i don't know how old you are but I'm 22 and I have the same issues more and more. I've just joined this sub but I assume most people here experience anxiety around phone calls, but being a young person and going through COVID is what I think makes phone calls even harder. The thing of silence for 10 seconds was extremely validating to here as I do the exact same!! in your post you mentioned some steps you have tried to help your stutter. Although I am not a doctor I have also had a stutter for as long as I can remember and the NHS gave me group therapy as a child for it!! and what I really remember from that time was 'don't make it the thing at the forefront of your mind'. I also have OCD, which could be linked to stuttering (based on vibes not science), and this idea has helped with my OCD as well as my stutter. If you think about it simply, it makes a lot of sense, if you desperately don't want something to happen you probably shouldn't think about it, but that's difficult when it's the thing that is controlling your life. I also just wanted to end with something my nan told me recently, it may sound a little patronising but she also has mental health disorders and had a stroke 5 years ago. 'Mention it to the person over the phone', validate yourself!! The fear of telling people may be valid in some cases, so maybe for those calls you can't, but if other calls get easier maybe the harder ones will get easier by extension. BUT WHAT IS MOST KEY IS THAT MOST PEOPLE ARE NICE AND UNDERSTANDING - there may be valid cases of people who may not be understanding but in my experience if you just say it, people will not only accept it they will appreciate it.