Does anyone else hate answering the telephone?

This question seems a little off the wall, but I thought I'd ask. I rarely answer the phone when it rings. I feel panic, anxiety and get extremely irritable whenever it rings. My father was the same when I was growing up. Could it be a learned behavour?

I'm also quite awkward when speaking on the phone, my conversations don't flow like regular conversations. A lot of dead silence, or I'm frequently cutting in too quickly. Could be the thoughts in my mind seem to run too quickly to actually listen to the other person, take time to reply....I have no idea.

I feel socially awkward.

I work in customer service, so I have to talk on the phone... But no I don't like it..I rarely answer my cell phone unless it's someone I know.... I fell awk on the phone too like I talk over people or sometimes I don't even hear what they say cause I'm thinking about something else ... When I see a number that I recognize, and I know I already talked to them and couldn't help so I passed them on and no one answered, or I didn't do something. I get anxious and just let it ring at work.

I loathe answering the phone most times. I don't really feel panicky but I do get extremely irritable when I have to. It is really bad at work. Possibly because that is the place where I have to be on conference calls and such.

I get very irritated when people call. It could be anyone, the only phone call I could get that day and the first words out of my mouth, "oh Jesus Christ what do you want!" Gets worse when it's work related...

I have a phobia about the phone. Will only answer to immediate family. I get sever anxiety and VERY flustered. My friend is Dyslexic and she has to text or email me which I feel guilty about but I just can't do it. If I have to call I have to have questions etc written down to read.

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Hate the phone!!

If it's a number I don't recognize my anxiety shoots up and I get so nervous I have to have my fiance answer the phone for me. If I'm alone I let it go to voicemail and if they leave me a voicemail I have to work up the courage to listen to it to see who it was. Don't know why I'm like that really.

I'm okay with the phone, but have trouble opening mail.

I hate the phone. HATE IT.

I avoid the phone like the plague.

I hate using my cell phone and never answer it. I even have a message that tells the caller to text me for faster response.

I'm good with texts. I have to talk on phone at work, but I don't know the people calling.

Yes! I thought I was crazy! I can't tell you how excited I was to read what you said, and I'm not even manic today. (Sorry, a little bipolar humor. Sometimes I need it.) Panic and anxiety are exactly what I feel. I thought it was because I had a terrible experience a few years ago when I was in a car accident. The other driver was, like 110% at fault, but the insurance company refused to fairly compensate me. I just didn't know what to do, and they kept calling me, harrassing me like 3 or 4 times a day to get me to sign paperwork.

But that was years ago, and I kept thinking what is wrong with me that I'm still scared to answer the phone? Surely if it was some leftover anxiety, I would be over that by now. I don't know what it is, but I know that everything you said is exactly what I've felt.

Thank you for posting that; I just feel better knowing I'm not the only one.

This is so interesting. The docs may want to add this one on their checklist when diagnosing BP. "Do you hate the telephone?"...... "yup", .......... "you must be BiPolar" LoL

Glad to hear I'm not the only one. Thanks for sharing!

I am terrible on the phone. I have a really hard time processing what the person on the other end of the phone is saying to me. I find phonecalls anxiety provoking because I dont know what they have said, nor how to respond. I try my best to understand, I forget anything I heard on the phone immediately after the phone call is over.

I have read somewhere, I cant remember where, that said an inability to communicate on the phone was a trait of BP.

I hate answering the phone, I hate calling people, I hate leaving voice mails, I also hate text messages.

It depends on my mood!!

I don't mind answering the phone, but I hate making phone calls. I don't usually have a problem with calling family or friends but I get very anxious when I call to make appointments or in the past if I had to call my landlord, etc. I would put it off until I couldn't put it off anymore. And I never leave voicemails unless I have to.

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I hate the phone and my daughter is the same way, even worse than me.

Hate it .. I get very tense whenever it rings.

I hate the phone, too! I won't answer unless I see who is calling and I answer only if I want to talk to them. Sometimes I don't even look to see who is calling, I just ignore it.

I also hate the mail.

These things are interruptions to our struggles, so we cannot always respond. Simply ignore what you need to ignore! (But pay your bills! Joke?)

Many of us are socially awkward at times; it comes with the territory. Hugs!

I hate phone calls. I feel like ppl are going out if their way to annoy me most of the time. If I have to call I pray for voice mail so I can just get off the phone. It's so annoying when my husband calls his family in Ireland and throws me on the phone with God knows which in law. I can't understand the accents anyway. I'm supposed to call my AA sponsor which I rarely do, so she probably would fire me but for the bipolar. And answering the door forget about it.

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I too cannot stand the phone, regular or cell. I get angry when it rings. It's nothing but a bother to me.

I hate answering my home phone because it's old and doesn't have caller ID so it's like hit or miss and I get anxious about who is on the line before I answer it.

When I was a kid I hated having to make phone calls. It seemed that somehow phones weighed 400 lbs (LOL). I was so nervous on the phone that people would ask me what was wrong.

I still don't know what to say on the phone sometimes and I do feel awkward when there is silence or both people talk.

My sister has a personality disorder where she can come across very rude and demanding and doesn't know how she comes off, when she calls I get angry or nervous depending on my own state of mind.

So no, it looks like you are not alone in this.

I thought I was the only one who felt this way. Thanks for sharing!

I am so relieved to hear you ask this question. The invention of Text was the best thing that ever happened to me or anyone wanting to get ahold of me. It causes a lot of issues in life.