Battery Anxiety - The Struggle Is Real?

Moment of truth. What do you look at most during the day? Probably not your friends or family, books or television. It’s most likely your smartphone.

For most people, their phones are tethers to their everyday life. Messaging, calendars, social media, food delivery, transport - everything exists and is immediately available on their phones. We take this for granted until we see something unsettling happening in the upper right corner of our screen.

A dying battery is not a pretty sight for many. Not everyone cares about their batteries dying, some may find it peaceful. For others, a low battery percentage stirs up feelings of unrest, stress, panic, or anxiety, and can elicit some strange behavior in people. Priorities change and people start looking for ways to charge their phones. They cut their outings short to go home, start hunting for cables, or involve random strangers in their quest of charging their phones.

In full: ‘no-mobile-phone-phobia’. Defined as the fear of losing access to a smartphone, by leaving it at home, out of range, or battery running low. Recognizable symptoms associated with nomophobia include discomfort, anxiety, nausea, increased blood pressure and heart rate, depression, fear, and panic. Though not officially recognized by the World Health Organization, its classification is up for debate. Is it an anxiety disorder, phobia, lifestyle disorder, or addiction?

Smartphones have grown into an ever-present part of life. According to Statista (2023), the world currently has 6.37 billion smartphone users, that’s 80.7% of the global population. Within this 80.7%, an overall growing trend of smartphone dependency has been observed. As with everything else, prevention is key. Here are some effective (and simple!) actions
- Uninstall time-wasting apps or use time limits
- Mute notifications
- Don’t take your phone into your bedroom
- Don’t use it as your alarm clock

Listen, we’re not shaming anyone. Most of us are dependent on our phones for information and connection, so it makes sense to worry about losing access. In case you’re not carrying a charger with you or need a quick battery pick-me-up - Brick has got your back with our powerbank stations. You can charge on the go and return the powerbank at any station when your phone is alive and thriving again!
But, let’s keep in mind that the real world is the world!

