Phone Anxiety Assessment
Answer 20 questions to understand your relationship with phone calls. Takes about 4 minutes.
This assessment is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not a clinical diagnostic tool. If you are experiencing significant distress, please consult a qualified mental health professional.
What This Quiz Measures
This assessment evaluates your relationship with phone calls across six distinct categories, giving you a detailed picture of how phone anxiety shows up in your life. Rather than a simple yes-or-no screening, each question measures the intensity of your response on a four-point scale, producing a nuanced score that reflects your actual experience.
Making Calls
How much stress do you feel before, during, and after outgoing calls? This section looks at whether you delay or avoid making calls, rehearse conversations in advance, or feel relieved when you reach voicemail instead of a live person.
Receiving Calls
Do you let calls go to voicemail, feel your heart race when your phone rings, or experience dread when you see an incoming call from certain numbers? These questions assess your comfort level with unexpected incoming calls.
Voicemail & Follow-Up
Many people with phone anxiety find voicemail particularly stressful. This section explores whether you avoid listening to voicemails, dread leaving them, or put off returning missed calls for hours or days.
Physical Symptoms
Phone anxiety often manifests physically. Questions in this category ask about sweating, nausea, racing heartbeat, shaking hands, dry mouth, or tension headaches that appear before or during phone calls.
Cognitive Patterns
This section examines thought patterns such as catastrophizing (imagining the worst outcome), fear of saying something embarrassing, difficulty concentrating during calls, or replaying conversations afterward and criticizing yourself.
Impact on Daily Life
The final category measures whether phone anxiety affects your work, healthcare, finances, or relationships. Have you missed appointments, avoided scheduling things, or asked someone else to make a call on your behalf?
The full quiz takes about 4 minutes. Your answers produce a total score between 0 and 80, placing you into one of four severity levels with personalized recommendations for your specific situation.
Understanding Phone Anxiety Levels
After completing the quiz, your score will fall into one of four ranges. Each level reflects a different relationship with phone calls, and understanding where you fall can help you decide what steps, if any, feel right for you.
Minimal (0 – 20)
You have a generally comfortable relationship with phone calls. You may occasionally prefer texting for convenience, but calls do not cause significant stress. Most people at this level handle phone tasks without needing to prepare or recover emotionally afterward.
Mild to Moderate (21 – 40)
You experience noticeable discomfort around certain types of calls, such as contacting strangers, dealing with authority figures, or making calls in front of others. You may delay some calls but generally manage to complete them. Self-help strategies like preparation scripts and gradual exposure tend to be effective at this level.
Moderate to Severe (41 – 60)
Phone calls cause substantial anxiety that regularly affects your daily routines. You likely avoid calls when possible, experience physical symptoms beforehand, and may have missed important deadlines or appointments because of call avoidance. Working with a therapist or using structured tools like the 30-Day Phone Confidence Challenge can help build tolerance gradually.
Severe (61 – 80)
Phone calls are a major source of distress in your life. You may go to great lengths to avoid any voice conversation, experience intense physical reactions when your phone rings, and feel that phone anxiety limits your opportunities. At this level, professional support from a therapist experienced with anxiety disorders is recommended, alongside practical tools like AI calling assistants that can handle necessary calls while you work on building confidence at your own pace.
Whatever your score, remember that phone anxiety is common, well-understood, and responsive to the right support. There is no wrong starting point.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is phone anxiety?
Phone anxiety, also known as telephonophobia, is a type of social anxiety that causes fear, avoidance, or distress around making or receiving phone calls. It affects millions of people worldwide and can range from mild discomfort to severe avoidance that impacts daily life.
How accurate is this quiz?
This quiz is designed for informational purposes to help you understand your relationship with phone calls. While based on common symptoms and patterns of phone anxiety, it is not a clinical diagnostic tool. For a formal diagnosis, please consult a mental health professional.
What do the severity levels mean?
Results are categorized into four levels based on your total score: Minimal (healthy relationship with calls), Mild to Moderate (common discomfort), Moderate to Severe (significant impact on daily life), and Severe (major impairment requiring support). Higher scores suggest greater benefit from professional help or practical tools.
What can I do about phone anxiety?
Options include gradual exposure therapy (starting with easy calls), cognitive behavioral techniques, anxiety management apps like KallyConfidence, working with a therapist, and using AI assistants like KallyAI to handle difficult calls while you build confidence.
Is phone anxiety common?
Yes, phone anxiety is very common. Studies suggest that up to 76% of millennials and Gen Z experience anxiety about phone calls. It's particularly prevalent among people with social anxiety, ADHD, autism, or those who grew up primarily using text-based communication.
Can I share my results?
Yes! After completing the quiz, you'll receive a unique shareable link with your results. Share on social media or with friends and family. Only your score and severity level are visible - your individual answers remain private.