Fear of speaking on the phone...?!
Question: i fear people. i get nervous around them. but this problem also extends to talking on the phone. i hate to answer the phone ,and avoid it or give the phone to someone else as much as possible. and i hate calling people on the phone, i even get nervous about phoning my friends, perhaps because i'm worried that another family member will answer instead.
how can i get over this fear of talking to people on the phone? it's really bugging me. and should i mention this to my psychiatrist?
Answers: i fear people. i get nervous around them. but this problem also extends to talking on the phone. i hate to answer the phone ,and avoid it or give the phone to someone else as much as possible. and i hate calling people on the phone, i even get nervous about phoning my friends, perhaps because i'm worried that another family member will answer instead.
how can i get over this fear of talking to people on the phone? it's really bugging me. and should i mention this to my psychiatrist?
Hello,
(ANS) Your fear of using the phone & your fear of relating to other people goes deep down inside you, & goes away back to events probably in your early childhood. I would strongly suggest that your fears are in fact irrational (not real in a sense). And that what would help you most is NOT medication of any kind & not a psychiatrist but psychotherapy.
In psychotherapy you work with the therapist to explore & examine where your fears come from, you would learn that in order to heal or cure yourself of your fears you would in fact have to face your fears head on. Only by facing your fears & by feeling the fears will you loose them or learn not to allow them to ruin your life. Right now your fears are getting in the way of living more happily. More over you would also come to see & learn that your fears are not real although they may seem very real right now.
**Feeling & facing your fears will also help change your thinking process's. Often negative thinking helps to actually cause fears & anxieties in the first place. The more negatively you think the more your fear rises and then starts to over come you and become real feelings of fear.
**YES! the telephone is in many ways a rather strange experience, I find it can seem a bit odd at times too but only in the sense that I feel close to a person yet some how disconnected at the same time. The phone gives the illusion of closeness. Which means that almost half of the way we relate is missing such as a persons facial reactions & their body language,etc.
**To reduce your fears you need to work very carefully & slowly and gradually and face each fear step by step, building as you go along more & more experience of facing each specific fear. It might take time to manage this but with an experienced person who knows how to work with you on your fears I suggest you could over come them if your willing to be brave & develop good trust in the therapist.
**Drugs WON'T cure or help you with your fears only a good therapist in my opinion.
**Feel the fear and do it anyway !!
Kind Regards to you & happy 2008 from Ivan
Yes. Ring him and discuss it.
confront your fears, and apply for a job in a call centre.
It sounds like you have anxiety. You really need to talk with a psychologist. A psychiatrist mainly hands out meds. You might be in a luck position where you have a psychiatrist that actually does therapy. CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) is 97% effective for anxiety and you should tell your psychiatrist that you are interested in doing this. He/She will probably put you on medication something like Buspar to help take the edge off, but really you need to learn coping skills to make it through the rest of your life and pills won't teach you those.
You have to practice and then the fear will fade. Ring someone and before you do write down what you want to say, and keep a pen handy to doodle when you talk, this will help your nerves. xx
im sort of the same way (i get shy easy), if you can fight, just turn you fear into anger. thats what i do, nobody looks at me then i feel like i can **** up everybody in the room and take the *****
yes u need 2 let ur psychiatrist no whats goin on he mit b the only one that can help u with dis one!!!!!!!!
sorry!! ='(
hope that things go good 4 u !!! =^}
Yes,but you may need to write to him to make an appointment. You are not alone.
Good luck
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hey i find this strange.. why do u fear people.. do u hav stammering or something? anyway jus meet a psychiatrist and tell him all that u r goin thru.. he wil surely help u out! :) and good luck!!
You don't have to mention a psychiatrist, as this is quite normal to certain human beings. I have passed thru same situation and I have overcome the same phobia that you are facing. The best thing that you can do to overcome is to make mistakes deliberately by over doing the same telephone calling. Your must conquer your fear by doing the same things that you fear most, instead avoiding it. Your doubts on what shall happen or your ignorance on what shall they think about me, is keeping you submissive.When you alleviate your ignorance on what they will think about it. You yourself will feel strong and consider the same as cool issues once you overcome.
head south
omg i hav the exact same thing!!!
i hav social anxiety. but it seems to get worse when it comes to the phone.
i pretty much never answer the home phone. and definitly dont if someone else is at home. and i rarely pick up my mobile.
even at work i panic when the phone rings and im closest to it. i even pretend im doing something else and hope someone else answers it.
i hav trouble ringing people. like if i hav to call someone back, i usually avoid it or freak out. i NEVER ring friends.
i duno what the problem is. i just cant seem to get over it
ive been like this my whole life.
i started anti-anxiety medication 2 days ago, so i'll see if that helps at all
You know what? I have THE SAME problem! I also get scared to use the phone and I also avoid answering the phone as much as possible. I even close my eyes sometimes when talking on the phone coz i get nervous. But no one knows this problems of mine.
And to help you, maybe you could see a psychiatrist.
Like you, I also have a low self esteem...maybe you could try bonding with other people to rise up your self esteem...:D
IVAN R `s answer seems very sensible. You could even try rollplay with a friend just to practice telephone conversations. Any way, I hope all goes well.