I can't seem to do it

Applied online for a registration hoping that's all that I would be doing and I don't have to deal with the extreme anxiety-inducing situation of talking to the customer care reps.

After I had finished submitting, I found out that a customer care rep would actually be calling me to finish things up. I didn't expect it and I've been silently panicking although I'm not afraid of the thought of talking to them, I just don't want to have long pauses on words when talking. It gets me so uncomfortable.

I have been waiting for the call but have not received any so far. The problem is I don't mind receiving the call compared to having to call them up myself. The minute the phone starts ringing when I call them my heart would also start racing, making it difficult for me to speak and on top of it, I also have a speech block problem which worsens any situation for me.

I am just hoping that they would call me even though it is not easy for me to do, it will be somewhat better compared to my calling them.

Hi there, how did it go? I just wanted to share with you something that I have found useful... believe it or not, it's filming myself on my mobile phone. The intention is to solely get used to talking, playing it back, and striving to improve. You may well find yourself pleasantly surprised when you hear your voice played back (I know I did), and if not, only you are viewing your progress, so need for embarassment and practice makes perfect. Worth a go? Please share your thoughts...

Just when I was preparing myself to call them, I had missed a call from them when I was out and it's making me feel even more terrible. I had contacted them via email (it's making me cringe even more) they had responded not knowing that I had in fact received a call from their side. I just can't bring myself to do it. It's making me feel extremely stressed but I'm awaiting a response from them or maybe even a call and God knows how I would respond to it.): When I'm talking to myself or even if I record it I know for sure that I won't make any mistakes let alone embarrass myself but this is seriously anxiety-inducing.

Thanks for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it.

Update: just received the call and I handled it like a pro q; I'm still in shock unable to believe it. I even managed to say my name without stuttering. Feeling better now 🙂

Sounds like you're feeling like you're annoying the customer service rep if you're the one calling them, but if they're the one to call you first, you don't get that feeling.

Just know that it is their job and they're being paid to interact and address you. It is their obligation to. A lot of the customers they have to deal with on a daily basis are difficult, hostile and agitating. So if you're not any of those, they are probably grateful and happy to have interacted and serviced you. Any stuttering, awkward pauses or what not, to them, that is something they won't even care or notice. Their main concern is getting what you what you needed, get on with their jobs. They're there to serve you. Remembering this as a fact and keeping this in mind usually is a great help if you have anxiety with customer service reps.

I just wanted to congratulate you on how you handled the call Sometimes we can be our own worse enemies. We put so much expectation on ourselves, and we expect perfection, and then analyse every little detail afterwards. It's actually okay not to be perfect, it's actually okay to make mistakes, it's even okay when we make a fool of ourselves. What doesn't help is beating ourselves up for every minor fault... Putting all this expectation on ourselves can be exhausting and counter-productive. Anyway well done you, you should give yourself a well deserved pat on the back and why not even treat yourself to something. Every success is worth celebrating.

Agree with OCD.


When I had generalised anxiety, with what seemed like billions of concerns, worries, trajedies, I realised that none of them came true, not even close, and that the ones i had to face such as Ms14s call, were never anywhere near as bad as the anxiety it me.


Did I ever learn from my experiences? nowhere near during the time I was suffering badly with anxiety. ****ing ridiculous

Brilliant work! And perhaps this situation taught you a little something about yourself.

Good luck and hope it goes well for you, but either way you should be proud - well done!

I just wanted to say we really shouldn't go beating ourselves up. We can be our worse enemies, and things we think are majorly important often seem unimportant to others. A lot of people can just shrug things off, or even just dismiss them, we should take a leaf out of their book and do the same. Perhaps a new motto could be celebrate the triumphs, and learn from the mis-haps and then disregard them as if they never happened. What does everyone else think?

Thank you so much. It means a lot to me! As they say we are our own critics and I go to an extreme extent in criticizing myself 🙂

Thing is would we sit and critise others? Probably not, so why do it to ourselves. We should be more forgiving. Always strive to do things better until we are contented, but as we learn from mistakes, forget the past and look to the future. Hope this helps