Phone Phobia

Don't Call Me, I Won't Call You

I hate the phone. I'm actually afraid of it. The technical term "telephobia". Is this and irrational fear? I noticed today as I did a quick google search for "fear of phone" or "phone phobia" and came up with 1,620,000 hits that apparently it's not as uncommon as one would assume. (although I'm always told that I should never assume because it makes and ass out of u and me) However I noticed that there are a lot of people out there who have this fear, and there are a lot of people out there who want to profit off of it as well.

Per an online encyclopedia Phone Phobia is "a psychological condition in which an individual experiences extreme fear or avoidance of using the telephone. The fear may be more intense with regard to either making or receiving phone calls; in the latter case, it can intensify to the point where the phone-phobic is afraid even to listen to voice-mail (answering machine) messages." http://wiki.hypertwins.org/index.php/Phone-phobia

In the past few years I have noticed that I use my telephone less and less. I rarely make phone calls and I don't want to answer it when it rings. It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to check my voice mail because it requires using the phone. I didn't used to hate the phone so much, it's a growing anxiety that just worsens as time passes. When I was a kid I used to beg my mother to let me talk to Grandma on the phone and I didn't mind making phone calls. I remember one time I made a call to a guy because my sister was to scared to do it. I had no problem with it. I don't think I really minded making phone calls as a missionary either. I think I route this fear to my life as a telemarketer post-mission when I worked for JC Penney Catalog and then immediately after that got a job with the InterContental Hotels Group (Holiday Inn Reservations). Here is one idea to the root of my problem:

"Maybe your instincts learned to fear the telephone after a series of difficult calls or even because you were experiencing high stress levels in your life during a time you were making a lot of calls. Your fear instinct may have made the 'wrong association' between fear and phone calls." http://www.hypnosisdownloads.com/downloads/phobias_fears/telephone-fear.html

While I was working at JC Penney my husband was laid off from his job at Replay. This was an arcade at The Gateway Mall in Salt Lake City. He was an Assistant Manager and one day he went into work and they were closing down. The manager told him "you can either stay and help clean up, or you can start looking for another job." That was it, no formal notice and it was a surprise to everyone who worked there, and that started the 2 year job hunt that ended him up where he is now. I would classify this as a time where I was "experiencing high stress levels" while using the telephone. I hated working for Holiday Inn. Every minute of it. I would call in a few times a week to see if they were offering AWOP which is "Absent Without Pay" if the call volume was low and they didn't need you. This was great. I had a job that paid me $7.60 but where I was making at least $10-$15 per hour with commission AND I could call in and get AWOP at least 3 times a week. But it didn't change the fact that while I was there I was on the phone.

I finally got a job at CHG where I was the file clerk and not required to touch a phone at all. I rarely had to talk to anyone and I could just work and get paid and it was good… until I got my 3rd promotion where I now had to make phone calls. Eeeek! By the end of my employment with that company I was forced to make a lot of phone calls every day in order do get most of my work done. It was horrible. And now sitting at my new job I will often avoid answering my phone (I know, not good company etiquette) but I do eventually answer it because I have to. There there is that horrible woman that is my Plan contact she makes me want to answer the phone even less. It took me 3 days to check my voice mail this week. I avoid answering the phone at home too unless it's someone I really want to talk to but even then I hate TALKING on the phone so all conversations must be short and to the point, or I stop listening. I promise, it's not you, it's the phone.

So honestly now, is this irrational of me?