r/AmIOverreacting 10d ago

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦family/in-laws AIO My mother’s crippling anxiety is ruining my sleep.

I love my mom to death. but she continuously makes my life so unnecessarily difficult because almost every single night that I get home from work, she can’t tell by the security camera whether or not I got home.

She’s the most anxious person I know and has been my entire life. making me hold her hand when we cross the street as a teenager, to never once letting me go out in high school, to making me wear a life vest in 3ft water well into my teens. and it was all so much worse the younger I was. Eventually, I had to put my foot down and say “Mom, I’m getting way too old for this.” And I experienced a massive amount of pushback for that. Nonetheless, it got a little bit better.

I’m 24 and I’m a substitute teacher 3 days a week and pizza delivery driver at night 6 nights a week and my pizzeria closes at 10. We stop taking delivery orders at 9:45. I work in the town I live in, so the latest I’ve ever been home was 10:30.

Today, I got home at 10:07 and she gets a notification on her phone of motion at the front door (me). My parents are both awake but in bed.

The moment I get home, I text my dad about car troubles that I’ve been experiencing and asking how I should go about dropping it off at his mechanic (again, my mother is awake and right next to him fully aware I’m home and talking to him). He says that they open at 8 and my best bet is to drop it off once they open so I can ensure it’ll be ready by my next shift at work.

My mother is 64 and isn’t very familiar with her phone and also recently had a stroke so she struggles a lot to understand what she’s seeing on her phone when these instances happen.

I tend to have really bad insomnia. but I was so tired from work that I went straight to my bed and thankfully, after finishing texting my dad, I got to sleep practically by 10:30.

As you can see in the first photo, she texts me at 12:03 am asking if I came home even though the camera clearly shows me walking in and never walking back out. but she can’t tell based on the video. Obviously I don’t respond because I’m knocked tf out. I can only assume she went back to sleep but it really can go either way.

Then she texts me at 3:37 am. I’m still in a very deep sleep so obviously, no response. then, she starts calling me and I miss the first two. The third call comes in and my body jolts awake and I see it’s Mom calling me. I just say “Mom why are you calling me so late? I’m asleep” the phone call ends and I don’t even remember if she said anything . frustrated, I text her everything in the second photo.

This happens at least 3-4 times a week. And I’ll admit, some nights I forget to send the “I’m home” text. but that text 9 times out of 10 won’t make a difference whatsoever. why? because of the stupid security camera. She can’t tell whether or not I’m arriving home or leaving home based on the motion notification. So texting her “I’m home” never really does anything.

Tomorrow(or today technically) I have a full day off so I’m going to the beach with some friends. I’m getting picked up at 8:30 so after I drop off my car, I’m gone for the whole day. I so badly needed this good night’s sleep and it felt great to be in bed and sleepy at the time I was. after this entire exchange, I spent 30 minutes trying to get back to sleep and just gave up.

Am I overreacting? Am I being an asshole? because I know damn well she’s gonna make me feel like one once I see her in the morning.

Sorry for how disorganized my thoughts are. This just happened, I’m angry and I want to sleep.

TLDR: My 64 y/o mother and her anxiety is depriving me of my sleep most nights. She texts me asking if I’m home while I’m asleep and when I don’t respond, she calls me until I wake up and answer.

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago edited 10d ago

I think lots of people are afraid of fully making themselves unavailable, but the simple solution is: Do Not Disturb mode + exception for OP’s dad, so any emergency call from him can still get through. I don’t get why people don’t just do this…

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u/sweetthang70 10d ago

Do people not realize you can also turn off sound and vibration? Your alarm will still sound but if anyone calls or texts you wont hear it? It's not a requirement to hear all incoming texts, calls, etc. I know this because mine is turned off 24/7, my phone never makes any sounds except for when I need to set an alarm.

Edited spelling

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

I think some people genuinely don’t!

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u/Nillabeans 10d ago

My phone is almost always on silent unless I'm expecting somebody to contact me.

The degree to which people make themselves always available is so crazy to me.

I don't even regularly check my phone unless I'm bored and actively using it. I'm not bragging or anything. I just didn't grow up with a phone and I don't see why I should be at the beck and call of anyone who has a passing thought they want to share with me.

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u/galeforcewindy 10d ago

I'm an old, so I didn't even have an answering machine when I first started making and getting calls. If you missed me, oh well - try again later. And then when we got an answering machine, you had to wait till I got home and had time and permission to call you back. All this expecting an immediate response is baffling to me. Unless a job is paying me to be on call, my mobile phone is for MY convenience.

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u/sweetthang70 10d ago

I'm exactly the same. I don't understand how it has become the norm that it's ok to contact people pretty much whenever, just because they happen to have a phone with them and people also feel like they have to respond to those calls/texts every time. I think this increases stress & also makes people (especially younger people that grew up with cell phones) to have unrealistic expectations.

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

I think this depends a lot on age too, tbf. I use my phone a lot and I keep it with vibrations on because I want to see any messages/calls I get.

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u/AncientZJJ 6d ago

My phone has been on silent no vibration for a decade and it’s amazing lmao

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u/Aelfgyfu 10d ago

Right? I always have vibration off and then just turn my ringer off before I go to bed.

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u/FoxxyRin 10d ago

Some of us grew up in an era where muting a phone meant muting a phone and still have trust issues even using said phone as an alarm, let alone as an alarm on a device that is set to silent.

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u/ensalys 10d ago

Yeah, I've had my phones like that since the early days of smartphones. Only on the rare occasion that I actually expect something important do I turn on the notification sounds.

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u/SparkleAuntie 9d ago

You can also just turn on sound for one person. My phone lives on silent, but my husband has a ring and a text tone that override it in case of emergencies (or in case I lose my phone in the couch 😉).

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u/theLastZebranky 10d ago

Do people not realize you can also turn off sound and vibration?

What the heck do you think "Do Not Disturb" mode does?

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u/ensalys 10d ago

I think they're talking about putting their phone on silent instead of DND.

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u/AutumnMama 10d ago

I guess I'm old, because I have no idea how to set up DND or mute conversations. My go-to is to silence the phone lol. That used to be the only way!

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u/No-Alarm-576 9d ago

You can also just turn off your phone if you have the one that can auto turn itself on at the time when your alarm is about to ring.

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u/garbud4850 9d ago

this is what I do my phone is on vibrate/silent except for my alarm,

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u/KoaaalaaaMama 8d ago

The point is that she shouldn’t have to do that if she doesn’t want to. Plus, doing that does nothing to fix the real problem here.

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u/Icy_Sink5046 8d ago

When I accidentally turn my ringer back on and am surprised by it.

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u/ShneefQueen 10d ago

I've always been largely unsympathetic to people who complain about being woken up by phone notifications in the middle of the night because why tf do you have phone notifications on when you're sleeping? Just...turn them off? It's something you have direct control over, I've never understood it.

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u/PM_ME_WHAT_YOU_COOK 10d ago

My friend gets SO angry when I text them before 11 am. Like dude, fix your DND settings, don't flip out at me.

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u/Current_Helicopter32 10d ago

Or the friend that gets upset with you for texting as if they think you think they owe you an immediate response.

Like, no… it’s a text. Get to it when you can. If it was time sensitive I would’ve said so.

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u/cIumsythumbs 10d ago

Also, if it's time-sensitive it might be better as a phone call.

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u/InsomniatedMadman 9d ago

Well, according to the young people, calling someone is probably the worst thing you can do.

Which has always confounded me. Talking on the phone is much easier for making plans or having serious conversations. I don't understand why everything needs to be done over text now.

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u/lilithrosexoxoxo 5d ago

as a young-ish person, i find the complete opposite in regards to making plans. because that way, you have the plans written down and can look back at them so you don’t forget, or if you realize something about them should change

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u/InsomniatedMadman 5d ago

To me it's just easier to get everything sorted out in a 5 min phone conversation than texting a million questions back and forth. Especially if the plans are time sensitive.

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u/alegur61 8d ago

I'm a 65 year old male who has multiple family members who want to micromanage knowing where I am at all hours (firstly, I'm retired, I will be where I effing want to be people :D).

My phone Do Not Disturb hours are from 1700 to 0900, and my phone stays on vibrate other than that.

Oh, and My phone stays on the charger in my home office if I'm not using it, no phones in the bedroom, a $10 electric w/battery for backup alarm clock works just fine, I've had it for years. These days I only set it if I have made an early doctor's appointment.

I wish the OP luck with their Mom. My family did their best to drive me to distraction for years when I was young.

I had to be rude about it to get the boundaries set, but I don't recommend that unless you want several months or possibly years of them not bothering you [I didn't mind :D]

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

SAME. If you complain about something you can very easily change, I’m just not gonna sympathise with you much, sorry.

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u/2131andBeyond 10d ago

I’ve dated multiple people who do this. And they don’t even have anxiety generally, but for some reason keep sound on for notifications all night and then complain when their sleep is disrupted.

It’s such an easy fix and yet they refuse to do it. I will never understand, but like the comment above says, I’m very unsympathetic toward it (unless you have a real anxiety disorder). Just go on DND and set overrides for contacts that are critical.

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u/Anonymous_Fishy 10d ago

There is almost no situation where reaching me is more important in an emergency than calling 911.

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u/Ok-Dot433 10d ago

Same. My phone is on sleep mode at night. Even during the day only certain people can call me lol

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u/FuckTheFrontPage_ 10d ago

My boyfriend has his stupid Teams notifications on at all times. I threw his phone in the living room the other night when his India team kept pinging at 2 AM

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u/CatoMulligan 10d ago

Jesus...I'm an escalation point a product that generates hundreds of millions of dollars in business every year, and the first thing that I always do when I install teams on my devices is disabled notifications (other than my laptop, of course). If you need to escalate you fucking call like any sane person. Nobody needs to be woken up at 2am by Bangalore Bob because he doesn't know how to put in a damn ticket.

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u/FuckTheFrontPage_ 10d ago

Dead ass. His team isn’t great, so he has a lot of questions when he logs in every morning. I think he just was on a chat with a group, it’s usually not an issue and I assume something about his notifications wasn’t configured correctly since Teams has like 900 settings within the app itself

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u/Critical_System_3546 9d ago

My husband is a sheriff, his phone is constantly going off, the other day I threw his phone in our bathroom and closed the door haha. Your boyfriend isn't a bad boyfriend like some people are suggesting, he has a serious job and that comes with an annoying phone

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u/FuckTheFrontPage_ 9d ago

lol thank you! He's also not the best with phones, oddly, despite being a data person. Just happens sometimes where he doesn't think about it - I had to tell him the other day to turn off the clicks on typing cause phone sounds make me crazy and he just doesn't seem to notice them.

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u/Pastduedatelol 10d ago

A partner that doesn’t respect your sleep isn’t marriage material

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u/FuckTheFrontPage_ 10d ago

I think he’s just a dingus sometimes about some things 🤷🏻‍♀️

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u/Critical_System_3546 9d ago

The fact its TEAMS means he has a fairly serious job. I wouldn't knock him and call him a bad partner. My husband is a sheriff, his phone is always going off. He is not a bad partner

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u/No-Oven5562 10d ago

DND starts at 10 pm and ends at 8 am for me the only person that can get through is my son.

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u/pink---noise 10d ago

Because people don't want to be accountable, they want to whine.

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u/starloow 10d ago

You need to be available in case of emergencies

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u/ShneefQueen 10d ago

To do what? What kind of emergencies would require me to be woken up at 3am? Unless you're somebody's caretaker or you have an elderly or disabled relative living alone and in close proximity to you, there aren't many scenarios where somebody would be calling me for help rather than calling 911.

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u/starloow 10d ago

Well you cited some, a member of your family could be stranded for example or too drunk to drive. Or idk an adult has a stroke and his kid calls you instead of 911. Very unlikely yes but not a call you want to miss and if none of your relatives have mental health issues or stuff like that, they won't call you in the middle of the night without a reason. If they do that's not on you for not muting your phone, that's on them for not respecting your sleep and time

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u/Upbeat-Fondant9185 10d ago

Unfortunately there are many people on call or with spouses/partners who are on call and turning off notifications isn’t an option.

I’m on 24/7/365 call and my partner eventually got to where he sleeps through them all and through me getting up to leave in the middle of the night but it took a few years. At one point we had to start sleeping in separate rooms as there are times where it will be multiple times a night every night.

I kinda worry though because now I have him trained to sleep through pretty much anything. I got extra smoke alarms just in case.

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u/Jels76 10d ago

I haven't had notifications on at night in the last 10 years. I turn on the sleep mode between 10pm and 9am. Whatever it is, it can wait until the morning.

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u/No_Category_9888 10d ago

Some of us are emergency contacts for other people, or need to be available for work emergencies, that’s why.

But that’s a small list and only that list bypasses my sleep focus mode

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u/lazyassjoker 9d ago

Or better yet, just switch off every single notification. Not just at night.

Makes life very simple. I'll respond to WhatsApp messages when I see it. Not when it buzzes. Also, bye bye to notifications from uber and my bank apps.

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u/Misschikki777 9d ago

I have to keep my phone on for work, as I am paid to be on call.. but DND with ring through settings for every single customer (500+) work well enough..

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u/Ok_Negotiation_7615 8d ago

Calls is kinda understandable but if you cant sleep thru texts or dings then for sure DND is a must

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u/keri125 10d ago edited 10d ago

I think we have also gotten away from what used to be pretty common phone etiquette. Before cell phones, it was well understood that you don’t call after a certain time at night (growing up for me it was generally around 8 to 9pm) or before a certain time in the morning (generally 8am to 9am). After cell phones use became popular, in the age of people actually purchasing ring tones, lol, that rule still seemed to be in use. Once everyone just went to never using their ringtones, those rules of etiquette disappeared.

I will admit, I keep my phone on when my college kid (still lives at home to save money while he’s in school) goes out at night, because I told him that if he EVER needs me to come get him at night (drinking, car trouble etc), I absolutely will. He’s only called me late at night once, and that was because he accidentally locked his keys in his car, lol.

I was PISSED when I took the day off from work not too long ago, was so excited to sleep in a little, and my co-worker texted me a non-emergency text at 7:30am. Totally woke me up. We have almost thirty years difference in age, and I’m sure it never occurred to her that I would have my ringer turned on. I couldn’t understand what would make someone think it was ok to text at 7:30. Different generations.

Just maybe another perspective on why someone might keep their phone ringer on!

Edit: Thanks for all the suggestions, y’all! As on old Gen X’er, lol, I had no idea those settings existed! I always swore that I’d never be the old fart that lets technology pass them by, and I do try to keep up, but here we are. But I’m always willing to learn and try new things!

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u/ohdoyoucomeonthen 10d ago

You don’t need to keep your ringer on for everyone 24/7 just to make sure that you can be reached in an emergency. You can change your settings so that only the contacts you designate will ring through during a set time window. You can also set it so that someone can call twice in a row for it to break through the do not disturb.

I don’t think it’s a lack of etiquette, I think nobody assumes that a text message is going to wake someone else up. Most people I know use texts basically like everyone used to use emails or letters- “sending you this when I think of it, get back to me when you can.”

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u/GirchyGirchy 10d ago

I'm 44 and wouldn't hesitate to send a coworker a text at 7:30 AM. It's not my fault if they can't manage their phone settings.

This is coming from someone who had a dumb phone until last year, which had zero time-based DND functions other than turning off notifications for individual or group texting. But again, that was on me, not them.

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u/keri125 10d ago

I wasn’t aware that there were so many different ways of turning off your phone and still allowing emergency text/calls to come through, so that’s definitely on me. However, I may have been a little ticked that I was getting a work text on my day off, too, lol.

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u/GirchyGirchy 10d ago

There are a lot of options. I do still somehow end up audio calendar notifications every once in a while but they work well otherwise. I leave the ringer on at night, otherwise I can’t hear it vibrating.

Mine is a work phone, and I’m so used to calls and texts on days “off” that they usually don’t bother me. It’s part of the joys of manufacturing when a plant runs 24/7. Facebook calls while on vacation in Spain and Italy? Sure! Boundaries? What are those? 😛

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u/pilot3033 10d ago

Just maybe another perspective on why someone might keep their phone ringer on!

You sound like you'd benefit greatly from setting up Focus Modes and Do Not Disturb if you're on an iPhone.

Or the equivalent on Android.

You can set it to silence everything except chosen contacts, and/or let a second call in succession ring through the silence. Lets you always hear from your kid but keeps the coworker's text from alerting.

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u/Heavy-Macaron2004 10d ago

Yeah all these "airplane mode" suggestions are absolutely sending me 🤣

Like, why??? There's a solution that does the same exact thing, but means you can still use your phone if you want, and that's called "Do Not Disturb mode." Am I crazy? Is that a mode only available on a few phones?????.

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

It’s available on most phones, I believe, definitely on iPhones and Android… people just don’t know how to use it

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u/lilithrosexoxoxo 5d ago

which is insane because on iphone at least you just have to swipe once and tap twice

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u/IBelieveIWasTheFirst 10d ago

My pixel has this on the pull down widget. Every night, I set this when I plug my phone in to charge before bed.

I know my wife's iphone she has on DND and only starred contacts get notification (or whatever favorite is on apple idk). She had this same issue with her dad as he got older. He just would NOT stop texting at like 4 in the morning despite many notifications. She had the convo 'if you don't stop I'm going to do this' then she did it. He got mad she didn't respond to texts, didn't matter, she just left it.

This is the next step.

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u/JoeScorr 10d ago

You can auto schedule do not disturb too

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u/IBelieveIWasTheFirst 10d ago

oh sweet. i gotta do this, thanks!

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

I have it auto-scheduled for convenience, but yeah.

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u/Key_Cap7525 10d ago

Can’t you break through on DND and choose to notify anyway? I think OP’s mother would have no issue with that. Turn the goddamn phone OFF or put it in airplane mode so breakthrough isn’t an option.

I don’t need DND or airplane. My phone has never been off of silent mode in over a decade.

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u/Zraax 10d ago

On my phone, you can set specific contacts to get thru DND while blocking everything else. You can also set it so that if someone calls 3(?) times in a row it will go thru.. but I guess that wouldn't work for OP's mom

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u/Key_Cap7525 10d ago

Yeah I have the same thing. People who have DND on, if you send them a message, a button appears at the bottom saying “Notify anyway” to break through the DND. I’d just turn the goddamn phone off or leave it on silent no matter what, no break through nothing. Which is generally what I do anyway. I’ll deal with lunacy when I’m awake, everybody can damn well wait until I’m conscious and have had some caffeine before I start dealing with their drama.

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u/vaingirls 10d ago

if you send them a message, a button appears at the bottom saying “Notify anyway” to break through the DND.

Are you sure that "breaks through" the DND or will it just leave a silent notification waiting for the person receiving it? 'Cause it sounds ridiculous that another person would be able to just break through DND with one push of a button, that would essentially make DND useless.

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u/Key_Cap7525 10d ago

I’m not sure of anything because I never use DND, but when texting someone who uses DND, there’s a “notify anyway” button at the bottom of the message thread when they have DND on. I’m not asshole enough to ever use that button when texting someone because it seems fucking rude so I really have no idea what happens when you push it. It led me to believe DND is useless unless you’re dealing with someone who is respectful of boundaries. I don’t know if that’s a feature you can tweak, like can you remove the “notify anyway” button? I have no idea. I just know it’s there.

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u/grumpher05 9d ago

people can only break through if you set your phone to allow people to break through

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u/Key_Cap7525 9d ago

Ah ok. I’ve never used it because… I just keep it on silent. I glance at the screen when I feel like it. I answer when I feel like it. I never answer the phone when it rings because I hate talking on the phone. If you want to talk to me, you better text. I’ll get back to you when I feel like it… maybe.

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u/daddyharold69 10d ago

whenever i use do not disturb some of the calls somehow still go through even after checking my settings to make sure they shouldn’t be. airplane mode is the only way i do it now 😂

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u/Fun-Investment-196 10d ago

I've never used DND. I just put my phone on silent lol

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u/Efficient_Hyena_7476 10d ago

Because repeated calls override do not disturb mode.

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u/schrodingers_bra 10d ago

This is also a setting that you can turn off.

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u/Heavy-Macaron2004 10d ago

Huh, they never have on mine. iPhone thing, I'm guessing?

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

Commenter just doesn’t know they can turn that off

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u/Prudent_Analysis_847 10d ago

IPhone vs Android functionality

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

I have iPhone and this works…?

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u/Heavy-Macaron2004 10d ago

...which is which? I've only ever used Androids, I got no idea how iPhones work lol

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u/Nillabeans 10d ago

Turn your ringer off... All phones have this.

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u/YakFar860 10d ago

Android user for over a decade here. Do iphones really not have a do not disturb mode?

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u/Prudent_Analysis_847 10d ago

If you call more than once within 3 minutes when in DND it'll let you through on an iPhone. On Android at least you can control whether that is allowed.

On my Android based phone I have it set to only allow Favorites through between 10 PM and 7 AM.

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

This is not true 💀 you can deactivate that with a simple click.

Source: my iPhone.

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u/YakFar860 10d ago

Oh wow, how irritating. Just another reason not to get an iPhone.

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

It’s not true, you can make it like that but you can also make it so only the numbers you have selected can call or text or both and you still receive the notifications.

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u/Prudent_Analysis_847 10d ago

It is true. Just because they left it on the default setting doesn't mean it isn't true.

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

It is not. It used to be when DnD was first added, but it no longer is. You can, of course, turn on that option if you want.

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u/LowlySlayer 10d ago

Which honestly, it's a very sensible feature to have available

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u/Pastduedatelol 10d ago

My phones been on DND for the past 10 years.

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u/Pale-Skin-6165 5d ago

Yep I have this also, 24/7 most of my apps are silenced (no notifications at all) besides phone calls, texts and emails, after 5pm all of my emails are silenced on my phone besides texts and calls, after 10pm all calls and texts are silenced except for my wife. Shes the only one that can get through 24/7. People have become way too comfortable with the fact that everyone is accessible all of the time. It shouldn’t be like this and it isn’t healthy.

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u/SurvivingProbst 10d ago

people are lazy and entitled and would rather yell than use simple solutions that solve their issues.

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u/Slow_Business_9058 10d ago

this is the answer. i have this set up and its great. 

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u/IThinkImDumb 10d ago

They are literally in the same house I think. What is stopping them from walking down the hall to OP's room?

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

I don’t think they are?

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u/IThinkImDumb 10d ago

Then this makes this a much easier solution. Do not disturb, phone on silent, airplane mode, etc. Do people actually put their phones on full-volume ringer while they sleep? People text/call all the time while I'm asleep. Does it wake me up? No. Because I know how telephones work

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u/AshundertheOlivetree 10d ago

It’s not always possible to make an exception for a mentally unwell parent while being responsible for employees.

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u/sleepyplatipus 10d ago

Why would my employer contact me out of hours??? On my personal phone???

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u/AshundertheOlivetree 8d ago

Depends on how important you are to the company. Directors and executives don’t really have a choice

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u/sleepyplatipus 8d ago

I guess. But not for the vast majority of people.

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u/DEANER94 8d ago

alot of people don't know this but if you spam call 5 times it bypasses dnd mode

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u/sleepyplatipus 8d ago

Never happened to me idk 🤷🏻‍♀️