I've discovered that stuttering is not the main disorder that I've had for most of my life. It's merely a symptom of the stress and anxiety of being around others, and my fear of being judged negatively by them. At a young age my brain learned to respond to speaking to others as fight-or-flight response. Since neither of those are an option, my brain resorts to freezing, which results in blocks when I anticipate fear of a word. Breathing incorrectly (shallowly and rapidly into my upper chest) is a symptom of this as well. As I have been working on changing to diaphragmatic breathing and reducing the anxiety and tension in my chest, blocks occur less often. This results in more confidence, which is the beginning of teaching my brain that speaking to others is not a life-or-death situation. The more that I do everything correctly, the more ingrained in me it will become. As of right now I need to do this consciously. I predict that within 8-9 months my normal response will be to breathe correctly, and look forward to speaking situations without panic. At that point it will become a good habit and my brain will put speaking on autopilot.