In the midst of looking for more studies on the damage cellular phones can do to your body, I came across an interesting side effect that has nothing at all to do with radiation exposure: The stress that comes with having and using mobiles and how that negatively affects your family in terms of increased stress.
After talking with working couples over four years, researchers found, not surprisingly, the use of mobiles and pagers was tied to decreased family satisfaction and stress, but for somewhat opposing reasons depending on gender.
Generally, both men and women believe the use of cell phones and pagers allowed job concerns to encroach into their family time. Women feel the stress going both ways, however, as cellular phones keep them connected to both work and home issues, just another example of the emotional price many of you pay to stay connected.
As cellular phone and pager usage grows to become as common as an electric can opener, researchers speculate the blurred boundaries between our work and home lives will dissipate with time, even though the worries probably won't.
What can you do to tame your worries and help you gain better perspective and emotional balance? For one, turn off your cellular phone or pager when you're home, if you can. Besides, if someone wants to reach you that badly, and you're not in a car or at your desk, don't worry, they'll probably find you anyway.
If you're having trouble handling job or family concerns -- perhaps one set of problems bleeding into the other -- I urge you to review my free online manual that will teach you how to use the Emotional Freedom Technique, a tool that will help you get a better handle on your emotions without the need for a toxic drug.
Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 67, No. 5, December 2005: 1237-1248
EurekAlert December 12, 2005