overcome my aversion to phones

I’ve always had a really big problem with using the telephone… I still remember when I was 3 or 4 years old, my mom worked during the day and would call my dad at home on her break, and when my dad would give me the phone to talk to her, I would push it away or start crying.

I didn’t start answering the phone until I was 7 or 8, and the first few times I had a complete panic attack. My parents kept telling me I would grow out of it, but ten years later… nope.

Today I can answer the phone with no problem, but if you ask me to call someone, I won’t do it. And voicemail? Forget about it. There are only three people I can call without hesitation: two family members and my best friend. I can’t even call my own boyfriend without having a horrible case of anxiety.

Which brings me to today’s goal: I’m stuck at home with nothing to do, so I need to call the boyfriend and make plans. I don’t know what I’m so afraid of, but this is gonna end today. Wish me luck. :)

slowly chiseling away at this one but its a toughie! i have to make a lot of calls for work so its almost made it tougher to get over the personal side of it. I’m on the phone so much at work that now its partially the fear and partially that i’m simply exhausted from spending so much time on the phone!!!! i need to find a happy medium.

I also want to get over my aversion of using the phone. I even hesitate to answer calls from my family! I work as a Meter Reader, basically working from home. I receive work to a handheld computer on a weekly basis and spend all week in the field. I never have to speak to my boss unless there’s a problem…. He’s been trying to get hold of me on the phone since mid July (it’s now Mid Sep) with no joy. Every voicemail he leaves sounds more and more irritated (understandably). Whenever the phone rings I ignore it, my reasoning being that “it’s not going to be for me anyway”. In reality the thought of answering the phone leaves me in dread. My dream is to be able to answer the phone with no fear (1st just to answer the phone, 2nd to answer the phone when people are around and within earshot).

I hate the phone. I just made a call, didn’t last very long at all, and I have goosebumps and am still shaking terribly.

I called the local health department to ask a nurse a question regarding my birth control and was then transferred to another person to schedule an appointment.

The actual talking I think I did very well. I didn’t stutter, I had my points written down so I knew exactly what to say, and I didn’t talk too fast or too low. So that’s good and progress.

I can talk on the phone so long as a) I am not the person calling, or b) I’m talking to my mother. Other than that, I hate using the phone.

Calling for pizza makes me nervous, and I can’t stand when people just call to chat. Personally, I think all phone conversations should go somehthing like this: ...

Only kidding. I think they should be to say something specific, not to have a long, rambling conversation, because I’m not good at those.

I’m slowly getting better at talking on the phone. A couple years ago, I used to hide every time it rang, just in case it was for me. Now, I’ve even phoned people, but I still had a bit of a nervous brekdown about it a couple weeks ago.

I’ve done better about answering the phone lately. My room at the house is upstairs and the phone up here is a cheap one without caller id. And instead of running downstairs to see who it is before I answer, I have just been picking it up.

And this morning I called tech support because my internet hadn’t been working. I am proud of myself because I hate using the phone.

I’m making an effort to work on this goal. It’s working slowly.

and i thought i was the only one!

I hate calling people. Absolutely hate it. I need to see people’s faces in order to understand what they are thinking and feeling at that particular moment so phones are rubbish for socially inept folk like myself. If I plan to phone someone I have to actually write a scripted first line down, followed by bullet points of stuff I want to talk about, then practise the first line before I pick up the phone.

This organisation I’m volunteering for has me on the phone for most of my time there. Calling people I don’t even know- that is supremely the worst kind of calling. But its for a good cause, and may Allah swt make it easy for me to get over this irrational fear!

Turns out this goal is better fitted under my other goal of Overcome social anxiety, as its gotten a lot better since I’ve gone on medication for it.

Receiving calls…that’s not so bad. Sometimes I admit that if I’m completely not in the right space I won’t pick up, depending on what the caller ID says. If it’s someone I talk to frequently it makes it easier, but if it’s someone I don’t talk to frequently, I figure it’s more difficult.

A plan … One remedy would be making more frequent shorter calls. I should make a list of those I need to call more frequently and check them off a list. I’ll make a list under a separate post and then see how it goes.

My wish … I have always, always wanted a rotary phone like this in the picture, burgundy or red. I kept rotary only service forever, until it no longer was optional. I used to know some secret tricks this kind of phone would do. I really want one. If anyone finds one, lemme know!