While you may have heard of arachnophobia (fear of spiders) or mysophobia (fear of germs or dirt), nomophobia, the “fear of being without a mobile device or beyond mobile phone contact”—no-mobile-phone-phobia—is on the rise. Approximately 58 percent of men and 47 percent of women in the United Kingdom are affected by it, a study by global market research company YouGov showed.

“The study compared stress levels induced by the average case of nomophobia to be on par with those of ‘wedding day jitters’ and trips to the dentist,” a Psychology Today article stated.

People who experience nomophobia may constantly check their cellphone and feel panicked or desperate when separated from it.

A similar survey by another research company, OnePoll, found that more than half of people in the UK suffer from the fear of being without their mobile device.

The phobia is especially prevalent among teenagers and college students.

“An increasing number of college students now shower with their cell phone. The average adolescent would rather lose a pinky-finger than a cell phone. A growing percentage text or tweet instead of actually talking to others,” Psychology Today reported.

According to Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Dr. David Greenfield in Business Insider, cellphones are highly addicting because receiving notifications on one causes a slight elevation in dopamine, a neurotransmitter that regulates the brain’s reward center.

“Every time you get a notification from your phone, there’s a little elevation in dopamine that says you might have something that’s compelling, whether that’s a text message from someone you like, an email, or anything,” he said. “The thing is you don’t know what it’s going to be or when you’re going to get it, and that’s what compels the brain to keep checking. It’s like the world’s smallest slot machine.”

Constantly looking at a cellphone also gives a user a false sense of self-importance, and makes him or her believe that the world revolves around the ability to check it.

“That feeling you’re going to miss something if you’re not constantly checking is an illusion—most parts of our lives are not relevant to our smartphones,” Dr. Greenfield further stated. “What happens on our devices is not reflective of what happens in real life.”

We all must strive to be balanced in our lives. If you find yourself tethered to your cellphone, here are a few useful tips adapted from the Psychology Today article:

• Make time every day to turn it off and have face-to-face conversations or time to be alone.
• Once a month, choose a day to go without technology. Turn off your computer, tablet or cellphone, and instead enjoy spending time with others, especially outdoors.