> I have pretty severe anxiety. It’s not caused by my stuttering Your stuttering certainly plays a role in your anxiety. I've been there man. Stuttering is at its root an avoidance behavior disorder. The more you avoid speaking situations, the more anxiety you will have when you inevitably have to speak. Whenever you opt out of speaking, or substitute a word, you reinforce this thought pattern of "I cant say that." You feed the anxiety. A little experiment you can do is call 5 stores and ask them a simple question. I bet the by the 5th store your anxiety will be less than the first. Extrapolate this concept to all speaking situations in life. You cannot avoid forever. It's best to take a proactive approach or your life will continue to be how it is now. You CAN change the way you feel about stuttering. I went from where you are to being able to stuttering openly in front of people with 0 anxiety. It's very possible. It takes some time, and the first steps are hardest. You can gain momentum fast though. You school will certainly offer speech therapy, go for it. Look up American Institute of Stuttering in NYC - go to their 2 week intensive program - seriously, it change my life. A few good books to pick up are 'From Stuttering to Fluency' by Gunnars Nieders, 'SOS For Emotions' by Lynn Clark, 'Redefining Stuttering: What the Struggle to Speak is Really About' by Harrison. I feel for you man because I've been in your shoes. I lived most of my life avoiding - living with so much anxiety. I'm telling you it's much better on the other side. Eventually you will have to face these fears if you want true happiness in life.