Why I Hate Answering the Phone

KingKush
Mar 6, 2022
3 min read

Having phone anxiety is a common anxiety disorder, like all anxiety disorders that’s triggered by negative thought patterns and unrealistic thinking. We must understand that this type of anxiety is associated with the fear and worry of being judged and criticized by others. People often mistake having phone anxiety with a type of personality disorder that comes off as being withdrawn, shy and not caring about others. We all get mixed up in our daily activities being busy with plans and what not. Telephone makes it easier or should make it easier for us to communicated and meet our plans. So, what is it that makes us not want to answer a phone call?

I personally find it difficult to deal with this problem ever since adolescence when I got my first phone. I was always reluctant to pick up the phone, even though I know who was calling. I come to find out that this was anxiety of negative thoughts and worries about what that call may be. Anxious thought patterns usually consist of bad news. One of the main reasons why you are hesitant to pick up the call is that you think that someone might be bringing bad news or the fear of not knowing what the call is about makes you not want to answer it. After some research I came across “Telephobia.”

What is Telephobia?

Telephobia is the fear of phone conversations, it is the fear of making and taking phone calls. Telephobia is a form of social anxiety disorder that is very common. The root problem of this anxiety is the fear of criticism, the fear of being judged and made fun of. Having anticipatory anxiety as soon as the phone rings and feeling sick to the stomach thinking you’ll have nothing good to say or messing up in the middle of the conversation, this triggers unwanted negative thoughts that makes it hard to pick up the phone or avoiding it all together.

The phone ring causes dread, some people start sweating, shaking, and panicking and having rapid heartbeat as the call raises blood pressure.

Telephone is important in our day to day lives. We need the telephone for work, keeping connected with family and friends, relatives, and co-workers through communication. Like many, I personally find hard to answer the phone, so I developed some techniques to make it little bit easier for me to deal with this anxiety.

I Practise writing down what I’m going to say beforehand, that’s if I’m making the phone call. In some instances, I use texting and email to ease the burden, I try rehearsing in my head different scenarios about what I think the call may be, playing out situations in my head. Many times, I find out what I think that call is about was unrealistic, so I lied to myself, giving myself anxiety, and dreading over the fact that it might be bad news. I find out when I pick up the phone and adjust to the conversation that I was kind of crazy.

Telephobia, like other social phobias is a disorder that needs to be tackled by examining our thought processes and reconditioning our brains to think in a more positive, rational, and realistic way. The best way to do this is by CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) work on practising and rehearsing different phone scenarios and gradually working your way up increasing call volume and conversation. You can also try talking slowly, this is known as slow talk, this slows down your heartbeat and will allow you to figure out what the other person is saying.