The science is catching up to our cell phone use.
One study in Australia found that mobiles can be addictive as smoking with users displaying the typical signs of withdrawal - anxiety, restlessness, even panic - when parted from their phones.
The Queensland study analysed people under 45 to establish the emotional, psychological, financial and social impact of their use of mobiles. It found some suffered low self-esteem if they were not free to receive calls and text messages and the phone appeared to be a kind of "security blanket" which improved feelings of self-worth. Other users appeared "obsessive" in their need to be near a mobile phone and became deeply agitated when parted from it.
Meanwhile there's the audio illusion of "phantom phone" rings. The ubiquity of mobile phones means people live in a constant state of "phone vigilance."
Reports the New York Times in I Hear Ringing and There's No One There, people are particularly sensitive to sounds of 1000 to 6000 hertz
"Your brain is conditioned to respond to a phone ring just as it is to a baby crying,"
Some sound experts think the high-pitched tones are being used in ads to manipulate our emotions to get our attention and make us call that 800 number right now.
It seems that technology designed to improve our lives is also creating greater stress.
Posted by Jill Fallon at May 5, 2006 12:08 PM | Permalink