Nomophobia

It was parent-teacher day at school. The school treated the occasion seriously enough. As usual many a mother has lined up at the school. The fathers it seems did not have time to spare for such family matters caught up they are with the overs being bowled, the run rate at the world cup matches and post- match analysis over cups of coffee or tea.

It was Shivangi’s turn to meet the teacher regarding her son Rahul. So, the teacher started saying Rahul it seems is so obsessed..when the beep came. Shivangi excused herself for a moment and fished her smartphone out and said it is Rahul’s dad wanting to know if I managed to reach school in time. She pressed y and looked up at the teacher and said you were saying that Rahul was so obsessed with studies….

The teacher cleared her throat and said that was not what I was saying. We have noted that Rahul is ..the beep went again. Shivangi looked at her smartphone and said it was Rahul’s younger brother wanting to know how the meeting is going…Shivangi pressed the thumbs-up emoji and sent it and looked up at the teacher again. “You were saying that Rahul is doing well”. ..Once again the teacher cleared her throat and said that was not I was saying, and if you could please put your mobile phone… and before she could complete the sentence the beep once again and Shivangi said it was about the pet left with her neighbour and typed will do and pressed the button. Shivangi started “as you were saying,” the teacher interrupted and said that she was saying that she would WhatsApp the feedback and that would make it easier. Then they exchanged the WhatsApp number.

As soon as Shivangi reached home the beep went again and this time it was the message from the teacher. The brief report read that it has been concluded by the teachers that Rahul was unable to focus on class. This may have to do with the excessive use of phone and was seen in other children as well. The report also mentioned that the disorder may be running in the family as well. It would surely help if Rahul is given some sort of counselling. Shivangi forwarded her message to her husband a practising psychiatrist and running his own clinic. Madan failed to see the sender’s name as he looked at the message. Yet another case of Nomophobia and replied to the message: Appointment fixed at 6 PM the day after. As soon as Shivangi saw the message she got furious but before she could call Madan her phone beeped and her best friend had forwarded the message received from her son’s school similar to the one, she had received. She dialled the friend instead. 

At the clinic, Madan called the company “Temporaries Permanently” and asked them to send Ms Pushpa whom he had shortlisted as number two. Madan had smartly devised a set of questions which can be administered to the patients without himself being involved. This Ms Pushpa can do apart from Ms Geetha who was already on the job. He had also developed a template for a standard diagnosis for Nomophobia with his friend who is running a counselling clinic with a sharing arrangement for each and every case.

Nomophobia is nothing but a tentative name for smartphone addiction. The world of psychiatrist and counsellors is yet to come up with any therapy. Nobody is going to buy the therapy if they are told simply to switch off the smartphone and keep it away. So, Madan and his counsellor friend have smartly devised a set of exercises with mumbo-jumbo terminologies added with a fancy fee to go with it and the consultancy and therapies were doing very well since they launched it quietly. The clients were assured that it was all safe as it did not involve any use of the drug.

Only when Madan reached home, he realized that the Nomophobia was knocking at his own door when Shivangi mentioned it at dinner time. But they hardly had time to discuss it as their phones were pinging constantly and they got immersed in it. Rahul and his brother Prem were likewise busy with their own devices. Nomophobia had invaded them quietly.

Postscript: Nomophobia is a proposed name for the phobia of being out of cellular phone contact. It has been considered as a symptom or syndrome of problematic digital media use in mental health, the definitions of which are not standardized. Source: Wikepedia.