Do You Get #Nomophobia?

#Nomophobia - Do You Suffer from it?

Brits coined a new word: "Nomophobia" - the fear of being without their mobile hand phone and therefore being out of contact with others. In Britain the fear is getting worse according to a most recent set of survey results by SecurEnvoy.com in a press release of February 16th. Some 70 per cent of women and 61 per cent of men have nomophobia compared to a 2008 survey that showed that men were worse at 58 per cent and women at 48 per cent.

It was at that UK Post Office survey commissioned through YouGov that the term Nomophobia was coined, as an abbreviation for "no-mobile-phone phobia". According to wikipedia.com, that study found that nearly 53 percent of mobile phone users in Britain tend to be anxious when they "lose their mobile phone, run out of battery or credit, or have no network coverage".  The study sampled 2,163 people. Fifty-five percent of those surveyed cited keeping in touch with friends or family as the main reason that they got anxious when they could not use their mobile phones. The study compared stress levels induced by the average case of nomophobia to be on-par with those of "wedding day jitters" and trips to the dentists. Ten percent of those questioned said they needed to be contactable at all times because of work. It is, however, arguable that the word 'phobia' is misused and that in the majority of cases it is only a normal anxiety.

The most recent survey on Nomophobia by SecurEnvoy.com based in Theale (Reading) in Berkshire
says that Nomophobia is increasing sharply in the United Kingdom. The survey of 1,000 people in employment, conducted using OnePoll, discovered two thirds of respondents fear losing or being without their mobile phone. The study reveals that 41% of people interviewed, in an effort to stay connected, have two phones or more.

When asked if they’d be upset if a partner looked at the messages and texts on their phone almost half said that they would.

Younger Women Affected Most
Digging a little deeper, more women worry about losing their phones than men – 70% of the women surveyed compared to 61% of the men, yet it is men that are more likely to have two phones – scoring 47% and 36% respectively, perhaps in an effort to stay connected. When split by age it is the younger age group (18 – 24) that are more nomophobic at 77%, with the 25 – 34 age group second at 68%. Perhaps a little more surprisingly is that the third most nomophobic are the 55 and overs!

“The first study into nomophobia, conducted four years ago, revealed that 53% ofpeople suffered from the condition and our study reveals this has now risen to 66% in the UK and shows no sign of abating. A reversal on the 2008 findings is that, back then, it was men that were more afflicted yet today it’s women. I’d be inclined to draw the conclusion that, perhaps because more men have two phones, they’re less likely to misplace both and therefore be left phone-less,” said Andy Kemshall SecurEnvoy CTO and co founder. “There is another study into mobile phone usethat found people check their phones, on average, 34 times a day so it wouldn’t take long for you to realise if you’d misplaced your device.”

Do You Get Upset if SMS Texts Are Read By A Partner?
Another interesting revelation from this study is that, with 49% of people getting upset if their messages and texts were viewed by a partner, they’re still lax at securing these devices. Forty-six percent do not use any protection at all; 41% use a four pin access code; and just 10% encrypt their device. A security conscious 3% use two factor authentication. Andy suggests, “With 58% of the respondents using at least one device for business use, this lack of security is a worrying trend that needs addressing.”

“What this study does highlight though,” concludes Kemshall “is the extent that people now rely on their mobile phones.  At SecurEnvoy we have certainly seen a huge spike in demand from local government and the private sector looking to turn their staff’s phones into security devices, where they can use SMS tokenless®two factor authentication to access data securely and easily whilst on the move.” SecurEnvoy.com developed the  Tokenless™ two-factor authentication, mobile security. 

I wonder if Brits in Crete share the same traits as Brits back in the UK about being Nomophobic?