Telephobia is a real condition. I kid you not. Telephobia is phone anxiety, the fear and avoidance of phone conversations, and it is a common condition among those with social anxiety disorder. I’ve never been comfortable with telephones and telephone conversations. This should come as little surprise, given that impairments in social communication and social interaction are defining characteristics of autism. I avoided using the telephone or answering telephone calls as much as I avoided answering the doorbell or knocks on the door. If I am not expecting a call, having prepared accordingly, I refuse to answer. Even when I am expecting a call, I am tense and nervous. It can take me an awful long time to recover from the expenditure of nervous energy that comes with making and taking phone calls. It is worse these days, given the expectation of a thirty minute wait when it comes to important calls to energy companies and medical centres and such like.
I prefer to email. In fact, I must be one of the last people alive who sends actual letters through the post. And I get most irate when I tell people I loathe phones and prefer to be contacted by email, only to find them contacting me by phone. Or trying to. Because I rarely answer the landline and rarely switch the mobile on.
