The phone rings and feelings of nervousness and anguish begin. This is a fairly common phobia today among the young population, known as telephonophobia or phone call anxiety. That is, an irrational fear that people feel when communicating through a phone call. According to a survey carried out in the United Kingdom in 2019, 40% of baby boomers have this phobia. While the percentage increases to 76% in the ‘millennial’ population and 80% among those of generation Z.
This anxiety disorder is based on the fear of the interaction with the interlocutor that the phone call entails. Fear of making a mistake, of saying something inappropriate, of not knowing how to respond or simply of being judged. In fact, people who suffer from this phobia present a series of easily identifiable symptoms that reveal this disorder. However, it is worth highlighting the consequences that it can bring, for example, the loss of job opportunities. Therefore, it is advisable to carry out a series of actions to overcome this fear.
Psychologist Cristina Barambio explains that telephonophobia manifests itself in two different ways. One is through its physical symptoms and another is through the psychological ones. Paying attention to these will be helpful in identifying a possible case of this phobia.
Cristina Barambio indicates that each case must be faced in a different way, since there can be different levels of this type of phobia, some more serious than others. If it is a mild phobia, it could be treated with self-help techniques, says the specialist. “But if it is a serious phobia, professional help is required.”
In the first situation, there are some self-help strategies that can be very useful for people who have anxiety when making a phone call. One of them is to practice meditation. The psychologist explains that it will be effective in helping to calm fears so that one can think more clearly.
Another option is to keep a personal diary, in which all thoughts related to the fear of phone calls will be written. And, as a third strategy, Cristina Barambio proposes practicing a sport that involves cardiovascular exercise.
