The phobia of talking on the phone , also called telephonophobia, is the fear of making or receiving phone calls, literally ” fear of telephones .” But it can be considered a telephone phobia when your doubt when making and receiving calls causes symptoms such as severe anxiety , shortness of breath or a racing heart. It is a type of social phobia and can be compared to glossophobia, as both arise from having to engage with an audience, and the associated fear of being criticized or judged.
As is common with other fears and phobias , there is a wide spectrum of severity of the fear of telephone conversations and the corresponding difficulties.
Index
What are the symptoms of phobia to talk on the phone?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, your fear of your phone may be a phobia.
Before and after calls:
- Are you extremely anxious?
- Are you worried about disturbing the other person?
- Worried about what he will say?
- Do you worry about being embarrassed?
- Do you avoid making calls or having others call you?
When you are on the phone:
- Do you have trouble concentrating?
- Do you feel nauseous?
- Are your heart racing?
The fear of making and receiving phone calls can be detrimental to your personal and professional life. It’s important to take phone anxiety seriously , although answering it and making calls may seem like a simple task that everyone should be able to do, if you suffer from a phobia of talking on the phone, anxiety can be scary and real.
What Causes Telephonophobia?
As with any social or specific phobia, the phobia of talking on the phone can stem from a negative experience in childhood. For example, in his childhood they made fun of his voice while talking on the phone and for a long time they made jokes about it.
Then there are the phonephobes who have developed their phobia in adulthood after reading or listening to reports about mobile phones that create harmful electromagnetic fields that negatively affect health or cause brain tumors. In a sense, such individuals have a tendency to hypochondriacal neurosis as a result of which they develop a persistent fear of talking on the phone.
The disorders Obsessive Compulsive may also be related to telefonofobia. Some people may have received negative news (death, accident, illness of their loved ones) by phone, so they begin to fear that every time they answer the phone, it may tempt their “bad luck” and create a negative situation in their lives. .
But avoiding doing what we fear only generates fear, this is a natural mechanism, since your emotional mind assumes that everything you always avoid must be dangerous for you (because you are avoiding it) and thus fear increases as your emotional brain it tries to “help you.”
How to treat the phobia of talking on the phone?
Treatment for phone phobia may include cognitive behavioral therapy techniques , such as cognitive restructuring and exposure training. Additionally, there are many self-help strategies you can use to deal with anxiety about using the phone.
Cognitive restructuring involves challenging beliefs and replacing negative thoughts with more constructive alternatives. For example, if you are constantly worried that you will annoy the other person when you make a phone call, cognitive restructuring may cause you to consider the evidence that this is actually true.
Why would the person answer the phone if he was too busy? Why would I have asked you to call if I didn’t want to talk to you? Eventually, you would come to the conclusion that it is unlikely that he is bothering the other person or that he does not want to talk to you.
Exposure training involves the gradual practice of progressively more difficult behaviors, in the case of telephone anxiety, a hierarchy of fears may look like the following (listed from easiest to hardest), each behavior is practiced until you feel comfortable and can move on to the next more difficult.
What are the effects of phobia to talk on the phone?
The telephone is important both for contacting others and for accessing important and useful services, as a result, this phobia causes a great deal of stress and impacts people’s personal life, work life, and social life. Victims avoid many activities, such as scheduling events or clarifying information. Tension is created in the workplace because the use of telephones can play a crucial role in a career.
Coping strategies and tips when talking on the phone.
Ideally, you should practice cognitive behavioral techniques under the supervision of a trained therapist, if meeting with a counselor is not possible or if you have already participated in therapy and are looking for additional ways to cope, the following strategies may be helpful.
Smile before making and receiving calls. This may sound silly, but it helps you relax and conveys a feeling of kindness towards the person you are talking to.
Reward yourself after making difficult calls by spending some time doing something you enjoy.
Visualize yourself making or receiving calls successfully. Imagine a positive conversation and feeling good afterwards.
If you are concerned about interrupting someone when they call, ask if they are calling you at a bad time, if the person is in the middle of something this gives you the opportunity to call them back.
If someone says “no” or declines an application, be aware that it could be for many reasons that have nothing to do with you.
Do a little homework before making a call , but don’t overdo it. In general, know what you are going to say, but try to anticipate that the conversation may not go exactly as planned, if there are important points you need to bring up, be sure to write them down and keep them handy.
Keep in mind that you don’t always have to answer the phone, if someone calls you at a bad time, or if you are too eager to talk, it is acceptable to let the calls go to voicemail from time to time.
Know that the telephone is not always the best method of communication, if you need to keep a record of your conversation or if you want to give the other person time to reflect before responding, email may be the best option. However, if the problem you need to discuss is complex, emotional, or involves a lot of discussion, it is best to call or meet face-to-face.
Hello, how are you? My name is Georgia Tarrant, and I am a clinical psychologist. In everyday life, professional obligations seem to predominate over our personal life. It's as if work takes up more and more of the time we'd love to devote to our love life, our family, or even a moment of leisure.