Brits are breaking out in a cold sweat over their phone batteries dying, with a whopping 32% admitting to feeling anxious about it. It’s not just the jitters; 43% of Brits are experiencing full-blown physical symptoms like clamminess and nausea when their battery bars plummet.
The tech addiction is real, folks – 60% of those under 44 would pick their mobiles over their pets and family treasures. And get this, 30% would ditch seeing their loved ones for a week if it meant keeping their phones charged up.
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According to new data from Currys, a third of us are more scared of losing our phone battery than losing contact with our mates and fam for a whole week.
(Image: Getty Images)
Dr Marianne Trent, a Clinical Psychologist, has teamed up with Currys to diagnose the nation with ‘Hypobatteriaphobia’ – that’s the terror of your phone running out of life. This newly coined term is the latest buzzword for our collective e-angst, with “Hypo” meaning low, “Batteria” for battery, and “-phobia” as in fear.
She said: “So much of our confidence to get out and about independently might well rest on the ability to have our phones work when we need them to. As a result, I totally understand why the thought of running out of battery can be incredibly anxiety-provoking for some people.”
(Image: Getty Images)
They also found that Laptops (29%) are the most cherished possessions for many, with nearly half (44%) even admitting to valuing their phone more than their engagement or wedding ring (42%). .
The nation’s fear of running out of battery, dubbed ‘Hyperbatteriaphobia’, is so severe that it ranks just below claustrophobia (12%) and is on par with a fear of injections and crowds (10%).
The top 10 tech fears in Britain are:
- Phone dying
- Arriving at a meeting without the right devices
- Running out of phone data
- Laptop losing work
- Sending an email to the wrong recipient
- Forgetting to download TV shows before a long journey
- Being locked out of social media accounts
- Forgetting laptop login details
- Forgetting an adaptor on holiday
- Headphones running out of battery
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