Fear of phones?

Does anyone else have a horror of talking on the phone? I have hated using the phone since I was a child, although it is hard to pin down exactly why I dislike it so much. I think my main difficulty is 'reading' how a conversation is going when I can't see the other person. I pause for too long, or jump in too soon, or struggle to pick up crucial info from their tone - is this a bad time to call? am I making myself clear?

I am currently going through a work-related nightmare scenario where I have been asked to make loads of phone calls - in a situation I have always previously handled by email - and I feel stressed and anxious about all the time: anticipating the calls, making the calls, reflecting on the calls. It is supposed to be making everyone feel encouraged, but if any of the hapless recipients are like me they will be thoroughly put off!

I have always thought this was just a random failure on my part, but now I am wondering whether it is integral to my nature.

Parents Reply
  • I'm sorry to hear that, though selfishly quite glad that I am not the only one! I am getting the impression from this thread that fear of phones is 'normal' for me. I wish I had known that. I think I could perhaps be bolder about saying 'no, I don't do phones'.

Children
  • Urgh, yes, though to be honest I am not sure that NHS 111 wouldn’t tip anyone over the edge. Once when I was away from home I became seriously ill - though I didn’t initially know it was serious - and called to find out what I should do. I was in a city in northern England but because I couldn’t give them a postcode for the B&B I was in, they couldn’t process my location. They kept telling me to report to a hospital in an entirely different city in an entirely different part of northern England!! No thanks to them that I survived to tell the tale...

  • Thank you for the reply!

    I must say that I am also selfishly quite glad that I am not the only one!

    I think it is normal! I love e-mails. I can also handle SMS.

    I also wish I had known that earlier. I tried so hard to fit in. That caused me extreme stress and anxiety. I was simply damaging my mental and physical health.

    Now I say that ''I don't do phones''.

    I am much happier. Although, sometimes I cannot achieve something, but I cannot achieve everything anyway.

    What matters the most is to be happy.

    A big problem is emergencies as I cannot call and I do not know what to do with them.

    Once, before, I discovered that I am autistic and what that means, I called to the NHS's 111. OMG, that was an absolute disaster. I almost got a nervous breakdown. That was a horrible experience.