Telephone sets have firmly entered our lives. With the help of these necessary items, we can solve many issues, chat with old friends. They save us from loneliness and save us in unforeseen situations.
However, there are people who are afraid of gadgets, afraid of phone calls. Telephobia can ruin a career and life.
What is it and what are the causes?
Fear of phone calls is compared with glossophobia (unwillingness to communicate with people due to negative manifestations).
This disorder should raise concerns about the normal state of the human body.
In life, there are almost no problems with the phonophobes when dealing with people face to face.
It’s just a phone call that’s fear therefore, such individuals try to send a message or communicate via email. And although it’s difficult for a modern person to imagine life without a telephone, he must know that there are people who try not to have such an item.
It should be noted that such a disorder is part of a general social phobia. The causes of these disorders can be different. In some, they come from childhood. One of the patients has been suffering since he picked up the phone after the call and heard a very scary voice. Peers made fun of him, and the child took the joke seriously. Then fear crept into the subconscious of the child and once manifested itself in adulthood. There are people who are very suspicious.
People prone to exaggeration are afraid to receive deadly radiation from exposure to an electromagnetic field. The fear of getting oncology is so strong that a person stops using the device.
Obsessive-compulsive disorder may be associated with the fear of talking on the phone.
When a person receives unpleasant news about the death of a close relative by telephone, he subsequently begins to fear sudden calls. Fear intensifies at night when everyone is sleeping. Only those who are in trouble can call at this time. And from these thoughts the individual may experience panic attacks.
Other people are afraid of sudden calls due to the fact that they are afraid to appear stupid and betray their weaknesses in character. Anxious thoughts arise when waiting for a call.
To shy people it seems that talking on the phone, they will have to say something in front of a large audience. They feel awkward as if they are going to give a live speech. From this phobia only intensifies.
Another problem is when the patient is afraid that a sudden call will interfere with any event.
A bad signal can also cause fear of telephone conversations.
The individual is afraid that as a result of the loss of sounds during the conversation, his interlocutor may not hear something important or misunderstand the thought, and the result of communication will be an insult.
Perhaps these phobias are related to the lack of contact
A person has a poor idea of the person he is talking to and cannot add gestures to his words.
From this, he refuses to call or answer the phone to his friends and acquaintances.
The embarrassing silence is frightening - when the conversation is not glued, but you want to continue. From this awkwardness, it seems to a person that he is acting stupidly and flaunting his low level of intelligence to strangers.
Severe symptoms
Fear of talking on the phone has a big impact on quality of life. Personal life and career are at great risk. Fear of uselessness due to a problem has led a person to panic attacks.
When he begins to experience the following symptoms, you should immediately contact a specialist:
- at the next sudden call you are terrified;
- panic attack with a characteristic sound;
- trembling of the limbs, palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath;
- nausea or even vomiting;
- fear of answering calls, inability to give an order by phone or making an appointment with an institution.
A state of ongoing anxiety can be supported by such negative factors as stressful situations at work and at home.
How to overcome
There are several ways, and everyone has a right to exist.
The first method is a rather complicated process due to the fact that it is necessary to apply willpower. As soon as you take control of your will, you will begin to believe in yourself. It is very difficult to do, but necessary.
If you believe in yourself, then try to overcome the effort and overcome your Self.
To get started, transfer the phone to the answering machine. Listen to the message calmly and try not to think about the negative side, which seems insurmountable to you.
The person who sent you a message on the answering machine can neither see you nor hear you in real time. Therefore, know that you have nothing to worry about. Try mentally responding to this message first.
Then express your thoughts out loud and listen to your voice. Analyze what you said while replying to the message. If you liked your answer, then you can not be afraid of further communication by phone.
Another effective way: retire indoors, then pick up the phone, start a virtual conversation as if your interlocutor were talking to you at the other end. Such training will help you overcome the fear of talking on the phone and relieve suspiciousness.
It’s good for treating any fear. pharmacological method. To do this, you need to contact a specialist who will conduct the research and prescribe medication.
Remember that self-medication can negatively affect your health.
Psychological methods help get rid of phobias of various kinds. Psychotherapy consists in first finding out the cause of the fear. After that, an analysis is carried out at a deep level. Then you need to move on to a procedure called psychocorrection, that is, modeling situations that will help get rid of fear.
Escape from everyday problems - this is a phobia.
The fact is that as a result of such an escape, the problems will not disappear, but only worsen. The more a person will move away from society, the more he will sink into his negative state.
The individual needs to prove that ignorance, that is, refusal from a sudden conversation on the phone, will affect the psyche much worse than the truth.
Ignorance is much more disturbing.
As soon as a person learns the essence of the problem, it will become easier for him that he can influence the situation.
It is necessary to gradually "accustom" the patient to communication by phone. To do this, organize short calls to close relatives. Let them tell the person only good news and say nice words.
Those who are afraid of talking with strangers should be offered imaginary interlocutor method. It must be made clear that the ill-wisher cannot do harm if he just talks on the phone.
In the end, an unpleasant conversation can always be interrupted, and this will not cause the patient much difficulty. Moreover, for the fact that the patient has stopped dubious communication, he will not be punished and will not suffer any loss.
When anxious patients talk on the phone, they need to show various pleasant pictures related to nature.
Personal psychoanalysis will help to quickly identify the cause of the phobia. And then the specialist should determine the way to deal with the disease.
Hypnosis - This is another method that can effectively get rid of telephobia. This is where the correct “imposition” of behavior occurs when making phone calls.
Autotraining also quite an effective way to get rid of an obsessive state. As a result of regular classes, patients begin to get out of stress, and anxiety comes to replace calm.
It must be remembered that a combination of different methods and practices leads to a faster elimination of phobias and to a sustainable result.
You can find out what to do with fear of phone calls in the next video.
