Call it the ultimate buzzkill: thinking you’re getting texts, calls or email alerts when you’re really not.
But it’s more than a daily annoyance. Mental health experts, according to the Wall Street Journal, refer to the condition as “phantom phone syndrome,” a phenomenon in which people who use smartphones and smartwatches (i.e., everyone) always feel their devices buzzing with alerts. And it’s not just because phones are set to vibrate; it happens when they are not only silent but often are nowhere near one’s body.
“This could really be categorized as a hallucination,” Michelle Drouin, a psychologist at Purdue University Fort Wayne, told the Journal. “You’re feeling something … that doesn’t really exist.”
The Post previously reported that it is classified as “a real psychological phenomenon” and a legitimate hallucination.
“The phone actually becomes a part of you, and you become trained to perceive the phone’s vibration as an incoming call or text,” Robert Rosenberger, a Georgia Tech School of Public Policy professor, explained.
Describing the imagined buzzing as a “learned bodily habit,” he added, “It becomes really easy to misperceive other similar sensations” — such as mistaking subtle muscle spasms for the vibration of a phone.
According to the Journal, phantom phone syndrome — also known as “ringxiety” and “vibranxiety” — derives from FOMO (fear of missing out) and anxiety caused by the possibility of not having a phone within easy reach. While it’s not considered a mental health disorder, it’s directly linked to technology’s role in society as a habit, though some consider it anxiety.
As for the cure? Simply ditch the device for a while.
“The longer you’re away from your device,” Drouin said, “the more likely you won’t experience these false signals.”