The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) [1] includes panic disorder (PD) with agoraphobia among its list of anxiety disorders. This disorder is characterized by frequent, recurrent and acute attacks of anxiety. Panic attacks are described as a period of intense fear or anxiety accompanied by somatic and psychological symptoms. These symptoms include a lack of breath, tachycardia, fainting, perspiration and trembling. Agoraphobia [2] is associated with psychological anxieties including a fear of losing control, fainting, dying, being in crowded areas, travel, and feeling ill in public places.
“Nomophobia” [3] is the modern fear of being unable to communicate through a mobile phone (MP) or the Internet. The word “nomophobia” originated in England and is derived from the expression “No Mobile Phobia”, that is, the phobia of being without an MP. Nomophobia [4] is a term that refers to a collection of behaviors or symptoms related to MP use. Nomophobia is a situational phobia related to agoraphobia and includes the fear of becoming ill and not receiving immediate assistance.
Because people’s relationships with MPs, computers and other technology profoundly influence interpersonal behaviors and social habits, these relationships should be continuously monitored and studied [5].
Communication technologies modify people’s interaction with the world, their perception of reality and their interactions with time and space [6]. MPs facilitate individual communication processes and provide a degree of mobility that allows their users to be reached at any time. Moreover, MPs allow people to connect with others wirelessly and without a physical local network. The miniaturization of communication technologies permits an extensive amount of flexibility, mobility and personalization [5].
These portable technologies express the values of freedom of choice, will and action and ultimately emphasize individuals over collectives. Technological evolutions are currently facing powerful, instinctive and primitive forces to which humans. MPs are attractive because they allow users to browse the Internet, work with people from a distance, speak with friends and colleagues, resolve problems and render services without leaving their current location. Because new technology facilitates each of these functions, it leads to the widespread acceptance of and excitement about these devices [7].
The literature [8] reveals that, due to the specific characteristics of their disease, patients with PD are more anxious and worried about various daily issues than healthy people. People with agoraphobia[2] fear public places and the inability to receive immediate aid may be responsible for developing an excessive attachment to an MP among this particular population. In these cases, an MP makes people with anxiety disorders [9] feel more secure as an MP allows them to be rescued from an attack. Healthy people also depend on MPs for work and socializing; however, they do not despair or become nervous when they are unable to make a call or connect to the Internet.
Based on the characteristics of anxiety disorders[9], we began to observe that people with this condition are dependent upon certain types of technologies, including MPs [10]. Specifically, the absence of these devices cause distress and anxiety in individuals with anxiety disorders.
The present study hypothesized that people with PD and agoraphobia would show more emotional alterations and symptoms related to the absence of their MPs than would healthy people. The MP may have a potential role as a safety signal for agoraphobic PD patients. The importance of safety signals and safety-seeking behavior in those with anxiety disorders in general, and PD with agoraphobia specifically, is a topic receiving considerable attention in the cognitive behavioral literature [11].
This study describes the participants’ routine use of MPs and examines the possible appearance of emotional alterations and symptoms related to the daily use (or lack thereof) of the MP. Participants included a group of patients with PD and agoraphobia and a control group consisting of people without any psychiatric disorders.