Strange but true… You wouldn’t believe the mouthful of letters in the official terminology of some pretty common numerical fears. Take, for instance, hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia. Ring any bells? This is the convoluted way to refer to the Biblical fear of the number 666. Triskaidekaphobia deals with the superstitious aversion to the number 13, however to be specifically afraid of Friday the 13th is paraskavedekatriaphobia.

But I don’t know about the official term for this next anxiety, so let’s just go with ‘ringxiety.’ I’m sure this psychological condition has even affected you in the past, but you didn’t even realise that you were amongst the high percentage of the population who has suffered from this phenomenon…

If you have even imagined that your mobile phone was ringing or vibrating with a call or text message, compelling you to frisk your pockets and check only to find it was a ‘phantom ring’ – yep, that’s it. Ringxiety.

A study undertaken by the Los Angeles-based Alliant International University indicates that Japan tops the global ‘ringxiety’ list, and doctors in India suggest that around a quarter of users of mobile phones have experienced ‘phantom ringing.’ No figures have been released as yet about UK mobile phones.

I’m one. I’ll admit it. I only feel mildly uncomfortable about the numbers 13 or 666, so it’s far from a full blown phobia there, but I’ll self-diagnose my ‘ringxiety.’ Alas, alack, my mobile phone deals me a cruel fate…

All in all, it’s water off this little duck’s back. I think it’s a personality quirk, and I know I’m not alone in this peculiarity. It’s not going to stop me from taking advantage of some great deals on mobile phones and text messaging constantly with my friends (although not so constantly as I imagine it…)