Hello-

I was wondering,what can I to overcome Telephone Panic and Anxiety?The past week Ive had a terrible time with this.

After all this time with Panic Disorder,Iam just now developing a problem talking on the phone.

I get Anxious and Panicky.It feels like I cant breathe and I start losing control.

I do fine as long as I dont have to talk to someone.I can call my Banks 24 hr access line,or check my messages on the phone,can even leave messages(well at times)with no problems.

Please please help me with this!

I can so relate to this. I have an awful time calling people myself but automated services don't bother me either. I procrastinate forever if I have to call someone...and its part of my job. I'm slowly feeling better about it...do a lot of positive talk. What is it about phone calls get you nervous? Mine was always (Even as a kid) not recongnizing the person on the other line is the person I wanted to talk to and asking for them...getting embarassed that I didn't realize I WAS talking to who I asked for. I have issues at work I play out these phone conversations in my head that never happend...like if I have to cancel an appointment I always play in my head that they get mad or if its someone who has an accent I get nervous that I won't be able to understand them. But I guess sounding stupid is the top thing for me. Funny though, when I answer the phone and people do what I'm fearful of, I never react how I assume they would if the tables where turned.

So yeah positive talk before hand helps. Are they really going to think your dumb if you mess up? Absolutely not...I'm sure they've done it more than once. Sometimes it helps if you write down what you want to say too...although I have to be honest I never go by what I say once I get the person on the line, but it gives me that boost of confidence.

Tammy

I can definitely relate to your telephone anxiety. When I get on the phone, I feel like everyone is listening in to what I am saying and I just feel so anxious. I recently got a job where you have to get on the phone and announce something over the loud speaker and I am a nervous wreck. I did not use to be like that but I am now. It is so frustrating.

OMG....

I thought I was the only one with telephone anxiety!. Its especially hard for me cause Im a male with a high voice and people think Im a woman LOL. I get all shaky because I think Im gonna forget what to say and sound like an idiot.
I get like all hot and stuff....what you have to do...is just stop..pause think about what you wanna say/ask...take a couple breaths and go for it .

No...Im not afraid for any of the same reasons ya'll are....

I Panic and get Anxious because of the Symptoms Im feeling while on the Phone.

It feels like Iam smothering,suffocating like all the Air has left my Lungs.

I begin to freak out and am in a hurry to get off the Telephone.I obsess about it too,then am afraid to use it or receive calls.

wow! can I identify!

I find myself identifying so much with alot of these posts its very comforting
does that sound crazy?
jack of all trades i suppose in anxiety terms
anyway i can barely talk on the phone but i am getting better
i remeber one day my sister in law called and my panic became so overwhelming i started getting nauseous and gagging loudly over the phone she heard me and said are you ok?
so i toughed it out, (not wanting to tell her why i was gagging, did i mention it was LOUDLY? lol anyway )
without thinking I said "not really im having a panic attack can i call you back"? oh my goodness that sent me into a frenzy. what did i just say ? oh no i told her why i was sick
i thought i could never call her back again and paced the floor hoping she wouldn't call back to check on me. i even turned my ringer off so i couldn't hear it ring. but after an hour i decided
i had to call her back the guilt was killing me.
so i did, and she answered, ugggggg!
she just simply said "oh it was no big deal"
I was just wondering if my dad was there"
lol big funny slap in my face
here i was freaking out over telling her i had a panic attack, and she didnt even mind.
so i paced and worried for almost an hour after i hung up, for nothing! she thought nothing of it
we discussed it a few days later and she said that she even has them sometimes.
boy did it make me feel so much better knowing that if i get sick on the phone its ok tell whoever it is "can i call you back"? and you dont even have to tell them that its a panic attack unless you slip up like i did
but it isnt the end of the world
smiles to everyone, lisa

I used to have this problem too but I am pretty much completely over it . One thing I used to think was what if I panic ? what if I hang up ? well I told myself what if you hang up and freak out ok so what it will pass and you can justcall back and say bad connection HEHE! or better yet just tell the truth. I was having these major panic attacks in front of the lady I work for I do daycare and take care of her son and I don't want to look incompatant of taking care of her son but for some reason I had panic attacks while talking with her (felt like I was just going to pass out and hit the floor) well the next day the pattern proceded and then the next day I just didn't want to see her I wanted to quit my job and run... instead I told her the whole ugly story and she didn't care or think badly of me ...anyway that was the end I never had a panic attack in front of her again just because I didn't fear it .. oh yeah and getting back to the phone attacks sit down in a comfortable chair and talk slow and breath deeply resist the urge to paise back and forth anxiously this really worked for me..

I have a hard time calling people.I rarely call people now.I am afraid I will be bothering them or
that I am strange for calling.I have called people who have had a strange tone of voice as if
I had somehow invaded their time.I HATE this.I feel this phone anxiety has kind of messed up my life.If I never call for help or advice,how can anybody help me?But I am afraid to call....

I have phone anxiety too...i never actually told myself, hey you have phone anxiety....but i knew that I get nervous when I'm on the phone. Like, when the phone simply rings, my heart skips a beat, i think, oh god, i should pick it up...what if i say "hello" strangely, what if my mind goes blank and I say something wird or nothing at all. I'm so afraid of the person on the other end thinking I;m strange in any way. And when I have to call any type of administration about something i freak out. I play out the conversation in my head, i rehearse what I am going to say before hand, then I pick up the phone and nervously dial the number. There have been many times I have not been able to reply to simple questions to people over the phone, my mind just goes blank. Like for example, I had to call my credit card company once because I lost my card. And the person asked me how much my last payment was, and my mind went blank, they also asked me my address and postal code, which I stumbled on because i had moved a couple times recently and couldn;t remember my old address...the person started to think I wasn;t the actual cardholder! because i wouldn;t answer any of her questions, god I felt like an idiot. when things like that happen it just worsens my fear...I think that I'm going to screw up again next time just like I did last time. Even when I'm talking to family members, and friends and my boyfriend, I worry that there will be an awkward silence, or I won;t react appropriately to something they have said. I fear that if I am in the middle of telling a story my mind will go blank and I'll lose my train of thought and just stop mid-sentence, and then they'll know I'm nervous talking to them,...and why would I be nervous anyway, its just my friend or mother or whoever! geeze, this crap is so annoying, i feel so childish. why do I feel like this.

Even when I'm functioning pretty well, I have anxiety calling people I don't know well. Now that I'm in a low point, I don't want to call anyone-even friends or the doctor. I'm usually ok answering the phone unless I'm expecting someone to call that I don't want to face. I don't know the cure. This past summer I had to make lots of calls at my job. Basically a marketing thing (you wouldn't expect to have to do that when you work at a community college!). I procrastinated. I was extremely sick to my stomach, etc. I had to do it. I simply sucked it up and prayed for an answering machine!!! In fact, I said I called the last 5 or 10 and didn't really do it. I felt extremely guilty!! I guess it's OK. I called something like 30 or more people. That's a positive ratio!