Nomophobia: the fear of being without technology. No, this isn't our attempt at an Onion-style satirical news piece. According to some mental health professionals, nomophobia — "no-mobile-phone-phobia" — is an actual disorder affecting millions of Americans. And if you're suffering, a California rehab center is offering a recovery program.
Morningside Recovery, a Newport Beach addiction center you may have seen on the popular A&E series Intervention, is now offering a treatment program for people who just can't seem to put the smartphone away.
Dr. Elizabeth Waterman, a Morningside therapist, recently appeared on Headline News to discuss some of the warning signs of nomophobia.
"Studies show that two-thirds of the population suffers from nomophobia," reads a press release from Morningside. "As new mobile devices and technology hit the market, Nomophobia is increasing, and up 13-percent from a couple of years ago."
Two-thirds of the population? Wow, that's a lot. Just give me a second to look up how many people that actually is on my iPhone. According to the Morningside site, you may have nomophobia if you exhibit any of these behaviors:
Yep, the entire Mac|Life staff has nomophobia. We're willing to bet you probably do, too. Here are a few other tech phobias we came up with (but there is no current treatment…yet).
Nogrowphobia: the fear that Apple will never expand iOS storage beyond 64GB.
Nocanhazphobia: the fear the internet will run out of cats.
Nogophobia: the fear Apple Maps will get you completely lost
Nopatphobia: the fear Apple will sue you for patent infringement.
Feel free to let us know of your other phobias in the comments below.
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