SmashMouth

Kelly Reeves was getting ready for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet device and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new model at full retail price.
Reeves, who runs KLR Communications, a media relations company, says she can’t afford to be without a phone. “I even carry it when I walk from my office to the kitchen,” she told FoxNews.com. Business contacts are too important to miss, and staying on schedule means having a phone at the ready at all times.


A new study conducted by security-authentication company SecurEnvoy finds that fear of losing your phone is a common ailment. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia (or “no mobile phone phobia”); interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.
“I can’t go to a business dinner without everyone having their phones on the table,” Reeves said. “It's become commonplace for people to constantly check their phone during meetings, dinners, and dates. It's like the ability to be constantly reachable has made us fearful of missing out on something.”
SecurEnvoy clearly has an iron in the fire: The company makes software to protect your phone should you lose it, using two-factor authentication. But the rising prevalence of "nomophobia" -- and contemporary cellphone obsession -- has been confirmed by other studies.
Last year, a study in the journal of Personal and Ubiquitous Computing found that respondents checked their phone about 34 times per day on average. Those surveyed would check their phone about once every ten minutes. We’re all a little too obsessive about our gadgets, it seems.
Lookout Mobile Security also did a study late last year and found that 50 percent of respondents feel anxious when they do not have their phone present. When asked which item they would retrieve from a burning house, the top pick was a mobile phone -- ahead of a wallet, purse or a passport.
“Our phone is like our lifeline -- it contains all of our most sensitive information, so naturally there’s a lot of fear we have about losing it,” said Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder of Lookout Mobile Security.
Fortunately, there’s a solution.


Read more: Are you a nomophobe -- afraid of losing your mobile phone? -- Read more here