Talking on the phone, a horrifying experience everytime.

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I have just got off the phone for a call I couldn't get out of; as it was about personal details with a company. (They wouldn't accept my partner in my behalf, damn.) Even though it is never as bad as I'm expecting this doesn't seem to help for future calls.

I don't know why I can't do it, it just makes me so nervous and disconnected from reality. Is it because I have even less imput and am just relying on vocal cues? Now i'm feeling ill and tired, it's only 9am here and I'm already over the day.

Does anyone else hate talking on the phone? I won't even answer if it's my family except for my partner.

Yep. I had to call the social security either the beginning of this month or end of last month and it wrecked me for days after. I never have been comfortable on the phone. If I had fur, it would stand right on up any time the thing rang. It's just... no. Just no to phones. Thankfully I rarely get phone calls. My one daughter calls a few times a week as does my spouse, so I don't much have to deal with the thing these days.

I can, with my core family for quick things.
I can't do more than that, or else I will feel like I'm dying.

I have days where I could answer any call and deal with anything, and then other days where I am the complete opposite. I become afraid of who is calling me and imagine the worst.

Sometimes I put off a call for days or weeks. The thing is, I KNOW it's better to just get it over with and not carry around all that extra weight from avoiding my own damn phone.

And that's another thing. I wish we could go back to the one family landline phone. I don't think it's great that people feel like they can reach me wherever I am. That gives them so much control. I hate cell phones.

I never answer my phone except for family members, I just let it go to voicemail. My voicemail greeting is basically me begging people to either sms or email me instead.

I hate that I can turn off notifications for all other apps on my phone except for the phone app. I've set my ringtone to 30 seconds of silence, which helps. At least that way I never have to hear it ring.

I have my on days and my off days. Actually I seem to do better when a live person picks up before I have to go into a botched script when I have to leave a voice message.

I searched Youtube in vain for a song I heard on Dr. Demento years ago where alcohol helped the caller overcome his hesitation in picking up the handset and placing the call, the lyrics went:

Pop the top on one more beer
Hold the phone up to your ear
Dial that number one more time
And get that DJ on the line

And the "verse" section was the inebriated caller haranguing the radio DJ for failing to play his song on the radio

I get quite scared if I've got to make a phone call. It feels silly thinking about it, but it's just another anxiety thing: the racing pulse and short breathing scenario. Usually I calm down once I'm actually connected to whoever I'm calling, but really do panic if someone's called me and a phone is suddenly thrust into my hands.
It may not help much, but I find keeping close to a notepad or just a pen (never did break the habit of writing on my hands) keeps me calmer on the phone. It a small surety that I can write down important information, etc... and won't have to rely on a memory that gets decidedly patchy in panic mode.

I haven't used a phone in over 10 years. I'm scared to open my email though.

I found the song I was looking for, it's actually called "Hello DJ" by Don Bowman


Ralph Emery was a huge personality in 70s-80s country music, emceed at the Grand Ole Opry

I can talk with family and friends on the phone, but not to people I don't know well. Speaking into an answering machine or voicemail is even worse. I sound like a complete idiot when speaking into "dead air."

I have always had huge anxiety speaking on the phone. As a kid, my dad would write me scripts so I could make phone calls, and as I got older I started writing them myself.

In the era of social media and text messaging, I rarely speak on the phone now. Usually when I do it's for medical appointments or leaving messages, and sometimes I still need to write a script first.