Fear of Phones

i saw this posted on another SA forum and thought people here might feel the same.

Do you find it hard to answer the phone or call someone? Any master call screeners?

This is a problem for me when i'm at my lowest.

Not answering, and almost never calling. I´m just lazy as hell to call people.
But i find it quite tough to call to the girl i´ve been seing. I donno, kinda of fear of embarassing myself, or mess up with something she´s doing.

I use the wonderful invention, the Caller ID....I only answer the phone for two people..My Mother, and my Aunt. Everyone else gets the answering machine.

I hate the phone...I'd rather talk in person 8O

and we have no caller id or answering machine. :?

Like littlemiss i hate the phone prefer to chat face to face...and i hate chatting face to face so you can guess how much i hatethe phone

I haven't touched the phone in months.

Me 2, in fact, today I came home with the idea of calling an old friend I haven't talked in a while, but now, I can't. I'm so afraid of picking up the phone and dialing the number... This is silly, for God's sake, why I can't just dial the freakin number??? I guess it has to do with my fear of silence, you know, when u don't know what to say...Geez, this sux

I cant stand the phone either but have to use it at work a lot... I find it a lot easier to make phone calls when I have the office to myself with noone listening.. but even then its still not easy, especially when you can't understand the person on the other line or speak a different language

Ok can i just verify what this "Phone" thing is you speak of......????

Am i right in thinking that its that big mound of explosives with a clock dial thing or LED digits......which also has a long stick of dynamite across the top of it...attached to the main body of explosives with a suspicious looking wire..... 8O

Its just waiting to bang in my ear i just know it :?

Ade

Thanx for responding guys....

About 3 weeks ago i sent out a gazillion resumes and then was too afraid to pick up the phone. Lord forbid, I get called in for an interview. I'd call out like a freak to my bf, "If it's a for me, just say i'm not here!"
As if I was waiting for a visit from the death squad or something.

I was relieved to see it mentioned on the other site, there was no way in hell i would have admitted it to ppl in my life.

Don’t be focused on your fear of talking on the phone. Instead, focus on how you can enjoy the experience of talking on the phone. For instance, talking on the phone will improve your communication skills and provide you with an opportunity to improve your social confidence. If you are afraid of answering the phone call, think of the benefits you’ll enjoy from answering the phone….the experience of talking to great people and thereby improving your ability to deal with social situations in the future. If you are too afraid to answer the phone, that is, if it poses a real barrier to you, then ask yourself what is really bothering you about answering the phone and find a solution to that. Be solution focused. Are you afraid of answering the phone because you think you’re not a good speaker or you’re worried about not understanding the other person, or both? If you are, then work on those areas. Ask yourself: How can I be a better speaker, how can I make my voice sound stronger? Say for example, you need to work on your speaking ability. You want to know how to become a better speaker. Well, to be a better speaker you need to be a great listener and you need to be informed of what’s going on(read the newspaper, magazines, etc…). So now you need to work on your listening skills and read the newspaper. Think of how you can work on your listening skills and how you can get yourself to read the newspaper. Do you see where this is going? Keep searching for the solutions to the problems, and if you come to a barrier, step down one step and try to overcome that problem and if it poses too much of a problem step down again.

Follow the same thought pattern for making a phone call. Don’t’ ask yourself “why you are afraid of making the phone call”, ask yourself what benefit I can make from making the phone call. Think of the experience you’ll gain from making the phone call…the new added confidence that you’ll get from picking up the phone and making the call. If this poses too much of a barrier to you, step down. Work on the things that cause you to be afraid of picking up the phone call. For example, are you worried that you won’t be able to talk about anything or won’t understand the other person. Well, what can you do to solve that? Improve your listening skills and read the paper.

See where this is going?

I have this tidbit helps.

Don’t be focused on your fear of talking on the phone. Instead, focus on how you can enjoy the experience of talking on the phone. For instance, talking on the phone will improve your communication skills and provide you with an opportunity to improve your social confidence. If you are afraid of answering the phone call, think of the benefits you’ll enjoy from answering the phone….the experience of talking to great people and thereby improving your ability to deal with social situations in the future. If you are too afraid to answer the phone, that is, if it poses a real barrier to you, then ask yourself what is really bothering you about answering the phone and find a solution to that. Be solution focused. Are you afraid of answering the phone because you think you’re not a good speaker or you’re worried about not understanding the other person, or both? If you are, then work on those areas. Ask yourself: How can I be a better speaker, how can I make my voice sound stronger? Say for example, you need to work on your speaking ability. You want to know how to become a better speaker. Well, to be a better speaker you need to be a great listener and you need to be informed of what’s going on(read the newspaper, magazines, etc…). So now you need to work on your listening skills and read the newspaper. Think of how you can work on your listening skills and how you can get yourself to read the newspaper. Do you see where this is going? Keep searching for the solutions to the problems, and if you come to a barrier, step down one step and try to overcome that problem and if it poses too much of a problem step down again.

Follow the same thought pattern for making a phone call. Don’t’ ask yourself “why you are afraid of making the phone call”, ask yourself what benefit I can make from making the phone call. Think of the experience you’ll gain from making the phone call…the new added confidence that you’ll get from picking up the phone and making the call. If this poses too much of a barrier to you, step down. Work on the things that cause you to be afraid of picking up the phone call. For example, are you worried that you won’t be able to talk about anything or won’t understand the other person. Well, what can you do to solve that? Improve your listening skills and read the paper.

See where this is going?

I have this tidbit helps.

Don’t be focused on your fear of talking on the phone. Instead, focus on how you can enjoy the experience of talking on the phone. For instance, talking on the phone will improve your communication skills and provide you with an opportunity to improve your social confidence. If you are afraid of answering the phone call, think of the benefits you’ll enjoy from answering the phone….the experience of talking to great people and thereby improving your ability to deal with social situations in the future. If you are too afraid to answer the phone, that is, if it poses a real barrier to you, then ask yourself what is really bothering you about answering the phone and find a solution to that. Be solution focused. Are you afraid of answering the phone because you think you’re not a good speaker or you’re worried about not understanding the other person, or both? If you are, then work on those areas. Ask yourself: How can I be a better speaker, how can I make my voice sound stronger? Say for example, you need to work on your speaking ability. You want to know how to become a better speaker. Well, to be a better speaker you need to be a great listener and you need to be informed of what’s going on(read the newspaper, magazines, etc…). So now you need to work on your listening skills and read the newspaper. Think of how you can work on your listening skills and how you can get yourself to read the newspaper. Do you see where this is going? Keep searching for the solutions to the problems, and if you come to a barrier, step down one step and try to overcome that problem and if it poses too much of a problem step down again.

Follow the same thought pattern for making a phone call. Don’t’ ask yourself “why you are afraid of making the phone call”, ask yourself what benefit I can make from making the phone call. Think of the experience you’ll gain from making the phone call…the new added confidence that you’ll get from picking up the phone and making the call. If this poses too much of a barrier to you, step down. Work on the things that cause you to be afraid of picking up the phone call. For example, are you worried that you won’t be able to talk about anything or won’t understand the other person. Well, what can you do to solve that? Improve your listening skills and read the paper.

See where this is going?

I have this tidbit helps.

hi

hi , I have a real issue with phones, I dont have any problems comunicating online through typing or texting on the phone, my issue is with speaking and comes mostly when it comes to me calling people I just cannot do it, i also hate answering the phone and usually wait and press 1471 and if its my mam or sister or bf i will call back etc otherwise i wont. I am trying to get some tips on how people deal with this ..please??
thanks xx Leanne xx

I get really anxious when I have to phone somewhere like the bank o'r something, I rehearse what I'm going to say repeatedly in my head and sometimes I clam up and forget what I wanted to say! I actually hate talking on phones full stop even with my sister o'r grandmother. I can never think of anything to say and the ringing sound of the phone fills me with anxiety to begin with.

Weird i saw this post just now, I'm trying to get the courage to call someone right now.

What i heard it is quite typical in social phobia. I fear of phones since childhood. I was very Stressed to pick up the phone, even more traumatic to make a phone call. speedy heart beating, butterflies in my stomach, stammering and regular excuses not to use it.I improved a bit due to often use of the phone lately ( for example calling about job offers) but I am still feel uncomfortable to use the phone.

I hate using the phone, especially making calls. I stammer a lot because I can never think of what to say, and sometimes my hands shake so bad I can hardly dial the number. When I hear the phone ringing, even if I know it will be for me, I let someone else answer it. And if there's nobody else around, I'll just leave it for the answering machine.

I think the last time I called somebody was about two months ago, and it was only because I really had to.

hate em. have you ever been a secretary? ugh!!!