Phone call anxiety: what it is and how to get over it

Highlights

• Phone anxiety is a new social disorder
• Statistics showing that 76% of the millennial suffer from phone call anxiety
• Crippling phone anxiety harms people and stunts them emotionally.

A telephone has evolved over the past years into something of utmost importance to people. What started as a cellular device with a receiver and a dialer has now become a hand device for social media, connecting with loved ones and so much more. People are known to conduct multimillion-dollar businesses from their phones. There are also some people who cannot be separated from their mobile phones. However, some people suffer from something popularly known as ‘phone call anxiety.’ Their symptoms are known to be different too. 

Phone call anxiety is a fear that stems from people who deal with social anxiety disorder. The official name for this anxiety is ‘telephobia’ 

Phone Call Anxiety At work

Telephobia or call anxiety is a serious issue and is estimated to affect almost fifteen million people in the U.S. The problem may seem unusual to most since we use our telephone so often. This specific branch of social anxiety disorder affects a large number of professionals too. Phone call anxiety at work mostly stems from the fear of the unknown. In a workplace environment, a person can feel alone and stressed when they are obligated to talk to strangers over a phone call. Conducting business over a phone call for a person with call anxiety can be very tough. 

There are a lot of impromptu questions involved, people from several countries and so much more. This can lead to an anxiety attack induced by an uncomfortable phone call. A survey in 2019 revealed that as many as 76% of Millenials i.e. people who are right now between 24-40 years of age. Millennials have known to have more coping strategies and alternatives to deal with phone call anxiety. It was observed that most of them replace phone calls with texting and emails to avoid phone calls. While this may be a good coping strategy to manage the stress, it is surely not a permanent fix. 

Phone Call Anxiety Attack

Like any other anxiety attack, a call anxiety attack can be identified using these symptoms. There are both emotional as well as physical indicators of call anxiety. The emotional symptoms of this kind of fear can be Avoid making calls or having others call, delay in making or answering phone calls, or even obsess about what was said after calls. The symptoms experienced before a call can be stress about embarrassing oneself, getting worried about bothering the other person.

The most common physical symptoms can be severe anxiety, shortness of breath, racing the heart. Other physical symptoms can also be nausea, dizziness, and muscular tension. If any or all of these symptoms are experienced by someone before, during, or after a phone call then it can be concluded that they have telephone phobia. The statistics for people with call anxiety is compelling and it is surprising how different generations have been living with it.

Phone Call Anxiety Tips

The fear of phone calls can hamper a person’s professional and personal growth. Therefore here are a few call anxiety tips. This kind of fear cannot go away with simply ignoring a specific aspect of life. Even though it is not necessary for survival, phone calls are indeed important to keep track of loved ones, conducting business, and so on. Hence it is absolutely crucial to deal with call anxiety and become comfortable with it over time.

The best ways to deal with one’s anxiety are as follows:

1. Smile: The smile on one’s face is not for the person on the other side of the phone. Someone with call anxiety will feel relaxed if they smile at themselves before or during a phone call.
2. Reward oneself: A reward is the greatest way to encourage oneself to do a difficult task more often. It can be a food item of choice or a small treat out on the town, etc.
3. Practice: It may be difficult to believe but there is something known as a phone anxiety call center where people can simply talk to someone struggling about any topic and help them deal with their anxiety.
4. Prepare Notes: For most people with this kind of anxiety, the biggest problem is that one does not know what to say. Therefore the best way would be to visualize the conversation and write it down on paper.

Conclusion

With this, we have looked at a common yet not discussed fear. Yes, call anxiety is a legitimate form of fear that stems from a social anxiety disorder. Call anxiety is suffered by many kinds of people all across the globe for different kinds of reasons. Therefore, attention should be paid towards this.