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Telephonophobia: The Fear of Talking on the Phone
Situational Phobias

Telephonophobia – Fear of Talking on the Phone Phobia

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Telephonophobia: The Fear of Talking on the Phone

Do you often catch yourself avoiding phone calls?

Do you panic when someone you barely know calls you?

Do you prefer text messages to phone calls and make up excuses for not talking?

This extreme reaction could be due to a condition called telephonophobia, or the fear of talking on the phone. This might sound unusual, but many people face this issue.

Unfortunately, not being able to have a normal conversation over the phone is not just inconvenient. It can affect your daily activities and career prospects. How then can you overcome this phobia?

Telephonophobia: The Fear of Talking on the Phone

What Causes Telephonophobia?

You may be wondering, Why are phone calls so scary? The answer can get complicated since this phobia is a mix of several social disorders.

Eerie Phone Ring

Do you shudder at the sound of a ringing telephone? That’s not unusual. Landlines usually make an attention-grabbing noise to alert us of a call. Mobile phones have adopted this standard ring tone, although many of us use personalized alerts instead. Unfortunately, you may find that this ringing sound gives you the heebie-jeebies. For some, there’s a traumatic memory associated with that sound. It can come from watching a scary movie, receiving a ransom call in the past, or from bad dreams.

The Caller on the Other End

As a child, if you may have been bullied, mocked, or made fun of on the telephone. This could result in the fear of talking on the phone. It might seem unimportant as an adult, but if you’re unable to forget how you felt, it might lead to phone phobia.

Hearing Bad News

Some who have faced a traumatic event develop a phobia of some sort. Have you ever received bad news over the phone? It may be the demise of someone close to you. Perhaps you were informed about losing a job or something that meant a great deal to you. While dealing with the consequences of the loss, you may have developed a fear of talking on the phone.

Electromagnetic Waves

Some people are genuinely afraid of talking on the phone, because they believe it exposes them to harmful waves. They think that lifting a receiver or smartphone to their ear poses a danger to their health. While it seems irrational, there are some legitimate concerns about being constantly exposed to these waves.

Social Anxiety

Social anxiety is one of the top reasons we develop a phobia of talking on phone. Those with low self-esteem may feel afraid of how they will sound on the phone. They overthink things and have internal monologues such asWhat should I say? or Am I wasting the caller’s time? These insecurities hold them back from having a normal conversation on the phone.

Speech Disorders

Another reason for developing a phone phobia is having speech disorders such as a stutter. If someone has difficulty with articulation or fluency, they won’t feel confident about talking on the phone.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Although OCD is different from phobias, research suggests a link between the two. Experts believe that most personality disorders are interrelated, especially if the cause is untreated trauma.

Symptoms of Telephonophobia

Are you uncertain if you or someone you know is struggling with telephonophobia? Seek out a proper diagnosis from a mental health professional. The physical, mental, and emotional symptoms are fairly easy to spot.

Physical Symptoms

  • Stomach pains
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • Breathlessness
  • Hyperventilation
  • Dry mouth
  • Dizziness
  • Panic Attacks
  • Nausea

Mental/Emotional Symptoms

  • Avoid taking phone calls
  • Prefers texting over talking on the phone
  • Gets visibly scared when a telephone rings
  • Mobile phone is always on silent mode

Self-Help Techniques that Work

How do you treat telephonophobia? Mild phobias can be treated with some self-care techniques while professional help is required for extreme cases. However, many are scared of approaching experts for various reasons. They feel ashamed of this condition or afraid they will be mocked or judged. Some can’t afford the cost of professional therapy. Good thing there are effective self-help strategies for this phobia.

  • Maintaining a personal journal and writing about all your thoughts is one of the easiest methods
  • Meditating helps in calming one’s fears and clearing jumbled thoughts
  • Yoga and cardio exercise also help

If it’s a matter of social anxiety, you can do exercises to help build your confidence while talking with people in general. Here are some of them:

  • Write down your negative and positive points every day
  • Reinforce what people think about you by asking for positive feedback
  • List all of your positive traits and post them somewhere visible to you
  • Try a course on public speaking to get rid of your fears

These techniques may not be effective if your phobia is already interfering with daily life. If phone phobia at work is disrupting your career, you may want to consult a professional.

Telephonophobia Treatment: Seeking Professional Help

Before consulting a professional, take time to remember when you first started being wary of telephone conversations. If you remember when it happened, try to identify the cause. Discuss these with your therapist.
If you have decided to seek medical help for all your troubles, here are a couple of treatments they might suggest.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy is one of the most common talking therapies. It not only helps your therapist identify the problem but also convinces you to change the way you think about your phobia triggers. Your health professional will also take into account if you have a history of other illnesses. Using specialized techniques, therapy focuses on reducing the impact of past trauma. The idea is to rewire or change the way you feel about those traumatic memories by talking about them.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is another form of talking therapy where the therapist gradually exposes you to your phobia. The goal is to desensitize you and get you used to your trigger. For example, you start by talking about ringing phones, then move on to putting your phone on vibrate until you can take an actual call.

Psychotherapy

In case you can’t remember where your fear of the telephone originated, psychotherapy helps. However, make sure you seek out an experienced certified professional. Keep in mind that any form of telephonophobia treatment won’t cure you instantly. It involves a gradual process with a qualified therapist.

How to Avoid It Altogether

Although there’s no way to completely avoid your fears, don’t give up hope. Once you have started treatment, you will soon see a visible change in yourself. People eventually learn to cope with phobias. However, you must continue to follow your therapist’s instructions and regularly practice coping methods.

Conclusion

If you have a mild case of telephonophobia, you may not have to worry about it. According to a 2019 study, 40 percent of baby boomers and 70 percent of millennials get anxious when the phone rings. Although you’re not alone, you must figure out a way to live with it comfortably so that it doesn’t disrupt your lifestyle.

There are many ways to end your phobia of talking on the phone. To do this, you need to first identify and resolve the issues that caused this fear. It may take some time, but eventually you’ll get there. Instead of rejecting incoming calls, you’ll soon answer them with a smile.

FearAZ.com is looking for personal stories of any 'fear of' or phobia. If you have an interesting story you'd like to share, we welcome your submission. If the story fits with our content and guidelines, we'll add it to our site.
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Your Fear Goes Up and Down

Are you someone who would rather climb the stairs than take the elevator? You call it squeezing in a workout after being sedentary the whole morning. Or perhaps you claim it's a faster route. These are both typical, normal, and acceptable reasons. But what if you need to be in the conference room on the eleventh floor in five minutes, and you're wearing your business suit and wingtips? Would you still prefer to take the stairs? If your answer is yes, then maybe it's time to take a closer look at your reasons for avoiding elevators. Elevators stir all sorts of emotions in passengers. From the discomfort of closeness to strangers to the sensations in our gut, elevators can be a source of the heebie-jeebies for many, but for some, they can also be a source of terror. Let's dig a little deeper into the latter, and see what this terror is all about and what can be done to manage it. To begin with, does being inside an elevator give you chills or the sweats? Or does it trigger an unpleasant memory? Perhaps you remember movies you've watched where something terrible happens inside an elevator. From Silence of the Lambs, The Shining, Final Destination 2, or the king of all elevator horror films, 2010’s Devil, the elevator becomes witness to something sinister and horrible. And you want nothing to do with any of it. You know that you're not claustrophobic. You can deal with heights just fine, too. And you know that you're not going to be trapped inside. All of these contribute to a fear of elevators—but they don't apply to you. Yet being inside one does something to you. It's hard to explain.

What is the Fear of Elevators Called?

What you have is a fear of elevators, which is called elevatophobia. It is most commonly triggered by an experience of getting stuck inside either due to a power outage or technical maintenance. Hearing about other people's experiences or watching a movie about similar circumstances can prompt a fear of elevators getting stuck with you inside. Usually, claustrophobics and agoraphobics may also develop elevatophobia because the triggers and objects of these fears are related. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed and cramped spaces, while agoraphobia is the fear of being trapped without any means of escape. Put the two together, and the elevator becomes the perfect combination of both phobias. The space is limited and closed, with only one means of entry and exit. You can add another point of access if you consider climbing the cables like they do in the movies, but that certainly isn't ideal.

Symptoms of Elevatophobia

If for some reason an elevator stops due to an outage or some technical difficulty, passengers with elevatophobia may go into full panic mode. Even if the maintenance team advises that it will just be a matter of minutes, by then, the person's mind has become irrational with the fear of the elevator falling, being stuck for hours, or other unpleasant thoughts. You would expect a person to exhibit the following physical symptoms: Additionally, you would be filled with that overwhelming anxiety where you feel that you have zero control over the situation. You start fearing the unknown and are filled with negative thoughts about death and imminent doom. You become irrational and unresponsive.

Possible Complications of Elevatophobia

When the panic sets in, the possibility of emergencies related to pre-existing conditions may make themselves known. This might include serious health crises like heart attacks or asthma attacks. When this happens, fear becomes a medical emergency. Elevator rides do not last long; it's just a matter of minutes or even less. But the fact that a person can escalate from panic to a near fatal medical situation classifies the fear of elevators as a 'hard phobia.'

Trying Some Self-Help Methods

Your fear of elevators can likely interfere with your social and work life and relationships. Not everyone understands that elevatophobia, like most phobias, can be crippling. But don't be disheartened. Depending on the level of your fear and level of control, you can gradually face and manage your phobia. Here are some recommendations you can try:
  1. Make a List of Everything that Entails Riding in an Elevator This is a systematic approach to getting over your anxiety. By following a step-by-step process, you can identify where the fear kicks in at its strongest. You can write a list of steps like pressing the topmost button and waiting to arrive on that floor, watching as the door closes and opens, being alone inside the elevator, or having delays with the doors opening. Now try doing the opposite. For example, face away from the door or occupy yourself with your phone so that you are distracted.
  2. Create Your Fear Ladder Although the name says fear of elevators, it is not the whole process that scares you. There are just phases and parts of the elevator riding experience that cause you to panic. So go back to the list you initially created and label the fear level you feel. You can do it numerically, too, like ten being 'really scary,' six, 'manageable scary,' and one, 'not scary at all.' You can put the corresponding fear levels so you can focus more time and effort into activities that are more scary to you.
  3. Face Your Fear By now, you have identified what scares you the most. You can try repetitive action to minimize your fear and increase your sense of ‘normalcy’. Remember that the longer you expose yourself to your fear, the better you get at handling your emotions. If you are feeling overwhelmed, stop. Pushing yourself too fast and too soon can backfire. Modify your pace and go slower instead.
  4. Talk About Your Fear People by nature, unfortunately, are not quick to offer understanding and support. You need to tell them what's wrong before they can empathize. Talk to someone who you trust and ask for their support, especially in the initial phase of overcoming your fear. If you are too afraid to ride the elevator alone, you can ask them to go with you, and before you realize it, you are on your floor, and there was no indication of panic.
  5. Learn To Be Patient Be patient with yourself and your predicament. This is, after all, your fight against fear. It might take hundreds of elevator ride practices before the fear gets under control. Even then, there might be some hesitations and episodes of nervousness. These are acceptable and expected, so cut yourself some slack and congratulate yourself for every progress.

Seeking Professional Help

Along with self-help, you can always enlist a medical professional's aid to support you with your elevatophobia. Talking to someone who has experience with similar cases can be comforting, because you know that you are not alone, and this situation can get better. Talk to your doctor about the severity of your fears and the symptoms that you experience. Explain how you deal with it in an attempt to control it. An exam and a health history are made to ensure that there are no unrelated or underlying problems that your symptoms might mask. Usually, phobias like this are approached with a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Your doctor will talk about these options with you, and it's entirely up to you, with your doctor's recommendation, what you want to pursue. For psychotherapy, the most common type is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which aims to help you find different ways of behaving, thinking, and reacting when about to step inside an elevator or when already inside it. With medications, there are beta blockers and benzodiazepines, but note that these can have side effects. Whatever these side effects are, you should promptly share it with your doctor.

Simple Tips to Overcome Elevatophobia

Elevators are not perfect, but their likelihood to malfunction, fall, or get stuck is very low. If you are not fully confident with this information, you can help overcome your elevatophobia by learning common elevator safety tips and basic elevator operations. These should help curb your mild fear until you become more self-assured. In addition to that, here are some of the things that you can do to gradually overcome your fear of elevators—both in getting on and riding one.

Conclusion

Yes, elevatophobia can be a challenge in today's world, but don't allow the elevator to win. Don't let it stop you from taking a job on the top floor or attending a social gathering on the rooftop. Sure, you can take the stairs if you insist and arrive winded and sweaty, with the party about to wrap up. But is this the quality of life you seek? Elevators are designed to make life easier. There are guaranteed ways to help you overcome elevatophobia. Take the first step and seek help. Soon, you’ll see yourself breezing through the floors with those arduous stair climbs little more than a memory.
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