For many years, I've had a problem with reading e-mail that has built up and built up. I hate opening e-mail. It tends to be e-mail that is important, and especially one-to-one e-mail. Normal junk stuff I don't mind, but it's like I'm terrified of getting any bad news. And the problem is, a lot of the time, it is bad news, or something stressful, and almost instantly I get really wound up and start panicking, and often fling an e-mail back in a rage. I just feel that if I don't open the e-mail, I don't have to deal with the problem, and I feel okay for a while. Maybe this is just a general anxiety manifesting itself in e-mail, but are there any PRACTICAL and HELPFUL ways to get over this really crippling problem, considering that I also rely on e-mail for work as well? Thnaks in advance.

Did something trigger this, that maybe you once got a very disturbing or upsetting email from someone--about a death in the family or some such?

Did something trigger this, that maybe you once got a very disturbing or upsetting email from someone--about a death in the family or some such?

I can't pinpoint an exact moment when I started hating opening e-mail, but it's developed over a number of years, and seems to get worse and worse. Some I just never look at, mark them as read, and forget them. They've probably been very important. I've had confrontations/issues with my university for example, and some of the responses to my e-mails I've just let sit in my box, I've never been able to face reading them. It seems all I get from these kind of e-mails is bad news, and it happened again today. Took me five days to open an e-mail about a school transfer, and as usual, it was all bad news. As soon as I found out, I literally ranted for an hour. Otherwise, I'd been calm all week, even though I had this e-mail looming over my mind. It used to happen with letters, though there are still some difficult letters I've filed that I can't bear to look at. It's like, if I can't see it, it isn't real. And often, I wish it wasn't real. I've tried getting other people to read my e-mail, and that doesn't work much either, because I still have to 'hear' the news... I just don't know what's wrong. It's obviously a phobia, and it's one that is getting worse and worse. Oh by the way, I also hate answering the phone, especially if it's the same kind of people who are sending the e-mails I can't open.

You should go to therapy so someone could help you get over your fear. Most of the time when you open up and e-mail it is not bad news.

Either stop using email all together, or get counseling, this is a unhealthy condition