Making Important Phone Calls

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Today I decided to call to schedule a doctor's appointment and ask about a prescription refill for one of my meds. My dad has always made the appointments for me and I thought it would be a good idea to try to do it myself since I am an adult after all. I usually get nervous when talking to someone on the phone but I thought it would be easy. First the receptionist wanted to confirm my ID (which is procedural but still she was making me nervous). I was able to make the appointment with no problem but then when it was time to ask about my refill she wanted me to spell out the medicine (I can't spell on top of my head esp long words). I thought everything would be on file and it would be simple. Then the receptionist told me my doctor wasn't there at the time (she was probably busy w/ a patient) and wanted me to call my pharmacy and tell them to call the doctor's office. I didn't call the doctor's office only to have to call the pharmacy and the few times I contacted the pharmacy was for automatic refills. That really threw me off and I started having an anxiety attack. Finally I told the receptionist I'd call her back later. I decide to wait until my dad gets off of work and he would help me straighten it out.

It got me thinking that everytime I have to call somebody my heart beats really fast and I start to shake. I can planned everything to say in advanced but when the actual conversation happens I start to stutter a little and I come off really nervous (which is I am). On top of that I am waiting for a phone call from my hospital's HR about my job offer and I'm scared I can blow it. I'll probably be just fine but I get paranoid about these things. Does anyone else have issues talking on the phone? What can I do to calm down (or at least try to)?

I have major issues with phone calls, I've always done whatever I can to avoid and get around having to call people. It really is debilitating if you can't make certain calls as an adult since no one will talk to your parents anymore for legal reasons, it has taken me years to get to the point to advocate for myself even the little bit I do now but phone calls are still difficult with people I don't know.

What I've always found, for me at least, is that the actual phone call is no where near as bad as the anxiety beforehand so once I work up the courage to make XYZ call the hardest part is already over.

I don't like making phone calls most of the time. I also find it best to just go ahead and make the call as soon as I decide that I need to, rather than putting it off. It only gets harder for me the longer I delay it, and then the phone call is usually less stressful than wondering if I can afford to delay, delaying, and then when it gets too late in the day to make the call, wishing I had done it.

From what you're both saying I have a habit of procrastination in general so I guess this applies to here too. I agree that I start feeling regret if I delay it for whatever reason and I work up a meltdown in extreme situations. Most of the time I do feel better once the call is over, but with whom I talked too and the issue not getting resolved, I don't feel good about this. It depends on the phone call itself, but a lot of times for me it is anxiety beforehand and it turns out to not be that bad. I prefer texting, email, and if I have to, face to face contact over a phone call anyday.

I hate making phone calls. There was this one time I volunteered to help out at a blood drive for the Red Cross. It turned out that what they wanted me to do was make phone calls informing people about the blood drive. So I just left and didn't help out with anything. o.o

I wish it was acceptable to text everything. >.<

Ana, that sounded boring I would had walked out too. Red Cross came to my school and since I couldn't give blood they had me talk to the people donating blood and give them snacks. They should had other jobs for you to do instead of just calling people. And texting and/or just writing s**t down in general is way easier than verbal communication.

My situation didn't get resolved at all. I had two medications that I was previously prescribed to (Buspar and Lamisil generic brands) and I only wanted Buspar refilled. Somehow my doctor or pharmacy thought I wanted Lamisil refilled and when I came home yesterday I saw that sitting on the table. I guess I could take responsibility for not being exactly clear on what I wanted due to nervousness and not pronouncing the names correctly. Since my big toes aren't clear of the fungal infection I've decided to go on ahead and take the medication but just for the month. I have a doctor's appointment coming up in over two weeks so I'll talk to her about the refill then. Unless my anxiety gets really bad before then I rather wait than deal with the mess between calling the pharmacy and waiting from the doctor's office. Just way too much hassle!

I struggle with phone calls a lot. Always have.

My coping mechanisms are:

- When I know I need to make a call, I spend at least a few hours preparing. Ideally, a couple of days. This gives me time to script and work out how it's expected to go.

- I don't answer the phone at all, unless it's someone I know well. I will wait for a voicemail first, so that I know what's about and can call back in my own time or find an alternative way to contact someone. With friends, I'll let the call ring out and then send a message by text or FB saying "sorry, I missed your call!".

- I will do everything I can to avoid a call. I'll always try to suggest an alternative.

- For all important or official things, my husband has taken over. He explains that I'm autistic and that he needs to speak on my behalf. He usually has to hand the phone over to me for me to confirm my identity, answer a question or two and then state that I allow him to represent me, but then the phone goes back to him and he can do the rest. He manages every important phone call for me, now, as well as taking over when I need to call and book something.

I spent my whole life trying to get better with the phone and it never worked, so this is one area where I've allowed myself to accept my limitations and I'm lucky to have support with this.

well i can do certain bird calls, and imitate many other animals and people, and i can imitate some phones (the buzzing variety), but i can not imitate "important" phones because i have a limited idea of their ring tones.

i think the most important phone in the world is that red phone they use when discussing important stuff in the white house, but i have never heard it ring, so i can not make that phone call.