Phantom vibration syndrome or phantom ringing syndrome is the perception that one's
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
is vibrating or ringing when it is not. Other terms for this concept include ringxiety (a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsring'' and ''
anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...
''), fauxcellarm (a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsfaux
Faux may refer to: People
*Faux (surname)
Places Places in Belgium
* Faux, a village in the Belgian commune of Court-Saint-Étienne
Places in France
* Faux, Ardennes, French commune of the Ardennes department
* Faux, Dordogne, French commune of t ...
" /fo͜ʊ/ meaning "
fake
Fake may refer to:
* Deception, an act or a statement intended to deceive
** Charlatan, a person who practices deception to obtain money or other advantages
** Counterfeit, a reproduction of an item, intended to deceive
** Cover-up, an attempt to ...
cellphone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
" and "
alarm
An alarm device is a mechanism that gives an audible, visual or other kind of alarm signal to alert someone to a problem or condition that requires urgent attention.
Alphabetical musical instruments
Etymology
The word ''alarm'' comes from t ...
" pronounced similarly to "
false alarm
A false alarm, also called a nuisance alarm, is the deceptive or erroneous report of an emergency, causing unnecessary panic and/or bringing resources (such as emergency services) to a place where they are not needed. False alarms may occur with ...
") and phonetom (a
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words and phantom phone signals. According to Michael Rothberg, the term is not a syndrome, but is better characterised as a tactile hallucination since the brain perceives a sensation that is not actually present. WebMD published an article on phantom vibration syndrome with Rothberg as a source. Several other articles have been published in 2010s, including in NPR, Bustle, CBS News, and Psychology Today.
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
The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose expression in terms of SI base units is s−1, meaning that o ...
, and basic mobile phone ringtones often fall within this range. Phantom vibrations develop after carrying a cell phone set to use vibrating alerts. Researcher
Michelle Drouin
Michelle Drouin is an American researcher who focuses on psychological issues dealing with social media and communications technology. Drouin is associate professor of psychology at Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne.
Research
D ...
found that almost 9 of 10 undergraduates at her college experienced phantom vibrations.
History
In the comic strip ''
Dilbert
''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satirical office humor about a white-collar, micromanaged office with engineer Dilbert as the title charact ...
'', cartoonist
Scott Adams
Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is an American author and cartoonist. He is the creator of the syndicated '' Dilbert'' comic strip, and the author of several nonfiction works of satire, commentary, and business. ''Dilbert'' gained natio ...
referenced such a sensation in 1996 as "phantom-pager syndrome". The earliest published use of the term ''phantom vibration syndrome'' dates to 2003 in an article entitled "Phantom Vibration Syndrome" published in the ''
New Pittsburgh Courier
The ''New Pittsburgh Courier'' is a weekly African-American newspaper based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is owned by Real Times.
The newspaper is named after the original ''Pittsburgh Courier
The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was a ...
'', written under a pen name of columnist Robert D. Jones. However, it is debated whether earlier noting of the onsets of PVS came from Michael J Lewis of Melbourne, Australia. In the conclusion of the article, Jones wrote, "...should we be concerned about what our mind or body may be trying to tell us by the aggravating imaginary emanations from belts, pockets and even purses? Whether PVS is the result of physical nerve damage, a mental health issue, or both, this growing phenomenon seems to indicate that we may have crossed a line in this 'always on' society."
The first study of the phenomenon was conducted in 2007 by a researcher who coined the term ''ringxiety'' to describe it. In 2012, the term ''phantom vibration syndrome'' was chosen as the Australian ''
Macquarie Dictionary
The ''Macquarie Dictionary'' () is a dictionary of Australian English. It is generally considered by universities and the legal profession to be the authoritative source on Australian English. It also pays considerable attention to New Zealand E ...
''s word of the year.
Causes
The cause of phantom vibrations is not known. Preliminary research suggests it is related to over-involvement with one's cell phone, as smartphone dependence is associated with occurrence of phantom phone signals. Vibrations typically begin occurring after carrying a phone for between one month and one year. It has been suggested that, when anticipating a phone call, the
cerebral cortex
The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consisting o ...
may misinterpret other sensory input (such as
muscle contractions
Muscle contraction is the activation of tension-generating sites within muscle cells. In physiology, muscle contraction does not necessarily mean muscle shortening because muscle tension can be produced without changes in muscle length, such as ...
, pressure from clothing, or music) as a phone vibration or ring tone. This may be understood as a human signal detection issue, with potentially significant influences from psychological attributes. Kruger, D. J., & Djerf, J. M. (2016). High Ringxiety: Attachment Anxiety Predicts Experiences of Phantom Cell Phone Ringing. Cyberpsychology, Behavior & Social Networking, 19(1), 56-59. Factors such as experiences, expectations, and psychological states influence the threshold for signal detection. Some phantom vibration experiences may be a type of
pareidolia
Pareidolia (; ) is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none.
Common examples are perceived images of animals, ...
and can therefore be examined as a psychological phenomenon influenced by individual variances in personality, condition, and context. Attachment anxiety can also be seen as a predictor for the frequency of phantom vibration experiences since it is associated with psychological attributes related to insecurity in interpersonal relationships. Research show that phantom phone signals may have different mechanisms than experiences similar to auditory hallucinations.
Epidemiology
In most studies, a majority of cell phone users report experiencing occasional phantom vibrations or ringing, with reported rates ranging from 29.6% to 89%. Once every two weeks is a typical frequency for the sensations, though a minority experience them daily. Some individuals may be seriously bothered by the sensations.
Management
Little research has been done on treatment for phantom vibrations. Carrying the cell phone in a different position reduces phantom vibrations for some people. Other methods include turning off the vibration, changing the ringtone or vibration tone, or using a different device altogether.