In these times dominated by social networks, smartphones and computers, we are witnessing more and more the birth of new phobias which, although not yet recognized and therefore not yet fully entered into the DSM (Statistical Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders), are still subject of growing interest from industry experts.
By phobia, of course, we do not mean the simple interest and use of these new technologies, which have now become of common daily use for most of us, but obviously an unmotivated and irrational fear of real or imagined situations; the prevailing emotion is anxiety, which communicates the presence of a “threat” to the brain. Anxiety, which by its nature usually causes two types of reactions, namely attack or flight, in these cases causes the latter to prevail in the individual, implementing what is the protective behavior par excellence, namely avoidance.
Among these new generation phobias, we mention the so-called “ nomophobia ”, linked to the fear of being in situations where you do not have a mobile network, data connection or a charged cell phone or computer battery. A research carried out in Great Britain has shown that about 58% of men and 48% of women are prone to show an anxious state when they discover that they have a dead mobile phone or realize that they have no internet connection; to avoid running this risk, therefore, they avoid being left without a mobile phone for a long time or going to places without a network (immersed in nature or far from cities and towns).
It seems that we cannot speak of an age-related predisposition, even if the common opinion would see young people as the potentially more nomophobic ones. In reality, it all depends on the use that everyone makes of their smartphone or computer; the more important it is to remain “connected” with the rest of the world and feel able to connect at all times, the more likely an anxious reaction would be when faced with the impossibility of doing so concretely.
In addition to nomophobia, remaining in the sphere of new technologies, another phobia that is spreading, in this case especially among the youngest and which has not yet received a real name, is that linked to the fear of not receiving a sufficient number to “like” their posts published on social networks.
At the base of this phobia there seems to be, as well as for the more ” vintage” social phobia , the fear of the judgment of others: posting something and not getting feedback in terms of visibility and popularity can seriously question the self-esteem of an individual who from that moment on, he will probably avoid publishing other personal content, so as not to have to face the disappointment of receiving few “likes” again.
Finally, we speak of ” dehypnophobia ” to indicate the persistent, unjustified and abnormal fear of facing conversations during a lunch, dinner or anyway a convivial moment. According to the APC (Association of Cognitive Psychology), about 13% of the population has presented at least once in their life an episode of hypnophobia; in the most serious cases, the individual takes action to avoid all those “at risk” appointments, so as not to feel then forced to say something interesting or particularly brilliant. Some clinicians tend to derive this phobia from the absence of real social rules at the table and above all to the need to always be brilliant and up to social situations.
Turning to specialists in the sector, especially cognitive-behavioral psychotherapists , can be the first valid step to face and try to solve these problems, based on the therapy protocols used for specific phobias and the most commonly and widely known social phobias.
