Why do I feel anxious without my phone?

Your phone has become how people reach you and how you find things out. When it's gone, both feel at risk at once. The anxiety is about what the phone carries.

Researchers call it nomophobia. It's common, and it isn't a diagnosis. I wrote more on why you feel anxious without your phone.

The useful thing in the research is that the scale behind the term splits the fear into four parts: being unable to communicate, losing connection, losing access to information and giving up convenience (Yildirim and Correia, 2015).

Most people feel one of those more than the others, and that's where to start. If it's being unreachable, leave the ringer on and put the phone on a shelf across the room. If it's missing information, pick two set times a day to check. Naming which fear is yours gives you something you can actually work on.

To find where to start: Find Your Starting Place.