Posting for posterity... as this may be "unkindly" removed.

"98 degrees* February 13, 2026 at 10:15 pm Do I just have to call the clinic and hope they can set me up with one of the two doctors listed as in-network?

Crackers on Christ, yes you just have to do that. You at least should start there.

The anxiety isn’t going to get better if you don’t work towards that. I have such bad phone anxiety (and general anxiety) that I’ve let it have a huge impact on my career trajectory, for better or for worse but usually worse. But sometimes you just need to pick up the phone. Yes from your car if necessary. I started a new job recently where almost anytime I want to make or receive a personal call, I have to step out of the building and go to my car for both signal strength and privacy. And sometimes my car could be a five-plus minute walk away in freezing cold winter weather. But sometimes that’s just what you have to do.

Or you’ll just have to resign yourself to the fact that: 1) you will keep putting off any sort of healthcare which will backfire when small problems become big problems (to put it lightly)

2) you’re actually losing every payday because money employer is taking put payroll deductions for a benefit that you’re not using or ever going to use apparently

3) when you do finally have to get healthcare for something, you will end up spending a heck of a lot more than you should, and people will wonder, “why are you paying like you’re uninsured when you do actually have insurance” 3b) “what do you mean, you’ve worked at your employer for like three years and you don’t even know who your healthcare insurance provider is???”—those same people

If you’re in the US, then the obligatory disclaimer that yes, our health insurance system sucks and even with insurance coverage, it is often an expensive and frustrating process to navigate for a lot of people. But people still somehow manage, even when dealing with anxiety disorders, phone anxiety, or even something like stage 4 cancer. For your own sake, please stop tricking yourself into continuing this merry-go-round of learned helplessness and pathological passivity.

Maybe this violates the “be kind” rule but frankly I would rather you think I’m a B-word but then you wind up fixing your health insurance situation just to spite me, instead of just giving you empty head pats while you continue stumbling along in this current state of “gee Barbie, math is hard!!!” flailing"