Phones

[bigeekgirl]

ghughes1980 - I only hate people because they are horrible creatures. Would be funnier if it wasn't true.

I've worked in call centers for years now. Inbound. I can't imagine forcing myself to make outbound calls to customers. On the rare occasions I must, I am nervous and tongue tired. It's so much more pressure to make the calls.

As for my personal life: Long live the text message!

[kb9vgh]

I understand what you are all saying about the phone. I think for me it is the fear of the unknown, that the person will stay on too long, talk on and on off the topic, get angry or complain about me, or some other situation where I don't do for them what they want. I've been on many calls where I had to go to the bathroom and they wouldn't stop talking. I am looking around for a different job because I deal with a population that is going through hard times and I feel a lot of pressure to solve their problems ASAP.

[Bradyn]

Me too, me too. I HATE the phone, there's always a person on the other end who will confuse me with their intent of trying to interact with me- I will do my best, & then afterwards I will wonder for a while how crazy they thought the person on the other end of their phone was. Could they tell that I felt like an 8 on the crazy scale? Hmmm, this happens pretty much every time, it doesn't seem to matter if it's my mom or a creditor who has called, I feel uncomfortable during & after the call. Every time the little fucker rings, anxiety. I used to enjoy communicating with other humans by phone years ago, but these days, I dread the phone & the mailbox. Dread them.

[Fargin]

My fears, I think are rooted in my inability to protect myself, set boundaries and by answering the phone or email, I deliver myself at another person's mercy. I've become a little bit better at it, but my inability to say "no," meant that for many years, the only way I could protect myself or say "no" was to not pick up the phone. I couldn't advocate for myself.

[justsomeoneinacorner]

oh man! you are so not alone with this phone thing. I've mostly gotten past my phone anxiety but it is still socially awkward for me to be on the phone with strangers. I had a couple of phone interviews some months ago and I was always sure to dress comfortably, let myself wander around and fidget if I wanted to. With practice though, it wasn't so bad.

[Sinistra]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one terrified of answering the phone. For me some of the difficulty is in a) not being present physically with the person I'm talking to so I can't read them and b) being afraid of people generally. I haven't found very many helpful strategies for coping with this yet

[brownblob]

I have phone anxiety too. I always made mrs brownblob answer when we had a landline. Now in the age of cellphones, I only have a prepaid flipfone and I don't have it on me 90% of the time. At work, I hate having to call other departments. People in other departments are always cranky on the phone, so this doesn't help me.

[ladysquid]

Glad this topic has been resurrected because I am currently on this forum to avoid calling to schedule a doctor's appointment.

Have any of you had detrimental effects because of this? I put off seeing a psychologist until I could find one that I was able to establish first contact with via email. Currently putting off getting my contact prescription. Like I would rather get an eye infection than have to call to get new contacts.

Zoc Doc is the best service ever but unfortunately it doesn't work for all my doctors. Last time I had to get records faxed it took around 2 weeks of writing it on my to do list until I forced myself to do it on break which involved pacing around to find the quietest Starbucks in midtown because I was embarrassed to call at my desk even though I wouldn't have to say anything private out loud. Even with the chai latte it felt like everything I was saying was wrong even though I know in my rational brain that it was only 5 minutes.

Also, I have a phone interview tomorrow. AGGGGGH! Just hoping I don't completely blank out like I have done in the past.