Telephone-related panic

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I tend to panic whenever I get a call and it's a number that I don't know. My heart starts beating really fast, and it takes a few minutes for me to relax afterwards (usually it's just someone who has the wrong number). Does this happen to anyone else here?

Yes, I kinda wonder what exactly someone I don't know wants with me.

Happens to me whenever I have to talk to anyone on the phone.

"You've reached the tax department of FineGold's Receivership, please enter your credit card number followed by the pound sign, then continue with the expiry date, then press pound again. You may alternately voice the number, which will be confirmed at the end of the process. Beep."

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Oh um wait.. yeah. How i deal with phone calls.
versus
How I wish I dealt with phonecalls.

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Yeah I hate phonecalls from unknowns too. I immediately get defensive if it's not a voice I know (family or friend). Either way I "fight or flight" before picking it up, and often never do.

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You want me? Leave a message.

When I was a child and teenager, I was very uncomfortable using the telephone at all, regardless of who might be on the other end. As a young adult, I wasn't too bad with receiving calls but would panic at the mere thought of having to make one, especially to a business or someone I didn't know. There were times I picked up the phone and started dialling only to have to put it down in order to calm my racing heart and shaking hands; this might happen several times over before I could manage the call. Now, I am still generally nervous about talking on the phone and usually prefer to text rather than speak when possible, but it is not the absolute terror to me it used to be. However, I do usually try to take care of business without having to deal directly with a person, as it is so much easier. That is why email and the web are so fantastic; they enable communication without all of the related anxiety.

I often ignore phone calls that I should answer because I just panic. Whenever my phone rings I start looking for reasons why I can avoid picking up. I dont understand why I become so anxious, but I cant seem to calm down.

Without fail. I almost never answer the phone if I don't know who's calling.

Phones make me panic, too. I try to avoid answering them, but this usually ends in me being shouted at for being 'lazy' or 'scared of people'.

hm. i found this forum because my kid might be on the spectrum.the more i read, the more i think i may be too.

9 times out of ten I don't answer the call if I don't recognize the number and won't if the number is withheld or private. don't like talking on the phone and I want to know who I'm answering to if I really have too

I don't have Caller ID. So every call I don't know who it is. I suppose I could always let an answering machine get the call then call back, but often I just answer as if I'm the hired help until I know who is on the other end.

I hate talking to people on the phone because I panic so what I've done since I don't have caller ID on my house phone is give my cell phone number to people who have an actual reason to be calling me and the house phone to everyone else. I then ignore the house phone and use the caller ID on my cell phone to screen those calls that come to my cell phone.

I absolutely will not pick up the phone if I don't recognize the number. It's almost always a wrong number that never leaves a message. Or it's a telemarketer.

When I was a child, I was afraid of phone and TV. And I had panic attacks many times.
Now I hate to call and I avoid it as much as possible, but I don't panic. I'm always nervous and my katecholamines boil.