Anyone Have Trouble Using The Phone?

[Mareah]

I am a phone hater also.I would rather email or text. People look at you funny, when you say you do not like to talk on the phone.Mine has gotten worse as I get older (44) but I never liked to talk on the phone.
I also feel anxiety when the phone rings, I sometimes feel just like getting rid of the phones . I glad I found this forum, I thought I was the only one with phone phobias.

 

[MarEL56]

I have a lot of trouble talking on the phone. When I was younger I lived with my mother most of the time, so the phone was often the only way my abusive father could get to me. Usually I feel way to freaked out to answer the phone rings, and calling people (even the people that I am the most comfortable with) always gives me a panic attack. I NEVER listen to voice mails. If it's absolutely necessary I have to have someone else do it for me, which makes me feel horribly immature. I just can't do it. Often times I'll end up emailing when it's really necessary, convincing myself that it's the more "professional" thing to do.

Not knowing how the interaction will go is terrifying! It's gotten slightly better with time and extensive therapy, but it's still hard.

 

[Deleted member 12723]

I have more of a problem when the phone rings. It starts my heart racing. Usually it is somekind of a salesman. I take care of them ok. When the phone is for me I relax because only safe people have my number.

I do better when I have the cotrol and know exactly who it is I am calling. It is a necceccary evil. We have to have one.-

 

[Mercy]

Thanks for this thread. I thought I was alone in this. Phew! As a child in the 1950's psychological experimentation about brain washing was rampant.I was one of the children rented out for this worked(in my dairy)

I have to admit to responding to something my mother said on the phone with automatic behavior like driving to a jewelry store to sell a family ring. I had never thought of it before and had never talked about it with my H but it felt so right and strong.

It happened a second time with instructions to go on a drive fairly far to a specific store, walk to the back right corner and look in the glass case. Again I felt sure I was doing the right thing. What I saw terrified me. My T said to write down anything that sounded weird and we would work out the meaning. I stopped obeying because writing it down was an action.

I'm with the folks who like to see faces and body language. Skype is good for that. For years after my mother died, I approached my front door with deeply seated fear that she would call.

I wish I was braver about calling friends......might have kept up with them better.

 

[Loner]

I think talking on the phone is a fairly awkward interaction for many people who do NOT have ptsd.

 

[Philippa]

I hated phones way before I was diagnosed with PTSD. They do come in handy and I am very good at making the phone work for me and not me working for the phone, but I prefer one on one interactions anyday.

 

[Tootilla]

I have phone related trauma also. I can't talk about right now but I might have of tips on how to deal with it.

I was unable to use the phone at all until I became involved with this man who had such a soothing voice. I told him about my phone phobias but he kept calling me anyway and since I was interested in him I kept answering it. It was a long distance thing. Well what ultimately happened was he would ramble on and on until I fell asleep. I have such a hard time falling asleep.

Well maybe if someone you are close to and comfortable with could practice calling you.

I still have really hard time with the phone but its a little less scary when I have to. The other I did was tell the loud talkers I'm my life that I couldn't speak to them on the phone and please use any other method whenever possible. Of course having a judge tell the source of my phone trauma to stop contacting me helped too. But still I get this tickling sensation in my eat and after that I can't understand anything and I start having severe anxiety. But sometimes I can use the phone now.

Sorry about the typos. I used my phone to type this!

 

[Tinyflame]

I too feel fear and dread when the phone rings, heart in my throat. Past-experiences related.

 

[Traumagirl]

I find it very ironic how much I hate talking on the telephone and how much I love my iPhone. I love texting, but I jump every time it's a phone call.

 

[Tootilla]

I like Skype too! I was wondering if anyone has trouble with the radio? I can't listen to talk radio or commercials. I still humor when my phone rings but I realized after this thread that it's getting better. I used to cower and shake. I've taken air over text message a couple times! Sometimes I feel like such a freak so its so nice to realize when things are getting better.Even if just a little.

 

[Tootilla]

Humor? Really? My dumbphone autofilled that. It replaced jump with humor. Maybe everyone hates their phone!

 

[Orglethorp]

I hate phones as well. If I can't talk to someone in person, I'd rather text. I don't like the voice without the contact, so I would rather make it completely impersonal, and I especially hate calling people I don't know.

For the past 4 years I've worked in customer service, and it has required a whole lot of phone calls and P.A. usage. I have no problem paging my coworkers (eg. "Ryan call on line 101 please, Ryan 101" or "Michelle to cash please, Michelle to cash" - yes we have to repeat ourselves), nor do I have any problem making store closing announcements, but I loath being asked to announce something else (promote the hotdog sale outside, inform the owner of [vehicle description] that their lights are on, read something for our moment of silence on Remembrance Day, etc.). Those situations are too awkward for me, for some reason.

As for using the phone at work, I don't mind calling another phone in the store (supervisor mobile, department extension, whatever) because it's just the same as paging the person. I don't mind answering the phone at work either, because it's either a coworker asking me something that I can answer / informing me of something, or it's a customer looking to be directed to the right person. I don't like calling coworkers at home about shift changes or to find out why they're late. I worry that I dialed the wrong number. I worry about speaking to their parents instead. I hate calling customers to let them know that the item they ordered is in. As the phone is ringing, I'm praying for the answering machine to pick up. I hate having someone pick up and having to start with "Hello, is this [name]?" because if it's not, then sometimes I end being the one interrogated. (Really, why does the sister of the person I'm calling need my name? All she needs to do is tell her sibling to come pick up their item.)

I'm currently living out of province, renting a house with 5 other people who I didn't know before coming here. I'm the only one who hasn't chosen to put a phone hooked to the landline in my room. If I need the landline, I'll using the phone in the kitchen. I feel like if I had one in my room, I would be obligated to answer when it rings, and then I'd have to go find whoever the call is for. That makes me uncomfortable. I hardly ever speak to the 2 who live downstairs, and one of the others upstairs rarely leaves his room.