I have Telephone phobia!!

by - March 01, 2012


Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls, literally, "fear of telephone".[1]Telephone phobia is also considered to be a type of Social Phobia or Social anxiety problem.[1]

Sufferers typically report fear that they would fail to respond appropriately in a telephone conversation,[1] and fear finding nothing to say, which would end in embarrassing silence, stammering, or stuttering.[1] The associated avoidance behavior includes asking others (e.g. relatives at home) to take their phone calls and exclusive use of answering machines.[1] As a result, the sufferers avoid many activities, such as scheduling events or clarifying information.[2]

Another reason is the sufferers may believe that people who call them bear bad or upsetting news.

As is common with various fears and phobias, there is a wide spectrum of severity of the fear of phone conversations and the corresponding difficulties.[1] In 1993 it was reported that about 2.5 million people in Great Britain have telephone phobia.[3]

I have many goals that I'd like to achieve and I feel if I write them all down, I automatically will feel overwhelmed with it. So I'm just going to tackle one goal at a time. 

I was very hesitant to post this because I am really worried I will not follow through with what I say and of course others will think badly of me for not following through. What an irrational fear can do to you if you allow it to take over your thinking. 

So I've had a fear of using the wonderful invention, the phone, for such a very long time. I don't really know why it has become such an issue for me but it is one of the few things that is stopping me from moving forward in my life. I'll list all my fears relating to the phone and then my goals for overcoming it little by little.

Fears - Answering the Phone:
I will talk to a stranger.
I will talk to the wrong person.
I will be yelled at on the phone.
I will not know what to say back to them.
I will not remember what was said.
I will not be able to end the conversation, gracefully.
I will mispronounce something while speaking.

Making the Call:
I will dial the wrong number.
I will talk to the wrong person.
They will hang up on me.
I will not know what to ask them.


HOW ! HOW ? HOW!!

You May Also Like

3 comments