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Hello! It’s ring anxiety
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There’s no call. But you feel you heard the phone ring…
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The small room resounded with the rhythm of castanets, harmonium keys and clapping. Repeated lines soared to reach a frenzied crescendo. The pulsating music was guaranteed to transport you to another plane. Rajeshwari Vinod was certainly there, only
hers was virtual. She sat, blinking into her mobile. “Ah, um,” she explained after the aarthi, “I was expecting a call. I thought I heard the ring tone.” In all that chanting ecstasy? She nodded. “There was no call. How come I heard it ring?”
That’s one more thread in tech’s tightening grip on us. In a growing phenomenon called ringxiety or fauxcellarm, sufferers hear the SMS beep or ring tone when these are non-existent. Medical dictionaries might christen it “phantom mobile call”. Ask yourself: “Is that my phone or my imagination?”
Ringxiety is probably poetic justice. Retribution for mobile users’ contempt for the convenience of those around. Lesson: you can’t escape the wireless web you’ve spun around yourself.
A cloud of psychobabble has collected around the syndrome. Rajeshwari laughs it off, even if a bit sheepishly. “It’s not a disease, you know,” said Anjali. “My mom tries to take off her glasses even when she’s not wearing them. It’s like putting the lid on the wrong bottle or reaching for coffee after the cup’s been taken away.” She absolutely must stay connected, she said. “Any day, I’d take a ghost call than miss a real one.”
Is this some form of social anxiety, angst to respond? “In medical terms, anxiety is associated with fear,” explained Dr. Mohan Raj, psychiatrist. “Checking a phantom ring isn’t in that class. Let’s call it ring anticipation.”
Aren’t heavy users a stressed lot? “Not really. Have you noticed people waiting at places like the bus stand and railway station? Earlier they used to look bored and glum. Now I see them chatting away animatedly into a mobile. It’s good to see so many happy faces around you.”
GEETA PADMANABHAN
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