For many it started as a traumatic or embarrassing experience, for example in school when reading aloud and they made a boo-boo, the class laughed and the boo-boobs continued slowly and steady with a snowball-effect. For me it was that I was afraid to read aloud in class because a spoke a bit differently than the others. Some years ago my stuttering was so bad that I could not even ask a simple question. I'm a dad now and I must be able to ask questions to help my kid!! There is a deep mening in what I said above and I do intend to be mean in any way(!). I think that we stutterers need to hear the hard stuff too. We need to realise that only we can do something about it and it requires hard and diligent work over time. I will admit that even if I am fluent now there are a situation now and then (it can be months between) where a random threat pops up in my mind. When I speak I can even make boo-boos, just like all other fluent people. If I don't know how to handle that, I will most likely relapse and fall back into stuttering. And that's I ment by letting it happen. There are weapons/tools you can use for this and it do really work, but it requires you to work hard and practice. You can see it as a "startup cost". I'll gladly help you if you want because I know how bad it can be. It can really be hell.