One-third (34.5 percent) of university students in the country are addicted to extreme levels of nomophobia due to smartphone-Facebook addiction, anxiety, depression and insomnia. This addiction is most common among first year students. The research on this fear of not having a mobile phone nearby (no mobile phone phobia) was done by surveying 585 smartphone users of undergraduate and postgraduate students of Jahangirnagar University.
According to the survey, 56.1 percent of addicts have moderate nomophobia. And 9.4 percent of students are addicted to mild nomophobia.
The research report on the survey was published in the journal Helion in March this year. Earlier an article on the same topic was published in April 2019. However, this article is much broader in scope than the previous one.
The article’s researchers are Feroz-al-Mamun, Mohammad A. Mamun, Muktarul Islam, a student in the Department of Public Health and Informatics at Jahangirnagar University, Associate Professor Tajuddin Shikder, Salauzzaman Pradhan, a student in the Department of Statistics, Mark D. Griffiths from the Department of Psychology, Nottingham Trent University, and Mohammad Muhit of the department of Public Health, University of South Asia.
In this regard, the researcher of the article Feroze-al-Mamun informed that nomophobia or the fear of staying away from mobile phones is going to be one of the challenges of the 21st century. Our lifestyles are now largely dependent on mobile phones. According to him, nomophobia can reduce our quality of life and is associated with various psychological problems. The problem is evident among university students.
This researcher believes that reducing the time spent on daily smartphone use and refraining from drug consumption can play a role in reducing the prevalence of nomophobia in university students.
According to the research article, smartphones have become an important part of daily life. Smartphones are having a major impact on the daily lives of the youth. However, excessive and unconscious use drives youth towards nomophobia. Experts termed it as a kind of ‘mental problem’.
It is also said that this addiction is visible in today’s world. It is increasing among university students. According to a survey in Oman, 15 percent of university students have moderate nomophobia. And 65 percent are addicted at the extreme rate.
A university in India found that 35.4 percent were severely addicted and 56.5 percent were moderately addicted. In Saudi Arabia, 22.1 percent of the university students are in extreme level and 63.2 percent in a mild addiction.
Researchers have attributed nomophobia to smartphone-Facebook addiction, anxiety, depression and insomnia. They say, the tendency to repeatedly call or check messages on the smartphone, looking for the phone as soon as you wake up, tending to talk virtually without talking in person, carrying the smartphone everywhere, even going to the toilet with the smartphone, never switching off the phone, without any particular reason. Signs of nomophobia include scrolling, fear of losing the phone and using the smartphone for more than 3 hours a day, excessive worry about running out of mobile charge, balance or data, frequent refreshes for WiFi signal and fear of losing online contacts when away from the mobile phone.