Zack’s Problem: Ringxiety

Hello???

If you don’t, you probably know somebody who does. With Britain stuffed full
of more mobile phones than people, connected members of the public are
developing an increasing number of ways to fret about their handsets.

The result, say experts, is the telecommunications equivalent of phantom
limb syndrome, where amputees still feel the sensations of a limb that isn’t
there any more.

Many of us will be familiar with the basest form of ringxiety - when one
phone rings and everyone in the vicinity suddenly starts checking their
pockets or handbags with frantic abandon. But some cases become far more
complex: individuals have reported hearing their phone ring at concerts, or
while driving.