Phantom vibration syndrome

Phantom Vibration Syndrome or Phantom ringing is the sensation and false belief that one can feel one's mobile phone vibrating or hear it ringing, when in fact the telephone is not doing so.

Other terms for this concept include ringxiety (a portmanteau of ring and anxiety), HypoVibroChondria (a mix of Hypochondria and Vibro) and fauxcellarm (a play on "false alarm").[1]

Phantom ringing may be experienced while taking a shower, watching television, or using a noisy device. Humans are particularly sensitive to auditory tones between 1,000 and 6,000 hertz,[1] and basic mobile phone ringers often fall within this range. This frequency range can generally be more difficult to locate spatially, thus allowing for potential confusion when heard from a distance. False vibrations are less well understood, however, and could have psychological or neurological sources.

Devices

The phantom phone, or phantom ring psychologically, could be compared to something such as the "naked" feeling experienced when not wearing a pair of prescription glasses or other item.[2]

Some doorbells or telephone ring sounds are modeled after pleasant sounds from nature. This backfires when such devices are used in rural areas containing the original sounds—the owner is faced with the constant task of determining if it is the device or the actual sound.[3]

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References

  1. ^ a b Goodman, Brenda (4 May 2006). "I Hear Ringing and There's No One There. I Wonder Why.". The New York Times. p. 1. 
  2. ^ "Cell-Phone Junkies Feel Phantom Ring Vibrations". Fox News. 12 October 2007. 
  3. ^ Jacobson, Dan (June 15, 2001). "The Risks Digest Volume 21: Issue 49". catless.ncl.ac.uk. Retrieved September 4, 2011. 

Haupt, Angela (June 12, 2007). "Good vibrations? Bad? None at all?". USA Today (McLean, VA: Gannett). ISSN 0734-7456. Retrieved September 4, 2011. 

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Last modified on 16 March 2013, at 01:11