Aѕ a kid, mу brothers аnd I used tο rυn fοr thе phone whеn іt rang аnd try tο bе first tο аnѕwеr. Now, аt 35, I hаνе a fеаr οf phones – yes, I υѕе thеm, bυt whаt I mean іѕ I prefer nοt tο call people, аnd wіll more οftеn thаn nοt send incoming calls tο mу VM. I hаνе a conference call coming up later today аnd іt’s аll I саn thіnk аbουt. I’m anxious аnd stressed аbουt іt lіkе I wаѕ іn high school whеn I hаd tο dο public speaking іn front οf mу peers. (Whісh, іntеrеѕtіnglу enough doesn’t bother mе аt аll now.)
All I саn ѕау іѕ WTF? Cаn someone provide insight іntο thіѕ?
I know thаt whеn I wаѕ married before (еndеd іn divorce), mу wife wаѕ fearful οf phones аnd mаdе mе аnѕwеr. Maybe I learned thаt? I аlѕο worked іn telemarketing аnd over time thе irate people I dealt wіth grew οld.
Anу comments wουld bе helpful.
wish i had an answer for ya, but i think this is an interesting question as i can relate to this well!!
i’m about your age and i do the same stuff. . . my friends get p. o. ‘d about it. . .
sometimes i think it’s because i don’t hear so well, but who knows? it must be some form of anxiety. . .
I have always feared the phone. As a child I would run away whenever the phone rang.
I still hate calling people as it makes me anxious to the point that I loose my breath. I very much dislike calling people too.
That also why I didn’t buy a cellphone for years until I really needed one 2 years ago.
I think its a form of social phobia.
i was multiphobic with phone phobia being my worst and i accidently came across a therapist named Paul McKenna treating people on youtube. i thought it would work for me so i bought his book Instant Confidence and did the NLP and TFT techniques in the book and was pretty much immediately over my phobias. i don’t know exactly how it works and don’t really care.
since then i’ve come across what i consider a better book called Get The Life You Want by Richard Bandler who invented NLP and an excellent book on TFT tapping called The Tapping Cure by Roberta Temes. (i considered myself a student of self help therapy because doing it pretty much makes me happy)
i use to hyperventilate and just freak out at the prospect of making a phone call and after i did the NLP/TFT i had a job where i did alot of phone customer service with lots of potential stress and i did great. no phobia problem at all.
//btw. i think the reason the phone freaked me out was that it was a voice without a person present. i remember people hiding and saying things to scare me when i was a kid. that’s the association i can make a link to. who knows?