Anyone terrified of opening emails or talking on the phone?

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willc98
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03 Apr 2018, 4:33 pm

I'm not sure why this is. I guess with an email or phone there's a chance it's very bad news so I want to avoid it. But I can't listen to my own voice. I don't like hearing or seeing myself.

Also I have trouble walking into buildings. When I was a kid going to Sunday School, I would take 10+ minutes standing outside listening scared to walk in because EVERYONE would stare at me. I don't understand it.

I love Jesus, cannabis, and animals. I just want to move out of this state to grow medical cannabis. I don't want to get high, but cannabis oil works without much of a high with the medical oil. It's not addictive and is in mother's milk. It's so frustrating knowing what stops 95% of the pain from autism but can't get it :(


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IstominFan
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03 Apr 2018, 4:56 pm

I'm not terrified of e-mails, but it is a pain going through bunches of them at work. I like e-mails from friends. I don't mind talking on the phone.



ToughDiamond
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03 Apr 2018, 5:23 pm

Only thing really creeps me out is talking on the phone or face to face with people who might not be on my side, such as awkward officials and service providers. I find the written word a safer medium because I'm stronger using that, it gives me time to work out what the other guy is up to and compose a good response, and the conversation remains open-ended, whereas phone calls end, often before I've got what I want. I can't think as fast as they can. I'm not bad on the phone with friends, but I often put off phoning or talking to strangers and the uncooperative, especially if it's a matter I'm under pressure to get right. Usually I get it done eventually, but not without anxiety and morbid feelings of being a weakling until I tackle it.



SaveFerris
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03 Apr 2018, 6:04 pm

There's cannabis oil in mothers milk ? Who told you that ?


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Raleigh
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03 Apr 2018, 6:07 pm

He's talking about cannabinoid receptors maybe?


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SaveFerris
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03 Apr 2018, 6:34 pm

That I understand ^


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SplendidSnail
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03 Apr 2018, 6:47 pm

Emails and phone calls with a specific goal in mind, as long as there is no "chatting" involved - "business type" email for phone call, is basically fine.

Emails and phone calls that are intended to be "Chatty" tend to be difficult in the same way as small talk in person is difficult.


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1986
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03 Apr 2018, 9:58 pm

I don't like taking calls since I'm not good at reading people's intentions and moods from the tone of their voice. I prefer meetings in real life as I can "study" their behaviour closely and modify my response accordingly. Ha, if people knew how much I analysed them they'd probably feel quite uncomfortable.

Business emails are ... easy and hard. Easy because I'm good at writing, hard because I'm in a middle-level position where I have to please both client and higher-ups, and sometimes they come into conflict. Learning to be vague in business emails seems to be something of an art -- how to promise nothing while also promising something. More technical emails pose little trouble.

Thinking about it, I get uncomfortable taking calls from my wife. Her voice sounds different and I can't judge whether the silent moments are good or bad. Is she happy? Bored? Sad? Hard to tell. Also, since I don't like uncertainty, I tend to be overly precise on the phone, making sure I got exactly what the other person had in mind. The problem is that people aren't always sure themselves what they're thinking, even when they pretend so ...

My current project involves almost exclusively online communication. It seems odd for an individual on the spectrum to cope by insisting on real-life meetings.



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04 Apr 2018, 3:58 am

Opening emails, no. Writing them, yes if it's something official since messing up will bring me trouble. Same with phonecalls.



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04 Apr 2018, 6:09 am

Terrified no, but it can cause some anxiousness. If I'm expecting a reply I almost dread opening my email and heave a sigh of relief if it hasn't come in yet.
I hate responding. I overthink everything and it takes me a ridiculously long time to reply.

Unless I know who the caller is, I screen and only pick up the phone if I expect a call. When I do expect a call or for whatever reason take it, it's usually fairly easy because they phoned and I'll just respond to what they say. I hate making calls though and avoid when I can.


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OutsideView
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04 Apr 2018, 7:01 am

Skilpadde wrote:
If I'm expecting a reply I almost dread opening my email

This for me. I do dread it and could easily put it off for weeks. Very rarely talk on the phone or open the front door if someone's knocking either.

Even have trouble with forums and often won't check threads I've posted in. Doesn't seem as hard on here though, perhaps because a lot of you lot probably feel similar to me :lol:


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04 Apr 2018, 5:08 pm

It's a gigantic pain in the neck going through junk e-mails and deleting them, especially if the computer is down for a couple of days and you have to go through over 100 of them.



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04 Apr 2018, 5:37 pm

IstominFan wrote:
It's a gigantic pain in the neck going through junk e-mails and deleting them, especially if the computer is down for a couple of days and you have to go through over 100 of them.

Microsoft email accounts (Hotmail, Live, or whatever they call them these days) have fairly strong spam filters by default, and it's not hard to set up custom filters. I hardly get any spam that way.



robbrucejr
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04 Apr 2018, 9:35 pm

I wouldn't say terrified, but I definitely hate talking on the phone and I generally dread emails. I have a visceral reaction every time my phone rings, buzzes, or beeps at me. Don't get me wrong, I love my phone for all of the access to information and ability to organize my life on one little device. I just literally hate calls, texts, or emails. I think it's mostly because I want to do only what I want to do when I want to do it and every time someone contacts me they want me to do something else. They are taking control of my time and mental flow, which is like a physical violation to me. I also hate to respond to something without thinking about it extensively first. I hate to be "put on the spot" where someone brings you an issue or problem and wants an immediate solution or opinion. Give me some time and I'll probably give you a killer answer, put me on the spot and you'll probably get a confrontational answer. Of all of the above mentioned method of communication, I prefer email. I prefer to only check it once or twice a day, peruse it superficially, think about which ones I want to respond to, then think about how I want to respond, then draft a response, then think about whether I want to send it, redo it a couple of times, then maaaaaybe send it within a week or so of the initial email. You may find this hard to believe after reading all of that, but I was C.O.O. of a company with about 100 employees for the last few years. If it wasn't for my problem solving and system building abilities, I would surely have been fired. True story: We got a new phone system installed, with all of the bells and whistles, wi-fi android phones with bluetooth headsets, etc. When they installed mine they set it up wrong, so it didn't work at all for over six months, not even a dial tone, and I never even noticed. When they told me it had been broken, but they had already fixed it I felt like I had just been told I won the lottery but I had to pay 100% taxes on it. Bubble burst. Fortunately, by then, everyone who ever tried to call my office phone just assumed I never returned calls, so no one ever called me on it.



jon85
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05 Apr 2018, 10:40 am

I hate phones. Which is weird to say since i spent 4 yrs working in call centres.

But if i see my phone ring, i wont answer it. And it will take me weeks, if not months to pluck up the courage to make an important phone call.

I like emails though :) they can be exciting :)


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05 Apr 2018, 2:22 pm

I used to be petrified of calling anyone on the phone, especially businesses or places where I needed to set up appointments. If I absolutely had to call, I'd procrastinate for as long as possible, and try to get other people to make the call for me.

Since then, I've worked in an office setting that requires me to cold call strangers on a regular basis, so I've gotten much more comfortable with it, and it doesn't really bother me anymore. I do still get anxious when my cell phone rings though, because it makes me nervous not knowing who it is or what they want. I often let it go to voicemail, but then get too anxious to check my voicemail.

I've always preferred sending emails; writing is an easier means of communicating for me, and receiving a reply in writing is easier than hearing the other person's voice in real time, for whatever inexplicable reason.

I'm really glad I got over my phone phobia for the most part. It was a major hindrance to my life.


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