Phone phobia

I used to suffer with social anxiety and making/receiving phonecalls was so difficult for me. Speak to your GP about it and maybe try counselling.

You can get medication for anxiety, such as Propranolol, and counselling is available on the NHS.

I have the same fear, and i suffer from pretty severe social anxiety. I recently decided to go to the GP and she gave me medication to help. So far, the only thing that helps with this, is to try and call people yourself, and distract yourself, so maybe write or draw when on the phone. That's what i do. I still hate receiving calls, but the more i practice the easier it seems. Good luck! Feel free to message me

It's actually for high blood pressure, mostly. It can help with some physical symptoms of anxiety but does nothing for the mental ones.

It's actually for high blood pressure, mostly. It can help with some physical symptoms of anxiety but does nothing for the mental ones.

I know. Both my sister and my dad take it, one for anxiety and one for high blood pressure. Just like any medication it's treating the symptoms rather than the underlying cause, but it can still be beneficial.

I used to really hate answering the phone and making phone calls. Then I continued to be alive, and made more phone calls from time to time, as necessary. Now my dislike has more or less worn off.

Personally, I try to avoid using medication as much as possible, and this isn't something I'd go to a GP or try and seek a prescription about. Then again, other people probably have worse social anxiety than me - I don't know what goes on in other peoples' heads - and I'm not qualified to give medical advice. What do I know.

I'm the same. I have social anxiety and generalised anxiety disorder and I find it very difficult to make phone calls, as well as receive them. I used to find it impossible actually. If I receive a call from an unknown number or I don't recognise the number, I panic and feel sick. I watch and wait until it stops then I immediately scour the internet to see if it was a scam call. If it's a call from work, I very rarely answer. I used to do that but I got used to answering (in my old job) after about a year. However I recently got a new job and find it hard to answer again. I let it go to voicemail and listen, then I spend about 3 hours working up the courage to ring them back. I'd rather call than answer, because by then I can work out in my head what I want to say, especially if I have listened to the voicemail and know what they were phoning me about. If it's a friend, I will usually answer. My friends don't usually call me though so it's not really an issue. BUt yeah, I totally understand you.

All I can say is it gets (slightly) better with practice. The anxiety you have when answering/making calls won't subside too much, but at least you'll be making the calls. 3 or 4 weeks ago I had a lot of people to call. My student loan hadn't gone through, and I had to call to get it sorted. I also had to call my uni and the loan company. I surprisingly got better at calling. My friend encouraged me to answer a phone call from work the other week too, and I did it. It was a HUGE step for me, to answer a call- I wasn't even in the comfort of my own place, I was out, on the street, and I answered it. I genuinely think the practice the previous week, actually helped. I still felt horrible and anxious, but I did it nevertheless. Its worse not knowing believe me.

If it's so bad that you just can't do it, maybe consult a doctor. It could be part of an anxiety disorder, or it could just be a phobia- but they still might be able to prescribe some medication. I'm on citalopram for my anxiety and I believe it's working, so if they offer some kind of treatment, maybe take it and see if it makes a difference, I know how hard it is so keep your chin up and keep trying, it's so hard but it's something we have to do as we go into adulthood. Good luck!!