overcome my aversion to phones

It’s starting to get a little bit better, but I still don’t like the phone.

I’m actually so terrified of phones that it’s affecting my job. I’m afraid I might actually lose my job because I’m so terrified I can’t call in to find a sub. Actually, I’ve called and talked to several people and left a few messages (both of which leave me shaking and almost crying from anxiety…) but I get to the point that I’m so exhausted and frustrated that I just can’t force myself to do it anymore and leaves me more terrified than I was before. I’m afraid to call my supervisor because they’ll just tell me I need to find a sub and then if I don’t it will just be that much worse. So I end up not showing up to work and no one know where I am…all because I’m so irrational terrified of making phone calls that I almost can’t do it at all. I have communication problems outside of phones as well, but with phones it’s like 20,000 times worse. The fear then makes me feel completely alone (because no one else understands it, frustrated, anxious, angry, and above all extremely stupid (I mean, I can’t make a phone call for crying out loud. Worst is that I have NO IDEA WHY I’m so scared. There isn’t anything to be scared of yet I’m too scared to move.

I’m so rubbish at speaking to people who I’m emotionally attached to in one way or another. I just can’t say what I want to say, must be able to see their face! So long, long silences ensue. I think some people are getting a bit frustrated with me, but as I said, most communication is non- verbal anyway so phones are just evil… right?

I had to make a call about my student loans. They were saying my account was delinquent, I didn’t make last months payment, and I had late fees added on to it. It was paid and I even mailed out a copy of my bank statement clearly showing that, but my account status hadn’t changed.

So I picked up the phone and called. I got a foreign guy and it was a little hard to understand him, but it was fine. He told me that my copy of the statement was received and that it would take up to 14 days for the change to be made on my account so just keep checking the account online.

Calling will never be my first choice of contact for things like this, but the fact that I no longer freak out having to make the call is such a great improvement for me. I think I just may end up marking this off my list pretty soon.

I had to call my professor a couple weeks ago.
My grades got mixed up with someone else’s and if i didn’t call him , i would have lost all my credits for the class .
it was nerve wrecking, but he did most of the talking and all i had to say was “uh huh . okay . yes. thankyou . okay thankyou . bye .”

I just called AT&T to cancel my service with them. And I didn’t freak out, I didn’t get nervous, I wasn’t even shaking. Hell yeah. That is an incredible achievement for me.

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.