Nomophobia -do we really need to worry about?

Nomophobia, a form of behavioural addiction towards mobile phones and manifested as symptoms of Psychological as well as physical dependency. Considering the ill effects of chronic use mobile phones, studies usually focused on those somatic effects and thus the psychological dependency rarely has been in the study of interest. The present study aimed at examining the pattern of mobile usage among under graduate students and to check whether there exists any difference among them. A cross sectional survey method was used to find out the pattern of mobile use and perceived dependency towards the mobile phones using Nomophobia Severity Index-Self rated version (NSISR) among Under Graduate students of Health sciences (N=547) who were selected using snow ball sampling method. Data collected were pooled and analysed using SPSS v.12. The dependency status reported by students was similar among different courses. There was a significant positive correlation was established between the pattern of mobile usage with the severity of Nomophobia. Nomophobia as an emerging behavioural addiction among student populations in professional college was well evident through the present study. Adequate prevention strategies in the form of health awareness campaign specifying the physical as well as psychological impact of the chronic mobile usage would be appreciated.