The Cascade Team Blog

Do you have a fear of being apart from your cellphone? If so, you may suffer from "nomophobia" or "no mobile phone phobia," MSNBC.com reports.

It's on the rise. And in the real estate industry, where smartphones are dominant, you may be at risk. Do you never turn off your phone? Obsessively check it? Constantly worry about losing it?

If so, you may be among the 66 percent who recently admitted to having "nomophoboia," according to a national study by SecurEnvoy, a mobile phone technology firm. Four years ago, a study showed 53 percent admitted to having it.

According to the survey, respondents, on average, reported checking their cellphones 34 times a day. Seventy-five percent reported taking their cellphone with them to the bathroom. And some of those surveyed also reported sleeping with it and even taking it in the shower with them (protecting it so it stays dry, of course).

"Cellphones are tools that should be used to enhance our lives -- not to destroy our interpersonal communication skills with those that we love," Mitch Spero, director of child and family psychologists, told MSNBC.com.

Source: “Addicted to Your Cellphone? Nomophobia on the Rise,” NBCMiami.com (May 8, 2012)