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People who suffer from social anxiety frequently experience telephone anxiety (SAD). 1 Many people may not like to talk on the phone or may be “afraid of the phone”. However, you may have genuine phone phobia if your fear of making and receiving calls leads to symptoms such as intense anxiety, shortness of breath, or a fast heartbeat. Phone call anxiety is an internal emotional response when you pick up the phone receiver to make or receive a call. It is not the same as telephone phobia, although they can have similar symptoms. Phone phobia is the fear of making or receiving phone calls, while phone anxiety is less of a fear and more of a reluctance. Many people prefer not to talk on the phone, but if you find that this nervousness causes you to avoid making or answering calls, you may be experiencing phone call anxiety.
How to deal with phone call anxiety
business phone calls
Anxiety about phone calls at work can affect your productivity. Not only does it affect people who do their work primarily over the phone, but it can also affect salespeople, help desk staff, secretaries, journalists, public relations officers, lawyers, consultants, and others. people who make and receive phone calls as part of their job. It can also affect your ability to secure a job if your phone interview turns into a panic attack.
How to deal with phone call anxiety
It’s easier to avoid anxiety-provoking situations than to confront them, but the longer you put them off, the worse your anxiety can become. Instead of telling yourself to get over it, there are several practical steps you can take that may be helpful in helping you overcome your anxiety. Here are some steps you can take to learn how to deal with phone call anxiety:
Recognize anxiety triggers.
Keep a journal of what you were doing when the anxiety struck and the severity of the anxiety. This helps you identify if you feel more anxious when the phone rings or when you plan to make a call. It shows whether you feel anxious before you pick up the phone, worried about what you were going to say, or after the call ends, as to whether you expressed yourself well or said the right thing. You may feel more anxious about an incoming call than an outgoing one, and your diary can identify which calls trigger your anxiety.
Exercise
Relaxation or breathing exercises can be helpful in relieving anxiety. Even 10 minutes of exercise can reduce tension. It can also help you focus on the present instead of what may or may not happen next.
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Consider your situation from another perspective. Ask yourself what advice you would give to a friend or colleague. Ask yourself if the other person really cares that you stumbled over a word or mispronounced it. This can help you come up with a plan to deal with his own anxiety.
think logically
If you’re worried that your call might disturb someone, make sure that if they’re too busy to talk, they probably won’t answer the phone. And instead of worrying about what the other person thinks of you, remember that they can’t see you either. They cannot see what you look like, what you are wearing, your body language or your gestures.
structure a call
Prepare a structured call. If you’re worried about stumbling over your words or forgetting what you were going to say, write a short script ahead of time. Read it out loud before you make the call. When you feel comfortable with that, make the call.
make a call
Use exposure therapy: confront your fear. The more you do an activity, the less intimidating it becomes. It can start with a call to an automated information center, where you choose numbered options instead of speaking to a real person. Then try calling a local restaurant or dry cleaner and ask what time they close.
With practice, your growing confidence is likely to offset your anxiety. Make a to-do list of everyone you intend to talk to on the phone and make the first call. After the call, acknowledge your achievement and move on to the next one.
Set goals
Start with small goals. A goal might be to stay on the phone for more than two minutes. Another could be answering the phone within three rings. Gradually extend those goals.
seek professional help
If you think you might benefit from therapy, there are a number of ways to seek professional advice. You can ask your GP or doctor to refer you to a specialist. If you prefer, you can find a suitable counselor or therapist privately.
Symptoms of anxiety over phone calls
You may notice that you tend to delay using the phone or avoid it altogether. But the main symptom of phone anxiety is a feeling of nervousness. This can range from mild uneasiness to full-scale panic. You may also develop physical symptoms, such as sweating, tremors, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, joint or muscle pain, and even an increased heart rate.
Possible causes of anxiety about phone calls
Sometimes we can link phone call anxiety to other problems, such as social anxiety or depression. Social anxiety is an overwhelming fear of social situations, while depression is a persistent feeling of sadness and hopelessness, often for no apparent reason. Here, we discuss some of the causes of anxiety when it comes to using the phone.
Not knowing what to say
Communication via text or email gives you time to think and choose your words. You can’t always prepare a response before a phone call because you don’t know what the other person is going to say or what questions to ask. This inability to get ahead of the other person’s side of the conversation can induce anxiety.
Opinions of other people
Anxiety can come from thinking about other people’s opinions of you. Stop thinking as soon as you can. If you are worried about disapproval or rejection, ask yourself if it matters. Most likely it won’t.
time restrictions
Phone calls can take longer than a quick email. You may be in a hurry to impart information and may not have time for a phone call that can turn into a long conversation. You may also worry that the person you are calling will consider your call an intrusion into their busy day.
No undo button
Written communication gives you time to collect your thoughts, reconsider, and edit what you’ve written before you hit the send button. With a phone call, although he can correct something he has said, he knows that he cannot undo it.
no visual clues
A phone call is like having a blind conversation: you only hear one voice. You may also feel self-conscious about your own voice. This amounts to actors refusing to see themselves in movies. Unless it’s a video call, you can’t see gestures or body language, so you can only gauge the shape of the other person by their voice. Pauses can also be awkward; you can’t see if someone or something has distracted the other person or if he is taking notes. Video calls allow you to see these signs, but if you’re unsure about your appearance, they can exacerbate your anxiety.
Lack of privacy
In a face-to-face conversation, spies hear both sides of the conversation, but open-plan offices are not conducive to productive phone calls. Knowing that your colleagues can hear your every word can influence what you say. And knowing that you can’t hear the other person’s side of the conversation can inhibit your ability to conduct the conversation the way you’d like.
This in itself presents a challenge. You can consciously adjust your phone’s behavior, carefully monitoring your tone and often modifying your words for the benefit of those who might hear you. This can lead to more anxiety, since you’re focusing on yourself instead of just saying what you mean. This can also make it more difficult to focus on what the other person is saying.
Inexperience
With the increasing use of emails, text messages, and online chats, people are making fewer phone calls. Telephone conversations require an understanding of the subtleties of telephone etiquette. This includes knowing how to move from a greeting to the substance of the call, when to pause, when it is acceptable to interrupt, and how to end the conversation.
Final words: How to deal with phone call anxiety
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