Oh good grief, so I’m not alone. According to a USA Today report there is a phenomenon known as ‘phantom vibration syndrome’ where you go to answer a vibrating phone in your pocket – only to find that it’s not actually vibrating at all. So it’s official, eh? Thank goodness for that, I thought it was only me that suffered from this embarrassing little problem.
Psychologically, the key to deciphering phantom vibrations is “hypothesis-guided search,” a theory that describes the selective monitoring of physical sensations, says Jeffrey Janata, director of the behavioral medicine program at University Hospitals in Cleveland. It suggests that when cellphone users are alert to vibrations, they are likely to experience sporadic false alarms, he says.
Subscribe To Our Feed
I get this all the time. Good to know I’m not the only PVS sufferer out there!
This happens to me all the time! it happened one time while i was in the shower, needless to say, it wasn’t anywhere near my person….
I’ve found that using a phone with a stronger vibration reduces my PVS.
Aha, so there are more of us.
I think we should form the International PVS Club. It could be a really sad affair where we all meet once a month to tap our pockets forlornly every so often, waiting for the call that never comes.
glad i’m not alone…lately i’ve been having the exact viration thing happening to me but instead of around my pocket area it’s happening in my crotch. no kidding. i’m so relieved i’ve canceled my appointment with a neurologist. see you later.
I got my first cell phone about a 2 months ago. I’m not a big fan of the interruptions cell phones make, so I pretty much constantly keep mine on vibrate. About 3 weeks ago I start feeling it vibrate when I didn’t even have it in my pocket. It was such a distinct and real sensation. I thought I was going crazy. I sheepishly told my wife about it, half jokingly, but really kidna worries that I was going insane. She say this article in one of her RSS feeds and passed it on to me.
It sounds like i still might be going insane… or would it be a form of brainwashing? Psychological torture? But at least I’m not alone, and there’s a name for it!
Oh, and Rob, I haven’t even admitted this to my wife yet, but for some reason i get the Phantom Vibrations in “that” area too. ..serious.
PVS sufferers unite!!!
Christopher, it’s OK, you’ve found a home now. You can relax. Take a deep breath. Close your eyes and imagine a world without ringtones. :-) Oh and by the way, congratulations on resisting the lure of a mobile phone for so long. You’re an example to us all. Heh!
I have been getting this vibration and it doesn't have anthing to do with a cell phone. I get it in different parts of my body and most recently in my crotch area many times a time. I think it may be a reaction to medication for migraines, my Topomax which is actually for nerves.