What is nomophobia? How Is Nomophobia Treated?
In recent years, thanks to technology, people can easily access all kinds of information. Depending on this situation, it is seen that individuals can do all their work very quickly and easily via telephone and internet. Individuals think that their work will be disrupted when they are away from the phone or the internet, there are feelings that they cannot stay away from the phone, and there are fears that they will not be able to communicate with anyone and be online when they are away (Türen, Erdem, & Kalkın, 2017; Polat, 2017). Nomophobia, known as fears of mobile phone deprivation, is evaluated within the framework of specific phobia criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 2014).
Psychological factors such as low self-esteem and extroverted personality can also trigger excessive use of mobile phones. Similarly, it is seen that psychological disorders such as social anxiety and panic disorder can increase the symptoms of nomophobia. Therefore, it can be difficult to distinguish whether nomophobia symptoms are caused by anxiety symptoms or technology addiction in individuals. Anxiety, respiratory changes, tremor, sweating, agitation and tachycardia are seen as symptoms of nomophobia. It is thought that excluding nomophobia symptoms will have an important place in diagnosing other disorders in individuals (Bhattacharya, Bashar, Srivastana, & Singh, 2019).
Recently, studies have been carried out on the prevalence of nomophobia and its distribution by gender. According to a study, it was seen that men can show more nomophobia symptoms than women, and 53% of individuals stated that they felt uneasy when they lost their phone, did not pick up the phone, and when their phone was discharged (Bahi & Deluliis, 2015). It is also seen in studies that the rates of nomophobia symptoms in gender may differ from each other. (SecurEnvoy, 2012; Türen, Erdem, & Kalkın, 2017). It has been concluded that nomophobia symptoms are seen more in women than men and the age group with the highest nomophobia symptoms is the 18-24 age group (SecurEnvoy, 2012).
The incidence of nomophobia symptoms is quite common in Turkey and it is more common in women than men (Türen, Erdem, & Kalkın, 2017)
Nomophobia can trigger negative situations on people and negatively affect the daily lives of individuals. It is seen that it causes negative emotions and behaviors of individuals, negative effects of radiation, traffic accidents, economic problems and social isolation (Bragazzi & Del Puente, 2014).
Especially school-age children’s academic achievement and school life may be negatively affected (Adnan & Gezgin, 2016; Erdem, Kalkın, Türen & Deniz; 2016).
Individuals with nomophobia symptoms can create risk factors in traffic. At the same time, nomophobia symptoms can affect individuals’ physical health negatively as well as trigger psychological disorders. It is stated that nomophobia symptoms can cause depression and anxiety disorders and insomnia, as well as directly increase stress (Bekaroğlu and Yılmaz, 2020).
Nomophobia can lead to problems such as intense anxiety, interpersonal communication and performance in daily life. Therefore, considering these existing problems, it is important to diagnose and treat with psychotherapy and medication (Çiçek, 2020). Cognitive behavioral therapy and existential therapy are thought to be effective on nomophobia symptoms (Bekaroğlu & Yılmaz, 2020). It is seen that cognitive behavioral therapy has positive effects in the treatment of Internet addiction (Young, 2011). If internet addiction is basically associated with mobile phone addiction and it is thought that people diagnosed with internet addiction will also show nomophobia symptoms, it is thought that cognitive behavioral therapy can be effective in the treatment of nomophobia (Bekaroğlu & Yılmaz, 2020). While it is seen that cognitive behavioral therapy is similarly effective in specific phobias (Straube et al, 2006), cognitive behavioral therapy can be effective because nomophobia is also included in specific phobias (Bekaroğlu & Yılmaz, 2020). With cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive interventions are performed by focusing on the thoughts that cause nomophobia in the treatment process and by focusing on the existing cognitive distortions and the effects on the person. At the same time, the treatment process can be planned by making behavioral interventions by exposing them to the situation they fear (Bekaroğlu and Yılmaz, 2020).
It is thought that existential therapy may also be effective in the treatment of nomophobia. In nomophobia, it is stated that the fear or anxiety that occurs as a result of the effort to establish a relationship with the social environment and mobile phone can be studied with existential therapy techniques (Tarsha, 2016). Considering that the fears of feeling isolated and not being able to connect have an important place in existential therapy, the existence of similar fears in nomophobia shows that these fears can be studied with an existential approach (Bekaroğlu & Yılmaz, 2020).
Another therapy that is thought to be effective in the treatment of nomophobia is purposeful group therapies with the participation of at least two people. In this therapy, the group members bring the problems with the nomophobia they experience and create awareness for the other group members. In group therapies, the therapy process is carried out by acting in line with both the individual’s own purpose and the purpose of the group (Koydemir, 2016; cited in Günlü & Uz-Baş, 2020).
Source
- Adnan, M. and Gezgin, D. M. (2016). A Modern Phobia: Prevalence of Nomophobia among College Students . Ankara University Journal of Faculty of Educational Sciences (JFES), 49, 141-158 . doi: 10.1501/Egifak_0000001378
- American Psychiatric Association (APA), (2014). DSM-5 diagnostic criteria reference manual (Translation Ed. E Köroğlu). Ankara, Physicians Publication Union.
- Bahi, R.R. and Deluliis, D. (2015). Nomophobia, Yan, Z. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Mobile Phone Behavior, IGI Global, Hershey, PA.
- Bekaroğlu, E. T. and Yılmaz, T. (2020). Nomophobia: differential diagnosis and treatment. Current Approaches in Psychiatry, 12, 131-142. doi: 10.18863/pgy.528897
- Bhattacharya, S., Bashar, M. A., Srivastava, A., and Singh, A. (2019). Nomophobia: No mobile phone phobia. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8, 1297. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_71_19
- Bragazzi, N. L. and Del Puente, G. (2014). A proposal for including nomophobia in the new DSM-V. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 7, 155-160. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S41386
- Cicek, B. (2020). The effect of self-regulation on nomophobia. Bitlis Eren University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Journal of Academic Projection, 5(2), 89-101.
- Erdem, H., Kalkın, G., Türen, U. and Deniz, M. (2016). The effect of fear of mobile phone deprivation (nomophobia) on academic achievement in university students. Süleyman Demirel University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Journal, 21(3), 923-936.
- Günlü, A. and Uz-Bas, A. (2020). Nomophobia in the context of the extended theory of the self. Journal of Human and Social Sciences Research, 9, 3853-3873. doi: 10.15869/itobiad.778313
- Polat, R. (2017). Nomophobia as a digital disease. Electronic Journal of New Media, 1, 164-172. doi: 10.17932/IAU.EJNM.25480200.2017.1/2.164-172
- SecurEnvoy (A Shearwater Group plc Company). (2012). 66% of the population suffer from Nomophobia the fear of being without their phone. https://securenvoy.com/blog/66-population-suffer-nomophobia-fear-being-without-their-phone-2/
- Straube, T., Glauer, M., Dilger, S., Mentzel, H. J., and Miltner, W. H. (2006). Effects of cognitive-behavioral therapy on brain activation in specific phobia. Neuroimage, 29, 125-135. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.07.007
- Tarsha, A. A. (2016). The role of existential therapy in the prevention of social media-driven anxiety. Existential Analysis, 27(2), 382-389.
- Türen, U., Erdem, H., and Kalkın, G. (2017). The prevalence of fear of mobile phone deprivation (nomophobia): A sample of university students and public employees from Turkey. Journal of Information Technologies, 10(1), 1-12.
- Young, K. S. (2011). CBT-IA: The first treatment model for internet addiction. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 25, 304-312. doi: 10.1891/0889-8391.25.4.304
Uzman Bilgisi
Psy. Elif CALISKAN
Clinical Psychologist
- Üniversite : Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology, Istanbul Bilgi University (Full Scholarship - Honor Student), Faculty of Letters, Department of Sociology (Minor), Hacettepe University, 2016
- Uzmanlık : Ankara University, Institute of Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary Family Counseling (High Honor Student), 2021
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