Fear of missing out (FOMO)

Friday morning, and Prity’s phone is full of clouds. Her whole friend group from her private university in Bashundhara has gone to Sajek: a jeep, a cottage, sunrise at Konglak Para. Prity, 21, stayed home in Rampura, because the trip cost two months of her tuition money and her Ammu said no.

“Sajek will still be there after your exams,” says Ammu, frying parathas. “The clouds are not going anywhere.”

“She’s visiting Sajek through three hundred stories,” says her cousin from the sofa.

Prity laughs, then refreshes again. At two in the morning she is still watching a video of a bonfire she was not at. She misses her nine o’clock class, feels heavy and left out all weekend, and on Sunday tells everyone it was fine, she had too much work anyway.

An illustration drawn from common experience. The person is invented; the pattern is not.

Understanding FOMO

Fear of missing out is not a diagnosis. It describes the uneasy sense that others are having rewarding experiences without you, and the urge to stay connected so as not to miss them. It is closely tied to heavy, hard-to-control social media use, and to late nights on the phone. In some people it sits alongside an anxiety disorder, low mood or low self-esteem, and that is what a doctor looks for.

How common it is

In a 2026 study of 500 undergraduate students at public and private universities in Dhaka, 56.8% had a moderate level of fear of missing out and 8.8% a high level; 21.4% met the study’s criteria for smartphone addiction. Fear of missing out was linked to late-night phone use and poor sleep, and students with symptoms of depression, anxiety or stress were more likely to have a high level of it. In a meta-analysis of 209 studies with more than 252,000 participants from 28 countries, problematic social media use was moderately associated with fear of missing out.

Signs worth noticing

• Checking stories and feeds again and again, especially at night
• Feeling worse about your own life after scrolling
• Saying yes to plans you cannot afford, or feeling crushed when you say no
• Losing sleep, missing classes, falling behind in work
• Low mood or anxiety that lasts beyond the weekend

How care helps

Because these studies are surveys, they show links rather than causes, so care starts with the person rather than the phone. A psychiatrist will ask about mood, anxiety, sleep, self-esteem, money and family pressures, and check whether an anxiety disorder or depression is present. WHO notes that approaches based on cognitive behavioural therapy have the most evidence for anxiety disorders. In CBT, people notice the comparisons that feeds invite, test them against what they know, and build habits such as keeping the phone out of the bed at night.

What getting better can look like

Prity might find it in muting the trip for one weekend, an early night, and a cheaper plan of her own: a Saturday boat ride at Hatirjheel with two friends who also stayed behind, and photos she takes for herself.

Common questions about FOMO

Is FOMO a mental illness?

No. Fear of missing out is a common feeling, not a diagnosis. It becomes a concern when it drives hours of late-night scrolling, poor sleep and low mood, or comes with an anxiety disorder or depression, which are treatable conditions.

Does social media cause anxiety?

Many studies link heavy or problematic social media use with anxiety and fear of missing out, but most cannot show which comes first. It may work both ways. If social media leaves you anxious or low, cutting down at night is a sensible first step, and an assessment can help if the feelings persist.

When to see a psychiatrist

If feeling left out has turned into weeks of low mood, poor sleep or falling behind in studies, please book an appointment. If you have thoughts of harming yourself, call 999 or go to the nearest emergency department now.

Care here is personal: built around your history, your health and what you want to change, and reviewed with you as it goes.

Sources

• Alam et al., PLOS ONE, 2026 (PMID 42585235)
• Du et al., BMC Psychology, 2024 (PMID 38735963)
• WHO, Anxiety disorders fact sheet, 15 September 2026