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Do you suffer from nomophobia?

According to a new study, two out of three people suffer from nomophobia, the fear of being without mobile contact. Are you one of them? Take our poll.

Bonnie Cha Former Editor
Bonnie Cha was a former chief correspondent for CNET Crave, covering every kind of tech toy imaginable (with a special obsession for robots and Star Wars-related stuff). When she's not scoping out stories, you can find her checking out live music or surfing in the chilly waters of Northern California.
Bonnie Cha
2 min read
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Nomo-what?

Nomophobia is the fear of being without mobile contact (who knew such a term or condition existed?), and according to a new study from the U.K., two out of three people suffer from it.

. SecurEnvoy, a mobile authentication solution provider, sponsored the study and found that of the 1,000 people surveyed in the U.K., 66 percent were afraid of losing or being without their phone--a 13 percent increase from when the study was first conducted four years ago.

The increase is not a huge surprise, as cell phones and smartphones have become more and more prevalent, and as CNET's Elizabeth Moore points out in her article, nomophobia is more likely about the anxiety one feels upon losing a phone or leaving it at home. Still, I worry a bit about how dependent we've become on our mobile devices.

Every day as I'm walking around San Francisco, taking the bus to and from work, or having dinner with a friend, I see people with their heads buried in their phone, completely oblivious to the world around them. Heck, we can't even go to the bathroom without bringing our phones.

Now, I'll admit I have a bad habit of checking Facebook and Twitter on my phone first thing in the morning, and in certain cases, I'd absolutely want my phone with me. However, if I happen to forget it at home one day while out running errands or at work, I shrug it off and often find the break from the always-on connectivity of my mobile to be refreshing. I'm actually trying to make more of an effort to put down my phone and engage in real life.

That's just my two cents, though. What do you guys think?