postr/StutterFebruary 1, 2023

Anyone Else with Periodic Psychogenic Stuttering?

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Content

Anyone Else with Periodic Psychogenic Stuttering? I have normal verbal fluency under ordinary circumstances, but when my emotions rise, be it anger, fear, anxiety, frustration, etc. or when I have to broach any subject vaguely related to a past trauma experience (for which I was given a PTSD diagnosis), my fluency goes out the window. I block, and it feels like trying to push against a brick wall. I hold my breath trying to force the word out. I also have a lot of elongation, usually when I manage to push the first sound past the block, and I'm trying to pull the rest of the word out behind it, as if through a small hole in the block. I tend to repeat the beginnings of hard sounds like B, P, N, etc. over and over, kind of like I'm trying to jump over a large hole. I make a running start, and my brain stops me from jumping at the last second, so I have to back up and start again. Usually when I get stuck in these ways, I give up on speech and resort to writing to communicate. When the emotional stress is gone, the fluency returns to normal. Does anyone else experience this kind of intermittent stuttering?

Themes

Causes & VariabilitySpeech & Stuttering

Subthemes

Stress & Fight/FlightTrauma & PsychologicalBlocks & StoppagesRepetitions & ProlongationsPhysical Tension