This will make me sound like I need anti-anxiety meds

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IntlSet

IntlSet

Bonjour!
Jan 29, 2006
12,369
63
#1
I really hate my cell phone but I can't get rid of it...

Because everytime it rings, my heart leaps up in my throat and for some reason I *always* think it's going to be horrible news: somebody was in an accident, the bank calling to ask why I charged a pimped out Escalade onto my VISA, the university calling to inform me that admitting me in the first place was a mistake.

Does that sound insane? :amazed: I've been trying to think back of what horrible news I got on the phone that might've traumatized me but I can't!

:huh: Yeah, I'd be looking at me like that, too.
 
#2
Hmm...similar, but not identical. I always worry that my phone will go off when I should have placed it on vibration. I have my cell phone set up so that it will first vibrate--->then ring. So everytime I feel my phone vibrating, I fumble frantically to try to shut it up. :smile:


IntlSet said:
I *always* think it's going to be horrible news: somebody was in an accident, the bank calling to ask why I charged a pimped out Escalade onto my VISA, the university calling to inform me that admitting me in the first place was a mistake.
Click to expand...

Doesn't that only happen in movies or TV shows? :lol:
 
#3
I can sympathize with you. But, I hate my cellphone for a different reason. I hate talking on the phone with a passion! I don't give my number to anyone but, really close friends and family. But when they do call me :evil: it better damn well be important... someone's better be dying. I don't even answer my phone at home...I screen my calls and call them back with short direct answers WHEN I feel like talking...if it's a really important call then I'll answer. Is this strange? :huh: In person though, I'm a chatterbox....can't shut up for one minute! :blink: I want to cancel my cellphone but, what keeps me from doing so, is my 4 yr. old son....we're always together either grocery shopping or at the park and I'm afraid we'll need it for an emergency.
 
#4
pursemama said:
I can sympathize with you. But, I hate my cellphone for a different reason. I hate talking on the phone with a passion! I don't give my number to anyone but, really close friends and family. But when they do call me :evil: it better damn well be important... someone's better be dying. I don't even answer my phone at home...I screen my calls and call them back with short direct answers WHEN I feel like talking...if it's a really important call then I'll answer. Is this strange? :huh: In person though, I'm a chatterbox....can't shut up for one minute! :blink: I want to cancel my cellphone but, what keeps me from doing so, is my 4 yr. old son....we're always together either grocery shopping or at the park and I'm afraid we'll need it for an emergency.
Click to expand...

I know you are serious about it, but I laughed when I read it. Too funny.

And I'm the same way with my house phone too! I don't mind picking up my cell phone, but when my house phone ring, I definitely screen the calls since not too many people has my house #.
 
#5
Sorry to hear that. I wouldn't call your situation crazy. But perhaps there was some kind of traumatic incident that makes you subconsciously react this way? I know when I was growing up if our phone rang at like 3 am it was always because of a terrible accident or family/friend dying. Now whenever my phone rings after midnight I feel very anxious before I answer the phone.
 
#6
That happens to me too! I think sometimes when you are going through a tense period in life your anxiety is heightened and things like the phone ringing can cause anxiety because it could be bad news...I know many people who react this way to a phone call-you are definitely not alone!
 
#7
IntlSet said:
I really hate my cell phone but I can't get rid of it...

Because everytime it rings, my heart leaps up in my throat and for some reason I *always* think it's going to be horrible news: somebody was in an accident, the bank calling to ask why I charged a pimped out Escalade onto my VISA, the university calling to inform me that admitting me in the first place was a mistake.

Does that sound insane? :amazed: I've been trying to think back of what horrible news I got on the phone that might've traumatized me but I can't!

:huh: Yeah, I'd be looking at me like that, too.
Click to expand...

Would it make you feel better if I do a smiliar thing??? Lately I have been feeling very OCDish. I think when there are more stressful times in life you let them affect you differently. Whenever someone tells me they want to talk to me, I assume it is something awful and my stomach gets in a knot!! So much of it is mental, so just try to talk yourself out of it- sounds silly I know, but so much of anxiety can be changed by you! :idea:
 
#8
Are you undergoing a stressful situtation right now? It could make you jumpy and think that everything bad is going to happen at once. I had a couple of friends who were killed (one was hit by a car and the other was in a car accident) in the span of a couple of months, so I felt the same way when someone would say, "Did you hear what happened to..." when it was really nothing.

I agree with Megs that a lot of it is mental. It can he hard, but try not to assume the worst when you hear the phone.
 
#9
I hardly get calls on my cell phone (before 9pm) so whenever it rings, I get all excited like a kid in the candy store. :lol: I have cheap friends that will NOT call me until after 9pm for the free nights and weekend minutes. :suspiciou However, I do get really nervous whenever I get a private or blocked call on my cell. For some reason, I always think someone is calling me from the hospital or something when their numbers do not appear on my phone.
 
#10
bluekit said:
I know you are serious about it, but I laughed when I read it. Too funny.

And I'm the same way with my house phone too! I don't mind picking up my cell phone, but when my house phone ring, I definitely screen the calls since not too many people has my house #.
Click to expand...
That makes 3 of us - when my home phone rings I always think of the famous quote from Dorothy Parker 'What fresh hell is this?" - I hate to talk on the phone at home, there is so much I'd rather be doing. My cell doesn't bother me.
 
#11
haha! I think I am just really stressed out with school and job hunting! Thanks, girls. I think stress is just manifesting itself in weird ways. I'll get over it.
 
#12
Years ago, I was talking to the president of the hospital I worked for. Cell phones were not something everyone had in the early 1990's.
Anyway, I asked him, "Why don't you have a cell phone?"
His answer was "I never want to be that accessible."
I think of this conversation a lot. There are way too many things ringing, beeping, and generally making too much noise. I think it just adds to our stressful lifestyle.
I am hearing sirens right now as we live close to the firestation.
Also, my husband is playing Hendrix on the guitar.
 
#13
i sometimes have similar feeling of fear, not with cell fones but in other manifestations.
My biggest advice is - try to do things thoroughly so u know u have minimal possibility of negative outcomes/bad surprises. That may leave you less worries in the back of your mind.
then the rest is ... up to luck=)
but i think it is quite normal for people going thru life changes to feel insecure and fear. (speaking from personal experience!) Hopefully it will all pass once u r completely settled in!
best of luck
 
#14
Oh IntlSet! I used to feel this way when the phone rang, and now...it's when my son cries! Usually I can tell from the pitch and tone of his cries that nothing is wrong with him, yet my body physically reacts and I cannot relax until his crying stops. Although I try to be firm, I fear that sometimes I give in a bit too much to his demands just in order to make his crying stop, and to let my hypersensitive nerves relax.

There is no mute button on children.
 
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