PHANTOM VIBRATION SYNDROME
Also known as HYPOVIBROCHONDRIA, RINGXIETY(Ringing anxiety),FAUXCELLARM(false alarm)
The feeling that your phone is vibrating when it is not or ringing only to discover it's a false alarm. This sudden feeling(false perception) of your cell phone vibrating/ringing but after checking it, you realise that you have no new messages,calls or any updates. If this has happened to you ,don't worry,you are not alone #winks. However the good news is that it is all in ur head or might not just be in your heads after all #winks
This physiologic hallucination doesn't affect our health and is not an ominous sign of impending madness caused by digital culture #coughs. However,if it's getting annoying & occurs too often,then you should try getting rid of it.
It is common & unavoidable part of healthy brain function which simply reflects our near-perfect perceptual system trying their best to in an uncertain & noisy world.
CAUSE : This is unknown but usually linked to the cell phone dependency & technology(phone) addiction. People are hypersensitive to stimuli associated with rewarding stimuli. Most people have inadvertently become independent upon cell phones to navigate the world.
EPIDEMIOLOGY :
Almost 9 out of 10 people experience this at least once in a month(80% experience vibration,30% heard non-existent ringing).
68%(27-89%) of people surveyed experience d phenomenon regularly with the most frequency being once every 2weeks..
BASIS(PATHOGENESIS): Brain's desire to fill up the gaps & find patterns. Anticipation,that often interpret unrelated stimuli with misinterpretation of sensory signals in our brain.
This brain-conditioning is related to genetic,neural activation n neurotransmitter (pacinian& meissner's corpuscles receptors).
PREVENTION
This often annoying condition can be prevented by the following;
-Cell phone fast: turn it off or avoid using cell phone (hours per day or entire day)
-Turn off d ringer or vibration/Silent: where you check notifications on ur own terms
-Airplane mode: no random ringing or vibration
-Reduce d Volume
-Clothing alteration: avoid tight clothes,minimal brushing of clothes against youur skin
-Adjust carrying strategies: pocket to pocket adjustment,pocket to hand so that the phone doesn't come in contact with the skin.
-Not keeping your phone in its obvious place. This will help brain stop monitoring vibration & giving false alarms.
Facebook.com/adesheffy