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I am suffering at work My stutter/block has gotten really bad lately. Ever since I've started this job (back in April 2017) I have noticed I am having a harder time with my speech that I didn't really have before. I used to only stutter a little bit, but now because of the stress of and constantly having to answer the phone at work and worrying about the manager hearing me mess up, I have been blocking so much not just at work but also at home and it is depressing me. I can barely hold a conversation because I keep blocking so much. I'm scared to talk to people or ask questions. I am suffering. It has damaged my self-esteem more than I can explain. I have gone into the bathroom and cried from the embarrassment I feel here. Countless times I have had awkward moments on the phone where people hang up on me after I block through my greeting, or stay silent and then hang up after they realize I sound totally incompetent. Some have even laughed at me, at least one apologized after though. My manager has asked me if I was okay after I blocked through an entire question I had for him. It makes me want to hide. I am a very sensitive, perceptive person so this makes it harder to deal with. I can't just grow thick skin and "get over it". The worst part is, I don't think they understand how much of a struggle it is for me, that it isn't something I can just "get rid of". I've sent an email to one of my managers and she told me I just needed to slow down more and breathe. I appreciated her compassion but I am still struggling very hard with it. They have told me they want me to answer a certain way, but whenever I have tried I just sound monotone and I stutter even more so I go back to my quick way of answering and I fear they will say something again about it. It's all a big, awkward cluster of crud. And I can't just quit and look for something else, that isn't an option. Especially since I am currently supporting my younger brother. I make good money here, and I don't have a college education to just waltz over somewhere else make just as much. It was a miracle I even got hired. I enjoy the data entry duties of this job, I just hate how I have to be the back-up phone person. I can't ask to not have that duty either because that's part of my job: answering the phone.