Unexpected phone calls

[Ormirian]

I'm on citalopram for anxiety. Have been for 2 yrs now. By and large i am fine - mood has improved massively until I try to come off the things

But there is one thing that sets my heart racing and brings me to the verge of panic and that is the phone ringing unexpectedly, especially in the evenings. Generally most of our friends call DH or me on our mobiles so landline calls will just be parents, salesmen other stuff like that.

DH reckons it's because dad was so ill last year and that when the phone goes i am afraid it will be mum or the hosptial with bad news. That might be part of it. I think that it's more the feeling that it will be something more to 'deal with' and I often feel I am only just about keeping things afloat as it is.

Does anyone else have this feeling? How do I teach myself to not worry?

I don't have any experience on this but just didn?t want your post to go unanswered. If you are on citalopram for anxiety, could you speak to your gp regarding this?

I had that very badly for years since my Dad rung when I was at uni to tell me that my Mum had died much sooner than expected. The phone rang as soon as I walked through the door as dad was basically repeat dialling. It eased when my very frail MIL got a carer who became first contact (as we live abroad) and who had our mobile numbers. And it went away pretty much completely when she died last year

So for me it was just literally related to that fear of more bad news and yes more to deal with (I had a lot of other stuff going on as well).

So you are not alone for what it's worth. I've never done anything about the anxiety as i knew where it was coming from and it was manageable. If it is not manageable for you maybe some CBT counselling would help.

Thanks.

I like to think of myself as invulnerable. I am the one who copes. But last night the phone rang and it was a financial consultant who had spoken to dh earlier - dh told him to ring back later to speak to me. Twat! I was caught unawares and because I misunderstood at first and thought it was to do with our mortgage , I ended up talking to him for bloody ages and answering loads of questions - heart racing, palms sweaty. Totally ridiculous. I was in the middle of putting ironing away and supervising ds2s bath. I felt as if the whole edifice of all the things ihad to do was tottering. I honestly wanted to scream and scream and get under the bed to hide.