leave the house to go about your life and the interactions you had were either with those who were with you in person, or people you met along the way? If someone needed to contact you they would call and leave you a message or, if you didn’t have an answering machine, they waited until you got home to talk to you. Somehow we all survived the non-instant communication era and some would argue we faired better in those days.

When I leave my house I check to make sure I have my phone with me, and in all honesty I would be very nervous if I thought my children’s school, my husband, or my parents couldn’t get in touch with me in an emergency. I am quite certain I am not alone in this feeling.

SecurEnvoy, a company that is involved in mobile phone technology, conducted a survey to determine how fearful people really are about being away from their phone. Nomophobia, or otherwise known as “NO Mobile Phone Phobia,” can cause actual symptoms such as a racing heart, shortness of breath, trembling, and other panic attack like feelings. In this study it was determined that people check their cell phone approximately 34 times a day. People reported taking their phone with them to the bathroom and even sleeping with it under their pillow. Parents are communicating with their children via cell phone instead of in person.

This is obviously a relatively new phenomenon and the study showed that the younger a person was the more likely they were to be plagued by Nomophobia. This is not a disorder that is going to go away anytime soon, so awareness needs to be brought to this problem.

While I admit that I like to have my cell phone within reach while I am away from my family, I will also admit that I feel a tremendous sense of relief when I have my family in sight and I can pretty much ignore my phone entirely. But then again, I have lived through the pre-cell phone years as an adult, and for those who have not the temptation towards constant checking is great.

How many times do you check your cell phone a day?

- Cyndi