Repeated exposure to what frightens you can desensitize you. There is a psychological process to relieve phobias called ‘systematic approximation’. An example is if a person is phobic about bunny rabbits, he’s first exposed to a fluffy white cloth. Later to a stuffed bunny, later to a live caged bunny, and finally to an uncaged bunny he’s asked if he’s ready to to hold. At every step the person is allowed to choose if he’s willing to proceed. This is a lot like voluntarily repeatedly engaging in conversation, though a person stutters. Each time someone attempts to engage in conversation, though in the beginning the results are uncomfortable, the progress is cumulative and a stutterer can become more and more comfortable and experience less anxiety. As a fully recovered stutterer, this makes total sense to me. As I allowed myself to engage in difficult situations, my ability to withstand the stress was reduced, especially after I became more and more fluent though I did still stutter. My recovery did finally come through psychological therapy where I finally dealt with the anger and resentment of my abusive childhood. I wish you all the best of luck dealing with this mysterious condition. Sue