So I have a ton of phone anxiety among other issues with communication.
I have a friend who only calls and wants to talk on the phone. No warning, just I get a ring and then he leaves a voicemail if I miss it. I can't access my voicemails on my phone anyway.
I've been working through some serious stuff in my personal life and I just don't have the bandwidth to hold these impromptu conversations anymore. If he texts, I'll text back. However, it's gotten to the point where I out and out told him that I have a lot of anxiety about talking on the phone and that if he just texts me and gives me a time to talk, I can figure out a time to catch up.
I've brought it up another time where I was dealing some anxiety and he said it in almost a mocking way that I have issues with talking on the phone.
We've talked since and I'm busy again and he keeps calling. I respond to his texts, but he's only sent one in the last few weeks.
I dunno. I feel like I was clear that I'm willing to talk, but I think I've set a fair boundary. Thoughts?
Even you didn’t have phone anxiety issues, you’ve got a life, you’ve got things to deal with, so you can’t always drop everything you’re doing at a moment’s notice. There’s something very narcissistic about this expectation that they can call someone and immediately become that person’s center of attention for the next however many minutes.
That's true. In general, I haven't had to set a boundary with other friends and I call back when I can. I'm seeing how unhealthy the friendship is and it's reassuring that people are responding as they are here. Thanks!