Whilst apparently there are "no hard and fast rules" when it comes to using plug sockets in public areas such as cafes and cinemas, to be absolutely safe you should always ask, unless a plug is clearly marked for public us. Call me old-fashioned, but I feel that it’s good manners to ask if you are ‘charging up’ free in someone else’s premises. But trains? Well that’s not so easy...
Anyway all this got me thinking..... Maybe Robin is suffering from the recently coined term ‘Nomophobia’. Nomophobia, (in case you haven’t heard of it) is a fear of being out of mobile phone contact. This may be due to lack of reception, a dead battery or a lost or damaged phone. As with other phobias, Nomophobia is an anxiety state and it affects people in different ways. Some will become panicky, irrationally focused on the absence of their device and unable to concentrate. Others might respond by withdrawing, or become irritable or non-communicative. Some will experience physical symptoms, such as an increased heart rate, upset stomach or sweaty palms.
So how, as therapists, do we help someone who has this irrational fear? Well firstly our client needs to recognise that their fear is irrational. Cognitive approaches such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) can be helpful here. Mindfulness approaches can be very beneficial too. Anxiety is a future based fear and practising Mindfulness can help to keep the individual ‘in the now’. Wonderfully useful is hypnotherapy. It is very calming and can help the sufferer to see things in perspective. Clients who consult me for help to overcome a phobia often find that other issues are improved or eliminated during the process.
If you don’t feel you’re in need of a therapist for your nomophobic response, you can take some practical steps to reduce your anxiety. You could for instance have a back-up plan or device. This will, of course, require reception, so a useful ‘old-style’ alternative is to keep a note of important numbers in your purse or wallet. This gives you the option of using a payphone or (if reception allows) to borrow someone else’s phone.
If your fear is that you cannot be reached, it is worth accepting that nothing major is likely to occur in the couple of hours when you’re out of contact. Last week I returned home to fetch my mobile I’d left charging in the kitchen. I justified this because I’d told several business contacts that I would be returning calls at lunchtime. Needless to say, there was only one message when I checked in my break, and that call didn’t require my urgent attention!
So next time you find yourself going into a spin because you are incommunicado, pause, take a breath and remind yourself that your phone is not your life-support system, just a communication device. Nothing terrible is likely to happen because you have no phone and on the upside, you won’t get pestered by PPI salesman or those who can help you get compensation for a car accident that you never had! It’s OK to be out of reach for a while, and you might even find that you enjoy the peace and quiet that absence of technology can bring.
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