Nomophobia: A Potential Problem for UFV Students

Running head: PROBLEM INVESTIGATION REPORT
Assignment 3: Problem Investigation Report
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
PROBLEM INVESTIGATION REPORT
To
UFV’s Associate Dean of Students
Dr. Alisa Webb
Respected Ma’am,
I am writing this report to you in order to draw your attention nomophobi, a potential
problem for UFV students, and to describe an awareness campaign at UFV, which I would like to
implement to help them to recover from this issue.
Regards,
Name of the Student
Date:

2
PROBLEM INVESTIGATION REPORT
Introduction
The increasing use of the new technologies and involvement in the virtual communication
like laptops, personal computers, tablets and Smartphones are causing new changes in the
individuals’ lifestyle and daily living behaviour. The use and the popularity of Smartphones have led
to an advent of new term, “nomophobia”. Nomophobia means no-mobile-phone phobia or fear of
staying away or without mobile phones (King et al., 2013). The following report will initiate with the
brief introduction about nomophobia followed by how it affects the university and college students.
The report will then analyze the nomophobia severity among the UFV students based survey results
conducted in week-6. At the end, the report will highlight importance of the public awareness
program campaign and how this campaign might help the university students of UFV to recover from
nomophobia. At the end, a university-based awareness campaign will be designed based on the
parameters of Elements of a Good Public Awareness Campaign: At a Glance in order help university
students with nomophobia.
The main purpose of this report is present a new mental health complications among which
is streaming at an alarming rate among the young adults (nomophobia) and to design effective
strategy or intervention in order overcome such mental health complications or psychological state
of mind. The report will be beneficial for the university administrators to help their students recover
from nomophobia and improve their academic performance.
Background
According to Elmore (2014) the term nomophobia is defined as a fear of being without a cell
phone or beyond the reach of the mobile phone connectivity. Uysal, Lisesi and Madenoğlu (2016)
stated that there is a strong argument behind nomophobia being classified as legitimate phobia or
simply as a state of anxiety. King et al. (2013) are of the opinion that nomophobia can be considered
as a disorder of the modern world and is recently used to describe as the state of mental anxiety or
discomfort caused due to non-availability of the mobile phones (MP), personal computers (PC) or
other devises of virtual communications that individuals are habituated with. The nomophobic
symptoms might also indicate the presence of possible yet pre-existing mental health disorder that
needs urgent investigation and treatment. The symptoms of nomophobics can reflect among the
individuals who suffer from anxiety disorders and only serve as an indicator for the mental health
professionals to investigate the original cause. The symptoms of nomophobia are non-existent in the
anxiety disorders even though the individuals without able to survive in the absence of internet
connection (King et al., 2013). Nomophobia is recent and has originated as a consequence of
increased human interactivity with the new technologies and thus lack official presence in the
Manual diagnostic and Statistical of Mental Disorder (DSM). However, proposals are being made in
order to include nomophobia under the official list of DSM-V. (Bragazzi & Del Puente, 2014). Some of
the common effects or the manifestation of nomophobia includes sleeping along with the
Smartphones, unwillingness to switch-off the phone even while asleep, answering phone calls or
checking messages even while intimate with partner and checking phone after every 5-mins even
when no new notifications came in (Elmore, 2014). Yildirim and Correia (2015) are of the opinion
that nomophobia hampers the state of mind. The person who is nomophobic suffers from certain
anxiety or fear if staying away from phone. A nomophobic individuals fail to connect or
communicate even while on a light-hearted discussion or vacation with a group as they remain
engrossed in their virtual world. Moreover, a nomophobic individual suffers from lack of confidence
under the absence of the phone as for even lifestyle change suggestion they rely on the phone app
and not on personal sense. Mainly the young adults or the college students are the victims of the
nomophobia. Excessive addiction towards the Smartphones hampers proper cognitive development