Does anybody have trouble talking on the phone because of there ADD. I can talk if there is a specific reason im on the phone, but if it is just chating with my friends I can never seem to have a general conversation with them cause I can never pay attention to what there saying. I always drift off then come back in the conversation and be like what did you say. It drives them crazy when they talk to me on the phone. I think it is kinda funny, does anybody else have this problem? When im on adderall it is know problem to talk but I don't take that stuff anymore.

I'm that way...and, I'm FEMALE. LOL


I'm short with people though, which is not very nice of me. I mean, I don't say anything rude, but after the important parts are finished, I'm like, "Well..I need to go....(cook dinner, feed the horses).."

I hate talking on the phone as well. I just get bored really quickly and I get quite impatient.I usually drift off as well. :rolleyes:

Generally I don't like talking on the phone because I feel trapped and I don't like to waste time on the phone (like I'm not wasting time on the computer?:D

But back to the phone I think a head set would probably help me, then I could walk around and do other things.

I don't like talking on the phone. I don't think it's because of ADHD for me . . it's because I can't see their face & expressions. I'm very visual.

I had a headset for my phone at one time.
Don't know where it went though.
I'm 60% deaf in the ear the earpiece goes in anyway, and it won't go on the other ear cause it's just one way.
It did allow me to walk around and do things, so that was good.
But I agree with the attention thing.
Even a 10 minute conversation with my wife was hard, because I'm focusing on washing the dishes, or picking up clothes, etc. (I know, I'd make a great wife...I hear that all the time!)
My mind drifts when I'm on the phone, unless it's a fast paced interesting conversation with my dad, or my sister.
I don't have your approach Kiisethwa, but I can understand why you are that way.
Maybe you need to say "you got 5 minutes to tell me the important stuff starting now!" LOL

Thank god for text messaging, that’s the only way I communicate anymore

I don't like talking on the phone. I don't think it's because of ADHD for me . . it's because I can't see their face & expressions. I'm very visual.
Ya that is also another reason im a super visual person

I'm in outer space on the phone. And I don't like being around others while I'm talking, so I at the very least head into another room.

At work, I end up walking all over the place while on the phone. Mostly I just head outside and walk around in the carpark. Apparently I look pretty silly from the road.

A psycologist I once went to (he did my first diagnosis using the brown scale??) told me about a boss he once had who he suspected had adhd. He could never get him to listen during a conversation. So one day he took him out for a walk to discuss some stuff with him and he was perfectly attentive while they were walking. I think that could be a similar thing to my walking around on the phone. The only prob is that I always end up the furthest distance from a pen and paper when I need one the most :)

I can not even begin to express how much I hate talking on the phone. I hardly ever answer and when I need to answer I can NEVER find the stupid thing. I actually get angry when someone calls me! LOL...I don't know why. Especially when someone calls just to see what I was doing. My sister will talk my ear off if I'd let her and she knows I'm home so she just keeps calling and calling until I get so frustrated and answer.

I can not even begin to express how much I hate talking on the phone. I hardly ever answer and when I need to answer I can NEVER find the stupid thing. I actually get angry when someone calls me! LOL...I don't know why. Especially when someone calls just to see what I was doing. My sister will talk my ear off if I'd let her and she knows I'm home so she just keeps calling and calling until I get so frustrated and answer.
OH MY GOSH!! I'm that way, too!
Women who DON'T like to talk on the phone.....WHAT a conflict!!!!!! LOL

I'm sort of the opposite, I like keeping in touch with people using the phone, though I do tend to zone out if the conversation gets too domestic......

However in work its what I do best.....give me a problem, a phone and Google and I am in seventh heaven.

I think its because I don't get all the visual cues and can just concentrate on the voice.

I get quite hyperfocused and follow the information trail like a bloodhound. I once found an old friend of mine who'd emigrated to the US after a divorce using only his name and a vague knowledge of what he had been doing in the UK.

I prefer texting and emailing to phone calls ...because I can edit (well usually). I sent a text to my daughter the other day and I was using bf's phone which is too hi tech for me..I ended up sending a one and a half word message that didn't make sense at all..I had to ring her and explain..I put it down to the effects of watching a Bridget Jones movie at the same time as texting..mmmm.

I have ALWAYS hated talking on the phone! Even as a teenage girl, I hated it. I still hate it and am absolutely terrible about procrastinating with phone calls I have to make. The only way I can keep in touch with people I don't see regularly is by email.

It's a big joke around here -- my hatred of the phone...my husband will be like "We should get to gether with so-and-so," and I'll say "yes, we should..." and he'll say "Why don't you give them a call?" knowing that I will NEVER call them.

I can talk to family members, if it's not too long.
Usually it's about what's going on in their life, and if we are going to get together for something (near a holiday/special day), etc.
Otherwise, my phone rarely rings.

I still hate it and am absolutely terrible about procrastinating with phone calls I have to make.

Same! I can't figure out why I hate it so much, but I do...

never thought about it before, but yeah, me too! And I am the only one in the family who can letthe phone ring, and go to message, and just continue on with my activities as planned. A ringing phone does not send me running, unless of course I'm waiting for some important thing. But chatting on the phone? Nah. I can't keep my mind on the conversation, usually. I drift, I look at things, I start to watch tv.... or read.... oh, you were saying?


email. that's my thing.

email. that's my thing.
Me too, I couldn't live without email. :D

Weird, i do that as well. When the phone starts ringing i just carry on as normal - i have no response or "instinct" to pick it up. I never answer the phone unless i know who is calling, and even then only if i feel like talking at that point. The problem is that then people leave messages and you have to get back to them....and i end up calling back weeks later! I find it next to impossible to call people and certainly never in the presence of other people. Very difficult when you're job-hunting....why can't people not just email me?!
Worst year of my life when i was working as a receptionist! Absolute torture!!

I'm one that also has to walk around while I'm on the phone. It's the only way I can focus on what they're saying too. I realized this helps one day when I was trying to lose my kids in the house while I was on the phone! LOL Of course we with kids know how they ALWAYS have to talk/yell/scream as soon as someone is on the phone! So I was going from room to room trying to get away from them. (They're 3 and 5 yrs old) I can't stand ANY interuptions when I'm talking.

I don't really mind talking on the phone as long as it's business related with current clients or friends/family that can keep me interested in the conversation.

I mostly hate having to talk to prospective clients (not that I don't want the jobs) but I tend to get real over anxious, excited and thinking about the potential projects and challenges etc, etc, etc.. then I begin to stumble with my speech and cut them off. I always have to write things down as I'm talking or as soon as I hang up in order to retain the conversation.. or a lot of times I'll ask them to e-mail me their request so that I can send a proper proposal. Plus this way I have all the info in writing from THEM so that I don't miss something. I'd rather deal with clients by e-mail. I'm really good at reading people through the internet. Plus I can edit and proof read before sending and don't sound rude or anything.

I loathe phones but I have to answer when I'm at work and no one else is closer to the darned thing. I can't remember people's names to save my life, so if I end up having to pass the phone to someone else and they ask me "Who is it?" I usually can't give them an answer. My favourite is having to talk to someone who has an urgent message for so-and-so who's already gone home about something I have no clue about. By the time I've vaguely figured out what they're on about, I've already forgotten half the details I was trying to write down and annoy them by asking everything twice, including their names, of course. Nope, my working memory isn't impaired or anything :D

Actually ringing people up is the worst, since I can't see the person on the other side, so there's all those lovely issues of forgetting to tell them who you are, since it seems obvious to you, starting to chatter away, and then being met with a confused "Errrm, who am I speaking to?". Then I get annoyed even though it's obviously my fault and accidentally snap at people :D

This all sounds so familiar: don't like talking on the phone because I need to multitask; dread making return phonecalls because it just seems so daunting, zoning out during long business calls. It's one of those things - like my love for driving - that I never associated with ADD, but makes total sense once I think about it.

I just started taking Concerta regularly after a long hiatus, and was shocked to realize today that I wanted to call someone. That rarely happens. Now, however, it's later in the night and I'm going through my daily "comedown." I'm more cranky and short-tempered, I don't want to talk to anyone.

Love for driving? I love driving as well...never thought that had anything to do with the ADD but would be interested about how you feel about it etc?

I never really placed it until I read "Driven To Distraction" (I love that book and highly reccomend it). When I was a teenager, I would go to the market for my parents, then roll into the driveway just as a great song came on the radio. I didn't want to miss hearing it, so I'd drive around the block. Then the song would end, and I'd scan the radio for another great song - I could burn off an hour and several dollars worth of gas doing this. It relaxes me, it's somewhat meditative (I'm not anxious or worried, I just drive) and it's easy.

On the other hand, I have lots of bad driving days. Days when I don't check to see if I'm cutting anyone off, days when I stop too short or run almost-red lights. I'm sure the both are connected, but I do love to drive.