Are calls giving you stress? 8 signs that indicate you have phone call anxiety

Do you ever get stressed or nervous when the phone starts to ring, and you begin to panic over whether to pick up the call or let it ring and end up disconnected? - Have you ever experienced this? We might experience this as a result of phone call anxiety. We experience extreme anxiety and fear about certain events when we are anxious. A key indicator of anxiousness and panic attacks is overthinking.

It affects daily activities, interpersonal interactions, and professional commitments beyond simple anxiety. The sound of a ringing phone may set off a chain reaction of unfavourable feelings and thoughts, resulting in avoidance behaviours or excessive worry about impending calls.

In an Instagram post captioned "Phone Call Anxiety Sounds Like," well-known therapist Alison Seponara explained what it looks like and feels like.

        View this post on Instagram                      

A post shared by Alison Seponara, MS, LPC (@theanxietyhealer)

• People who experience phone call anxiety frequently worry that they will say something wrong or that they won't know the answers to the other person's questions. 
• A great dislike of awkward silences during phone calls is a common symptom of phone call anxiety and feeling scared about what to say and ending the call makes them even more anxious.
• Receiving a phone call can be considered an unusual occurrence in a time where text messages and emails predominate. Therefore, those who experience phone call anxiety can presume 'no one calls anymore so when they do it must be an emergency".
• One may experience phone call anxiety and believe they are not in the correct frame of mind to converse and often feel "not in the right headspace to talk and feel that they have to mask anxiety".
• Overanalyzing and practising talks in advance might result from the anxiety of not knowing what to say on the other end of a phone call. People who experience phone call anxiety believes that "they never know what to so and have to overthink/reherse the conversation ahead of time".
• The dread of forgetting why you called in the first place, People may often feel "what if they dont remember what they are calling for?"
• People who are anxious about making phone calls could feel "pressure of having to hold a conversation when the brain is always in fight or flight mode".
• The worry of being asked to do something, people who experience phone call anxiety often feel "afraid of someone going to ask to do something that they can not say NO to".