TORONTO - Panic stricken when you think you’ve lost your cell phone? You’re not alone.
According to reports sponsored by SecurEnvoy, a company that specializes in digital passwords, nomophobia, or the fear of losing a cell phone is on the rise. The study found that 66 per cent of people have a fear of being without their phones, up from 53 per cent four years ago. The study also suggests more women worry about losing their phones than men.
The Stress Management Centre and Phobia Institute in North Carolina says 90 per cent of the U.S. population suffers from some type of anxiety disorder. Phobias belong to that category and are described as the persistent fear or an excessive avoidance of a specific object.
Kate Gardiner, a registered hypnotherapist in Toronto, says while she’s never worked with clients who suffer from it, she has treated patients who are afraid to pick up phones.
It’s not always obvious what started the phobia, according to Gardiner. She says there is always an initial sensitizing event that triggers the anxiety.
“You never know what it’s going to be,” said Gardiner. “When I’m working with public-speaking [phobia] for example, the initial sensitizing event [often] goes back to the first day of school. It’s something that happens between the ages of four and six, but not always.”
Other than nomophobia, here are other unusual phobias people struggle to conquer:
1. Agyrophobia is the fear of crossing streets.
2. Arachibutyrophobia is the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one's mouth.
3. Phobophobia is the particularly crippling fear of fear.
4. Caligynephobia is the fear of beautiful women.
5. Technophobia or Computorophobia is the fear of technology and computers
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