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Aspergirl16
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11 Jan 2016, 5:39 pm

I wonder if anyone has what have? I have a phobia of making phone calls or taking them. When ever the phone rings (I hate the noise it makes!) I go into panic and when I answer the phone I get really anxious my heartbeats super fast. Making calls is even worse I shake when I start to dial the number. Which sometimes makes me sometimes dial the wrong number. Which makes me even me nervous. It's so embarrassing I start stimming heaps when the phone, I only answer in short simple sentences or one worded answers, I especially get nervous when strangers are on the phone I feel like dying.
With Family Members it's okay because I feel I can talk to them easier because I know and trust them.
The only person I really feel comfortable calling with no problems is my best friend but that's it.
It is weird because I talk fine in person and online but phone not a chance!
Anyone else have this problem/phobia?



Boo Radley
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11 Jan 2016, 5:53 pm

Yes. I hate talking on the phone unless I know the person very well. I will not answer unknown calls. If they don't leave a voice mail then I assume it was not an important call.

I also have to really plan out what I am going to say when I call someone I don't know. Even if I am just ordering a pizza I will make a small mental script and rehearse it several times before I pick up the phone. If I don't have a script in mind then I tend to get really nervous and flub up the entire conversation.

This issue has gotten better over the years but it's still not pleasant.



Aspergirl16
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11 Jan 2016, 5:57 pm

Boo Radley wrote:
Yes. I hate talking on the phone unless I know the person very well. I will not answer unknown calls. If they don't leave a voice mail then I assume it was not an important call.

I also have to really plan out what I am going to say when I call someone I don't know. Even if I am just ordering a pizza I will make a small mental script and rehearse it several times before I pick up the phone. If I don't have a script in mind then I tend to get really nervous and flub up the entire conversation.

This issue has gotten better over the years but it's still not pleasant.



That sounds a lot like me. I make a script and practice it before I make a call to make it less anxious.
My mother also yells a meet for letting the phone go to voicemail instead of answering it.
I think I have gotten a bit better too. I used to be nervous even speaking to people i know very well. But now i have gotten used to it.



ToughDiamond
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11 Jan 2016, 6:19 pm

I used to be quite good on the phone back in the days before most companies put robots on the other end. Now it's a nightmare. I'm fine if it's simple person-to-person and I can trust the other person to behave in a helpful way. But I still don't like the risk of my call not getting picked up, or the dreaded "we'll call you back" - the last thing I want is to be dragged away from whatever I'm doing at the drop of a hat.



Aspergirl16
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11 Jan 2016, 6:23 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:
I used to be quite good on the phone back in the days before most companies put robots on the other end. Now it's a nightmare. I'm fine if it's simple person-to-person and I can trust the other person to behave in a helpful way. But I still don't like the risk of my call not getting picked up, or the dreaded "we'll call you back" - the last thing I want is to be dragged away from whatever I'm doing at the drop of a hat.


I agree those robots are annoying even my mother an NT hates them!



Yigeren
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11 Jan 2016, 6:28 pm

I hate talking on the phone, but I've learned to do it. I've had several jobs that required it so I learned how and I'm not terrible at it either. But I still hate leaving messages. I never know what to say.



Nickchick
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11 Jan 2016, 6:28 pm

Ugh you have no idea. I despise talking on the phone to no end. I wouldn't say my heart races when I answer it but I really am uncomfortable with it. Leaving messages is the worst. If I call a number and it goes to voicemail I immediately hang up. My coach made me call an employer and it always scares me when she has me do that.
I know I have talked to my bf on the phone but that's about the best conversation I have had and I still don't really like it. Some days I don't even talk well to him so it's more of an "okay okay bye" kind of conversation. I do that a lot with my mom too.
I don't like in person as much as talking online but it feels a bit easier so long as it's a one on one conversation.



Aspergirl16
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11 Jan 2016, 6:30 pm

Yigeren wrote:
I hate talking on the phone, but I've learned to do it. I've had several jobs that required it so I learned how and I'm not terrible at it either. But I still hate leaving messages. I never know what to say.


I'm only comfortable leaving messages if it is my best friend otherwise I just a hangup.



Sunnyboy2
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11 Jan 2016, 6:33 pm

I had a terrible, terrible phone phobia up until possibly 2013. Barely three years now, most likely.

I had to get accustomed to it, it's easy when all I need to do it repeat scripts into a phone (which maybe 80% of the time, its just repeating the same information I told the last freakin' person that called). I still panic when I get an unexpected call, but then it practically bursts into irritability/rashness but I do try to be patient...

It gets easier as you do it more often, but not always.

I still don't leave messages unless I know for sure it is my only option, even then.. talking on the phone pales in comparison to speaking face to face.



Aspergirl16
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11 Jan 2016, 6:40 pm

Nickchick wrote:
Ugh you have no idea. I despise talking on the phone to no end. I wouldn't say my heart races when I answer it but I really am uncomfortable with it. Leaving messages is the worst. If I call a number and it goes to voicemail I immediately hang up. My coach made me call an employer and it always scares me when she has me do that.
I know I have talked to my bf on the phone but that's about the best conversation I have had and I still don't really like it. Some days I don't even talk well to him so it's more of an "okay okay bye" kind of conversation. I do that a lot with my mom too.
I don't like in person as much as talking online but it feels a bit easier so long as it's a one on one conversation.


Glad I'm not the only one I have the "okay okay bye" kind of conversation with people on the phone. My mother tells me it's rude but I can't help it. And I wonder if people on the phone think I'm impolite doing that. Hope not.



Aspergirl16
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11 Jan 2016, 6:44 pm

Sunnyboy2 wrote:
I had a terrible, terrible phone phobia up until possibly 2013. Barely three years now, most likely.

I had to get accustomed to it, it's easy when all I need to do it repeat scripts into a phone (which maybe 80% of the time, its just repeating the same information I told the last freakin' person that called). I still panic when I get an unexpected call, but then it practically bursts into irritability/rashness but I do try to be patient...

It gets easier as you do it more often, but not always.

I still don't leave messages unless I know for sure it is my only option, even then.. talking on the phone pales in comparison to speaking face to face.


Yeah it got easier for me when I called my best friend but it was horrible when I first called her. And she was always the one to always call because I was too nervous. I had to get used to calling her otherwise I would be a bad friend if I didn't.



AspE
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12 Jan 2016, 11:14 am

I'm the same way. People don't understand, it's cost me relationships.



lostonearth35
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12 Jan 2016, 11:27 am

I think this phobia is more common than people think. Some people have been traumatized by bad news they received on the phone.

Me, I just find *making* phone calls annoying and frustrating. Especially when I call 10 times and get 10 answering machine messages, or I message and they never call back. I also never really know if I'm calling the person at a bad time so I try not to call around times when people are usually eating and stuff.

If I have to call my parents at home in the evening, like I did last night, the TV is always blaring because of my dad's hearing problem. I hate background noise. I hate when the person is chewing on something and it's loud and disgusting. Ugh. :(

I have respect for Alexander Graham Bell. He was a genius and a great man. But when people abuse his invention I think how he must be spinning in his grave. Well, I'm done ranting.



black0441
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12 Jan 2016, 11:38 am

I've always hated talking on the phone too. I adopted text messaging happily when that came out.

Here's how I make a phone call when I have no other option. I work what I am going to say first. Once I comfortable with that, I will stop thinking about the phone call. Just distract myself with something.

When the idea of the phone call pops into my head again, I just make it immediately. If I think about it too long, I'll get nervous. If that happens, I just distract myself until the idea of making the call pops into my head again.

For me, the trick is to separate prepping for the phone conversation from the call itself. The conversation takes thought, but the call itself doesn't take much. Doing it this way is slow (sometimes a couple days before I actually make the call, often a few hours, sometimes just a few minutes), but it involves a lot less anxiety for me than combining the mental preparation and the call together.


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Anneliese
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12 Jan 2016, 12:40 pm

I also hate phonecalls! My heart rate and breathing used to increase and they only don't now because I am on medication. :lol: I think it is because I can't see the person and I feel under pressure to think of something to say, because silences can feel very awkward on the phone, especially if it is someone I don't really know!



ZombieBrideXD
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13 Jan 2016, 12:59 am

"phone Phobia" is actually more of a "social Anxiety Disorder' or "social Phobia" trait than autistic. I do not have social phobia nor social anxiety.


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