That nomophobia is a new phobia that describes the feeling of severe anxiety that results from being without your cell phone.
I found this information on page 112 in the book Scared Stiff by Sara Latta. Nomo is short for no mobile. Young adults between 18 and 24 are the most likely to suffer from this disorder. There is a check list to help you see if this is a problem for you.
In the book Talk Nerdy to Me by Joe Fullman, it tells us that 2,425 cell phones are lost in a day in the U.K. by accidentally flushing them down the toilet, with another 160 being chewed by dogs. Imagine all the nomophobia that causes!
With so many people having and using cell phones, cell phone etiquette is becoming more and more of an issue. Whoopi Goldberg talks about this in her book Is It Just Me? Or Is It Nuts Out There? She comments on people using their phones and having loud conversations “as if they were in their living rooms” at the theater, restaurants, and in their cars. Like many of us, she doesn’t want to hear your conversation… no matter where you are!
Texting is now another part of this problem. How many times have you seen people texting and driving or been at a restaurant and seen a family at another table and all of them have their phones out? Hmmm… is that quality time or what?!! The Jerk with the Cell Phone by Barbara Pacher and Susan Magee is a survival guide that is even more useful now then when it was first published in 2004. The authors have some good advice on dealing with cell phone ‘jerks’ out in public.
Katie Friedman Gives Up Texting (and Lives to Tell About It) by Tommy Greenwald is a story about Katie and 10 of her friends who give up texting and Facebook for a week to win backstage passes to a concert. The kids are faced with incredible challenges, such as using a phone book to make an actual phone call and writing a letter to communicate. It’s actually a real eye opener to see how much we really rely on our phones.
Zapped by Anita Louise Gittleman discusses some health problems caused by electricity and wireless signals. The problems stem from ‘dirty electricity’ and can cause heart palpitations, tinnitus, chronic fatigue, dizziness, diabetes, attention deficit disorders and a host of other symptoms. You can have an electrical quality expert take measurements to determine the severity of the problem, and there are filters that can be installed to help.
Another ‘cell’ is a prison cell. World’s Scariest Prisons by Emma Carlson Berne shows us some of the oldest prisons in the world. You can read about the ‘squirrel cage jail,’ aka Pottawattamie County Jail in Iowa, which was a 3 story rotating jail that is now open for tours. Or read about the Carandiru Station in São Paulo, Brazil that was the largest prison of its time in South America. It was supposed to hold 4,000 prisoners but the population grew to more than 8,000. Life in Prison by Stanley “Tookie” Williams should be read by America’s youth as a scared straight type of story. He tells exactly what it is like to be in prison. His story was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
And finally are the ‘cells’ that make up living creatures. Cells by Darlene R Stille is an informative book that shows all kinds of cells (skin, muscle, stem, plant etc.) and explains what they are and do. Just think, without these cells we wouldn’t be here to talk on our ‘cells!’
Be sure to visit A Reading Life for more reviews and news of all things happening at the Everett Public Library.
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