Stress from Mobile Phones

The other evening my wife and I went for a walk at a local beauty spot. It was a lovely, late summer evening and quite a few others were making the most of the occasion. But one thing got my attention. For about 5 minutes everyone we passed, young and old, had a mobile (cell) phone pressed to their ear!

Because of the advantages of phones, being able to contact help in an emergency for instance, we tend to view them as helpful, even essential tools.  A UK survey in 2008 introduced a new word to me “nomo-phobia” – fear or anxiety of being out of mobile phone contact! This apparently affects 53% of mobile phone users – 20% saying such a scenario would be as stressful as moving house or breaking up with a partner.

The same survey had 20% of the 2163 questioned saying they never switched off their phone, 10% saying their job required them to be contactable at all times. Another way of looking at that statistic is to say 90% have chosen to use their phone the way they do, rather than being required by employers.

Do Mobile Phones Cause Stress?

I‘m not being a technophobe nor anti phone. I do possess a mobile phone, as do all my family. I just don’t keep it switched on, using it for occasional essential communication when away from a mainline phone.  I personally would hate to be constantly available.

Another, slightly older (2005)  study, has found that the use of mobile phones has blurred the boundaries between work and home life. The results, initially published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, showed that increased use of phones and pagers was linked to a decrease in family satisfaction and increased stress over a two year period.

Researchers found work worries carrying over into home life caused by cell phone use had negative consequences for both men and women, but only women suffered from the opposite effect with carry-over from home causing increasing stress at work.

The results suggest that for women, spillover from both work and family worries and responsibilities negatively affects their level of stress and family satisfaction.

Reading that last result I can immediately picture a couple of female work colleagues trying to sort out family problems from their phone whilst at work. Both have said they couldn’t imagine life without their mobile, as if their world would fall apart without it.

Trouble is, we allow fears of “what if” to permeate our thinking. We fear we may miss an important call, let someone down, not be instantly available for our boss or loved ones.

I haven’t touched on the irrigation and stresses mobile  phones  cause when you are stuck in a room, train, restaurant, meeting or wherever and someone starts a conversation with a distant stranger. Don’t get me started – I’m just relieved I no longer commute by train!

My main point is to simply reflect on how you use you mobile/cell phone, and be honest about whether it causes you more stress than it solves. And ask yourself, would your world come crashing down if you switched it off occasionally?

Tagged as: causes stress, cell phones, mobile cell phones, mobile phone, mobile phones, mobile telecommunications, mobile telephony, mobiles, nomophobia, phone, stress, technology