Can't even talk on the telephone

[Dream86]

I've had anxiety since I was a child. I'm 24 now. I get anxiety when I'm by myself in public. I have my husband go with me everywhere. He is very understanding. But my big problem is talking on the phone. I get panic attacks when talking on the phone so I have my husband talk for me. Like if I have to call my credit card company or make doctor appointments my husband has to do it for me. The only people I talk on the phone is my husband and my mom. I have lost all my friends because I can't talk to them on the phone. I don't know what to do.

[Anxious_gal]

You could try therapy like CBT.
Some kind of exposure but with the right tools I believe could help :hugs:

[louanna]

I am the same Dream. I worked on the phones for 5 years before this started and now I can't talk to people other than family on the phone.

[European]

I don't think it's a good idea to have other people do everything you are anxious about for you.

How are you ever going to learn to deal with situations that make you anxious, and build a good self-esteem that would help you to cope with all kinds of future eventualities? And how are you ever going to overcome your anxiety, when you're not even allowing yourself to get close to it, feel it and confront it, in order to overcome it?

It is not just highly unrealistic to expect to be able to rely on other people for the rest of your life, but most importantly, this handing over of your personal responsibility renders you completely dependent and will only serve to exacerbate the anxiety problem in a massive way. In short: You are not helping yourself at all!

If you want to have a life and feel good about yourself, it will be inevitable to face up to your responsibility as an adult person. And yes, some form of therapy, CBT in particular, could help you to help yourself in this respect and take charge of your own life and feel better. Think about whether this would probably be an option for you. :)

[teez]

first step dont beat yourself up over this,,i have the self same problem,,i couldnt open the front door either,,im on a slow road to recovery from this,,after mum who is in her eighties phoned me one day,,i knew it was mum as once it stops ringing i phoned 1471,,its what i do if im in alone,,so i rang her bang,,her heating was off and she was freezing,,hubby wasnt in and not going to be all day,,and she needed the local council ringing arghhhhhhhhhh,,i was scared stiff my heart pounded,,miss beat i felt sick,,but mum was feeling ill with the cold,,it was before christmas all that snow and icy wheather,,i shoke as i found the numbers i needed ,,and tryed dialing five times before i could speak,,even that i messed up,,they put me through to other departments,,gave me other numbers,,end of story i was on the phone for half an hour,,got through to the right department ,,most lovely lady helped no end,,ive done this three times since,,ive also phoned my doctor,,the hospital for hubby,, the vet,,even shocked my pen friend of fifteen years,,just calm down and practice,,pick the phone up, feel at ease,,write down what you need to say ,,it helps me as i can still stutter a bit,,just dont get yourself in a flap if you cant do it straight away,