Hello Andrew.

First off I am sorry to hear about the uncomfortable anxiety and stomach upset you are suffering.

I have a few ideas that may help.

My first idea is about your worry that you won't be able to properly help a customer. Do you have a supervisor, or other co-workers in the office? I ask because you could reassure yourself every morning by saying to yourself "I am good at my job, I am able to help my customers and deal with their concerns, but in the rare event that I am unable to help them properly I will ask _______ (name of a coworker or supervisor) for assistance"

As for the fear of angry customers, you could reassure yourself before work that the customers are angry because of having a broken internet or being charged wrongly, they are angry about having to call a helpdesk, but your job is to help them and by doing your job and helping them you will be reducing their anger and helping them feel better.

I used to work in customer service, and when I had to deal with angry or beligerant customers I reminded myself that it wasn't my fault that they were angry and I reminded myself that I was helping them to resolve the anger-causing problem, and if necessary I would kindly remind the customer themselves that I did not cause the problem that is angering them by saying something like "Sir, I understand that this situation is very upseting and I'm very sorry for that, but I did not personally cause this situation and in fact I am trying to help you resolve the problem."

Most of the time it worked and the customer calmed down. Occasionally it didn't work and the customer was still angry over the situation, but I never had a customer get more angry at me for reminding them that I didn't cause the problem and I was trying to help them.

I hope that might help

Liz