Ringxiety, fauxcellarm, phantom ring syndrome... Is cell phone attachment driving us anti-social or just plain insane?

Has your cell phone become, what researchers are now calling, your fifth limb? No?? What is the first thing you do when you are abruptly awaken by your alarm every morning? If you are anything like me, which I hope is a normal human in the “tech-age”, you immediately grab your phone with hopes of a notification. Starting at 0700 your phone is attached to your hand. If it was water-proof, it would go in the shower with you too. There is an overwhelming feeling of anxiety that comes over us all when we cannot find our phone, even when we do not need it! I recently travelled abroad to Ireland for a week. I nixed the international plan idea and chose the no-phone route. The trip was even greener and luckier than it would have been had I allowed my phone to consume me the whole time, but I could not shake the “phantom ring”. I felt like my pocket was continually vibrating, even though my phone was turned OFF and zipped up in my suitcase at the hostel. Talk about a walk-up call.  The phantom vibrate… really?? #selfdiagnosis

Even USATODAY and The New York Times find this syndrome worth noting:

Click me to view USATODAY article! 

Click me to view NY Times article! 

So I am really working on getting rid of the whole phantom ring syndrome thing. People watching is hands down my #1 guilty pleasure. As part of my therapy, I walk across campus, stroll the grocery store aisle, or sit in a meeting and watch those around me focused intently on nothing other than their phone. I wonder what in the world is more important than where we are at the moment. I am tired of others bumping into me (never using their manners to say “excuse me”) or asking to repeat a topic in a meeting or class because they were too busy texting about something less valuable than my time! The convenience of our phones should not be taken advantage of. Those before us lived without them and turned out just fine, why can’t we? If an issue is so important, step outside and make a phone call, or better yet – don’t come to class! I know I am not perfect, but I promise you all I working on it – and for those that know me, call me out if you see me focusing on the wrong thing and wasting the precious time we never get to relive. Today is a gift, that’s why they call it the present right?  

YOU and I are NOT ALONE. We are all guilty of getting lost in the deep black hole known as our phone, but I am on my knees, absolutely begging you to not end up like this woman: Woman Falling in Fountain .

So the question of whether we are creepily obsessed with our phones is obvious: YES, we are. The real question: Are we so obsessed with our phones that we are not even living the life we constantly tweet about?

Think about it. Let me know what you think!