You Twit Face: Your Complete Guide to Nomophobia

Book excerpt: Nomophobia - the fear of having our phones taken from us - is taking over our lives. The smart devices are in our homes, carried room-to-room as if glued to the hands of our family members. They meander into the bathroom, the laundry room, the shop, the garage, backyard and even into the bedroom where the adults once had their "alone time." Our teenage children require them to either be under their pillows, by their pillows or within arm's reach at a nightstand in order to even sleep at night. The cell phone must be visible for them to take tests at school without withdrawal anxiety. The phones travel where we do - school, the office, the gym, so that we are in constant contact with the virtual world - other people who also have no real lives outside of their phone. They are ringing in churches, movie theaters, restaurants, concerts, funerals. Nothing says "goodbye" to the recently departed like your ring tone from Metallica's Hardwired. Welcome to the world of smart phone addiction.