Phone Anxiety

I have a strange anxiety trigger that i've never heard of anyone having before. Whenever I hear my phone ring or my pager go off, I nearly have a panic attack. I think it has to do with two things. I used to work a phone based job that I absolutley hated and the fact that almost all bad news in my current relationship has come by phone. Dispite the fact that I know why this happens and understand it... its only really gotten worse. I've started having to change my ringtones on my cell every once in a while just to lessen the effect.

I'm a generally neurotic person and suffer from a pretty constant whitenoise of anxiety. I know that there arn't really any professionals around here... but does the fact that I know my triggers and can't control them possibly indicate that medication may be an answer?

I know I may start a wildfire with this, but I'm a marijuana user and find that it's one of the only things that puts it in check.

Thanks in advance for any input

Two years ago I had my purse stolen in the parking lot of a store close to me. Ever since then I've nearly had a panic attack everytime I go there. So I know what you mean by phones. I believe that attachments form through the things we do everyday and can end up as triggers to many of us.

On the subject of meds. I do take a very low dose of klonopin when I feel like a panic attack is emminent....so meds may very well help you.

On the subject of marijuana....I think it should be legalized

Sweetngentle

So im guessing that this med is nitro for panic attack sufferers?

With as many times as I get moderate panic attacks during the day... is this stuff safe to take as a preventative med multiple times a day... or is it really only for severe panic attacks?

It sounds like some kind of a phobia. Even if it doesn't interfere with your life much, there are things you can do. Phobias are curable. Cognitive behavioral therapy, exposure therapy and drugs.

Exposure therapy is simple and painful (because initially will produce more anxiety than the one that your phobia causes you), but it is effective and you can do it all by yourself if you want. If you go for the exposure therapy you'll have to endure repeated exposure to your phobia till it goes away. Cognitive behavioural therapy normally requires a psychologist that will teach you to think in a more apropriate-possitive way and it is also effective, but it can be costly. If you prefer to use medication, then you'll need to see a psychiatrist. Third generation anti-depressants like Paxil can help and also tranquilizers help.

I have phone anxiety too. I can rarely call anyone and now i hardly answer it. I would let it ring and ring and let somebody else have to run to it even if I were closer.

I know what you mean about having phone anxiety. I wouldn't consider myself to necessarily experience the same things you describe, however, every time someone has been seriously injured or died, I always get a phone call early in the morning.

Now when my phone rings in the morning I notice that my heart rate increases and I begin to panic. Any other time of the day is fine but I think I feel that way just because I relate it to bad, traumatic experiences.

Hope it helps to know you're not alone!

Sometimes I don't give people the right number. I only have a phone for emergencies & it makes me feel happy when the phone doesn't ring for five days.

Yes yes i know... telephones SUCK! telephones are some of the worst things that you ever invented. it seems like every time a phone goes off near me i run and hide and my heart starts racing and i start hyperventilating and screaming "THE PHONE THE PHONE THE PHONE!" ITS SO SCARY THE PHONE IS RINGING! THE TELEPHONE IS AFTER ME IT IS TRYING TO MAKE ME UNCOMFORTABLE"! and then my grandma called the psychiatrist and he came to my house and put handcuffs on me and injected a tranquilizer into me and then i woke up in a mental institution in a padded cell. then i heard someones voice come through the loud speaker "My name is Dr. Rosen. I am a psychiatrist. I am afraid that you suffer from telephobia, the FEAR OR TELEPHONES! We are going to have to go through aggresive exposure therapy. We may also have to consider using Electro-shock therapy. then they sent me in a little dinner consisting of mashed potatoes and macaronni with a little orange juice with a bunch of pulp in it. then i went to bed. in the morning i woke up and a beautiful nurse was standing over me. she said "it is time for me to take your blood pressure". she injected the needle into my arm and pulled back. the blood flowed out of my arm as i felt a sharp stinging sensation. my psychiatrist quickly followed her. "it is time for you to begin exposure therapy" he said. "follow me into my office". i followed by his white trench coat into a brightly lit office. the walls were painted white and there was a picture of a plane on the wall. I LOOKED ON HIS DESK AND YELPED IN HORROR! THERE WAS A TELEPHONE SITTING ON HIS DESK!. I screamed in terror and huddled down into a corner of his office. "It is O.K." he said. "The telephone is not going to hurt you. Please sit down on this chair", he said. I sat down on the chair. Dr. Rosen walked over to the table and picked up the telephone. I began to shake. He slowly began to walk torward me with the telephone. I began to hyperventilate. The telephone was 5 feet away from me now. I screamed and jumped out of the chair and huddled into the corner of his office. "We can do this the easy way, or we can make a scene", said Dr. Rosen. I remained huddling down in the corner of the room. "I'm not going to do it" I shouted, "I am not going to go near that phone. "It appears that we have no choice, said the Doctor" too be continued...

Anndoggy wrote:I have phone anxiety too. I can rarely call anyone and now i hardly answer it. I would let it ring and ring and let somebody else have to run to it even if I were closer.

yeah this is Just like me, I never ring anyone.
I never pick up the phone when it rings either.
i can't stand useing telephones.

Smoking marijuana make my anxiety worse, like going to the pubs
or the shops. Ive been smoking marijuana for around 10 years daily. To me marijuana makes me a bit paranoid
It depends on the individual.