Fear of leaving a message?

Question

I have this irational fear of leaving messages on peoples answering machines. It makes me seem like a stalker because i will continually call them untill someone picks up. I only do this because i need to talk to them but can not seem to be able to leave a message. I am not actually afriand of anything, its just something inside of me that will not allow me to speak/say anything when the machines turns on. This is making it very hard for me to make psychiatric appointment since 99 out of the 100 doctors I have called want you to leave a message and they will call you back with an appoinment/info/etc. Dont pyschiatrists know that not everyone is able to leave messages? What can I do because I am coming to the end of my wits and cant seems to get any help because of this limitation?

Answer 1

I have the same problem, though not as severe. I just hate the sound of my voice. I usually call and then hang up... if its not important i just let them call me back when they see my number on their missed calls list.. (mostly i call my friends cell phones). If its at work, I usually send an email if they are not answering.

Answer 2

Send them an email. Here's how:

go to http://www.msn.com and click on yellow pages. Look up a psychiatrist in your area. Often business in the online yellowpages will list webpages, so look up their webpage and send them an email.

Also, you can try county mental health. The one in my county always seems to have the receptionist answer the phone. A social worker for the county may be willing to make calls for you.


And don't forget to ask God for help with your fears.

Answer 3

Write out what you want to say and follow the script. some times a fear of leaving a message is becuse you get tongue tied and don't know what to say. keep it simple and to the point.

Answer 4

try online counselling

try http://www.personalcounsellor.com