14 DAY TRIAL // We all own phones these days and many of us can't even begin to imagine having to make do without them. Rather, they've become an integral part of our life and, in a way, our constant companions.
Mind you, we're so attached to these gadgets that researchers have been forced to invent a brand new term to describe our fear of being left without them: nomophobia.
This is short for no-mobile-phobia and refers to what happens when people become so used to taking their mobile phones everywhere with them that they dread being separated from them, be it for a split second.
“As people start relying more on their smartphones, they get used to the luxury and the convenience they provide and they simply then don't want to give up on them,” explains specialist Caglar Yildirim.
As is the case with other psychological hiccups, there are certain degrees of nomophobia, some more severe than others. Luckily, there's a test that can tell us just how nomophobic we are.
The quiz, which you can find below, was put together by researchers at Iowa State University, who devised it in an attempt to gain a better understanding of our relationship with our favorite gadgets.
Potential nomophobics are supposed to rate the statements included in the questionnaire on a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 being the equivalent of “strongly disagree” and 7 standing for “strongly agree.”
At the end, the scores are added up. The higher the total score, the more severe one's nomophobia is. Best of luck, everyone!