Fear of Phones?

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I hate telephones because they always bring bad news usually when I was a kid.

I really hate phones too. I was scared of talking on them as a child and although I grew out of that, I still dislike them. It feels impersonal and unnatural to me. If a phone rings when I'm doing something else, I completely lose it.

this is a problem that i do not understand. when the phone rings, i do become 'paralyzed' and i would agree that it is probably a mini-shutdown (that is a good way to put it).

back in the day, professionals called it 'social anxiety.' oookay

there is no routine that we are aware of in regards to incoming calls. it is off-putting for me because it is something that i did not expect. talking to people is draining for me so when people call i almost feel as though a vampire has arrived to suck my blood.

to me, a vibrating phone communicates 'i want something from you, i want something from you, i want something from you, etc.' this is scary to me.

I've never been upset by phones ringing though I do feel like I must answer or else. However, I am petrified to call people and often tend to get my mom to make as many calls for me as I can con her into making. Well, maybe con isn't the right word but it's something like that. This past spring I decided I'd had enough of being scared of calling people so I forced myself to make social phone calls to friends. It was scary and weird but I proved to myself that I could do it. Unfortunately, very often if I have to make a phone call I'll still end up with an acute adrenaline rush and I'll be shaking violently for several minutes after I get off the phone.

WOW! I had no idea so many people had phone problems. I'm not nearly as bad as I was (see above), in that I can pretty much go right to the phone. But like Jinks pointed out, I usually rehearse what I need to say -- even make notes -- so I'm not caught unawares. I am definitely more comfortable with personal calls than with business ones. I'll still put off those kinds of calls. It seems logical that I would do that since I do it in normal conversation as well. People think I've very funny and spontaneous, but lots of times I've already rehearsed what I'm going to say before I get to where they are. I remember clever comments from movies and TV so that I can use them later on in conversation. Having jobs where I was forced to be on the phone for various things helped me out a lot.

When I was a teenager I developed a telephone phobia where I could not talk to anyone at all on a phone whith the exception of my immediate family and 1 close friend I had. I simply froze up in a state of anxiety and could not speak at all. It started in the early teens and continued in full force till the age of 26. At this point I started working full time and had to learn to use a phone to stay gainfully employed. It was hell but somehow over the course of the next five years I slowly conquered the phobia. It certainly affected my career but I just hung in. The repeated exposure to phones and phone calls eventually did the trick. I am now in my mid forties and its a long time since those days.

I tend to give one word answers on the telephone. I just find it hard to come up with things to say when holding a phone up to my ear.