Barrage of phone calls: name?

[sambellscoup]

Is there a name for this type of abuse where they ring and ring and ring your phone one day, obsessively, and maybe even get other people in on it if they're stupid enough so your phone is constantly going off at a time when they know you can't answer?

This was used in me to a staggering degree once by NM while I was at work, she got bored and decided to pretend I was missing, go to the local village and give a few other people my phone number to call all day non stop. My phone at the time could not be switched off while ringing, so I was trapped. My boss kept giving me a look every time she passed me because my phone wouldn't stop buzzing even though I was being a good worker and not answering.

All the while, my dad was unaware this was even happening, and these sycophantic idiots didn't even notice that no police were involved which would have been the case if I was actually missing.
Then NM made the mistake of calling the health service executive for the entire region to try teach down my workplace, who happened to mention it to the head of a charity where my social worker was involved (I'm disabled) and she was wise enough to call my phone in the evening. I picked up when I saw her number, and she kept me on the phone so that I could have a break from the insanity and catch my breath.

I texted my mother after that and she then refused to talk to me. After barraging me with calls all day long. Absolute freak.

My sister has taken to the same tactic recently, so it seems to be A Thing. Ringing incessantly when they know you can't answer or have asked them not to.

[Thru the Rain]

"Crazy Making" comes to mind. Not sure if there's an official name for this behavior.

It almost feels a little similar to Munchausens by proxy. She's made up a story that you're missing or lost or something, and everyone rallies around HER. She's actually the center of the story line. Not taking your call would also fit the narrative - if you're now "found" then she's no longer the center of her imaginary story.

[Cat of the Canals]

I don't know if there's a specific word for it, but I would consider it harassment and engulfing behavior. The definition of "engulfing" from the Toolbox: "An unhealthy and overwhelming level of attention and dependency on another person, which comes from imagining or believing one exists only within the context of that relationship."

I also think it's a form of Manipulation/Baiting/Bullying. No reasonable person would appreciate this behavior. So your mother and sister are being purposefully obnoxious to either provoke you, punish you, or maybe just to prove, "You asked me to stop doing this, but I can call you whenever I want and you can't stop me, nah nah nahnah nah."

Your mother deciding that the reason you haven't answered the phone is because something terrible happened is Catastrophizing.

I texted my mother after that and she then refused to talk to me. After barraging me with calls all day long. Absolute freak.

Pestering you all day and then giving the silent treatment sounds like Push-pull. She pulls you close, demands attention, and then the minute you're available she no longer has a use for you and pushes you away. Only to start the process all over again in a few days (I'm guessing), when she decides she wants you to prove your love/loyalty/etc.