My impression of the article is that the person has some semi serious mental health issues. Their anxiety is getting in the way of their life.

But they are spinning it as something wrong with the system.

I was getting the same feel from it. He uses the word fear a few times, and after I read that I couldn't help but frame the piece around social anxiety or insecurity about conversational skills. Of course, surface level it's about the annoyance and technical inefficiencies that come along with the device.

/armchair

I had the same thought. There is no reason a phone should cause you this much anxiety. He was powerless to act. He could have done a number of things, but instead he walked towards the tormentor and took it in full force. This is not the behavior of a healthy person.