I don’t care where I am, I will always scan the room for power outlets. Why? Well, what if my phone dies? How will I contact everyone? How will they contact me? I’m in constant need of keeping my phone near or at full charge, because if I ever let it get below 50%, I think I’m doomed.
Of course, I know this is bad for my phone. But…it’s also bad for my mental health.
According to the company website of LG, low battery anxiety disorder is: “the feeling of overwhelming fear experienced as your smart phone battery dies, causing you to live your life on your phone’s terms rather than your own.”
The alleged symptoms of this condition are keeping your phone on airplane mode, searching for outlets in every room, going to restaurants and bars solely to charge your phone, and finally, experiencing FOMO due to a dead phone battery.
In a recent study done by LG, it was found that about 9 out of 10 people fear losing their phone power. The survey polled more than 2,000 U.S. smart phone users, of which 60% of people blamed a dead phone for not speaking to family, friends, and significant others.
A lot of people reading this are probably thinking, “You’re all crazy, just let your phone die and live your life.” I’ll tell you from experience, it’s not that simple. I’m guilty of having all the symptoms of this condition. I’m not sure why, but all I know is that when I see that my phone isn’t at its maximum charge, I start to panic and search for my charger. I’ve charged my phone at a million restaurants, borrowed friends chargers when they didn’t even notice, and I even carry a spare charger in both my purse and car.
This condition gets people to the point where their anxiety is through the roof. For example, they won’t let others borrow their spare chargers, they’ll turn off their data and constantly exit out of apps, or charge their battery up until they leave their home, whether or not it needs to be charged. Their life centers around charging their phone and making sure the battery doesn’t die.
LG actually used this dubbed disorder to sell a new product, which might lead some to think that they made it up just so they could profit. As much as this could be the case, this condition is a real thing, even if you don’t want to admit it.
If you feel like you show symptoms of Low Battery Anxiety, I suggest you take a step back and give yourself a second to breathe. Find ways to keep yourself occupied so that you aren’t constantly thinking about your phone. If you’re afraid of your battery running out, then you will ALWAYS be stressed out, because those things have never been super great at keeping a charge for as long as smartphones have been in existence. Try your best to keep your anxiety level down, there are other things in this world that you could be stressing about more than that. Let yourself breathe. No charger? No problem.
Featured image via Daria Shevtsova on Pexels
