You're most welcome. Always glad to help. ​ >how you dealt with/improved your anxiety Part of the speech therapy was really mastering my fluency. When the anxiety would present, I *knew* I had to focus on the fluency I had learned. And if you're practicing every day, it comes naturally. Like I said in that older post, my therapy didn't have me use my fluency in the real world until I was ready. Working backwards a bit from when I achieved fluency. I was already in a professional environment where I had to speak with people. Which helped. I hadn't been letting my anxiety make decisions about whether I would speak or not. I was a really angry teen. My stuttering had a lot to do with that. I think I went less into anxiety and channeled more anger. I wouldn't recommend going with anger. It's quite toxic and I still have a lot of anger I carry. Before that, I was the kid in middle school that couldn't speak in front of the class. I figured out I could get excused from doing speeches. I don't recommend avoidance techniques. I think they damaged my confidence for a long time. But when you achieve fluency it's a huge boost to your confidence. The anxiety related to speaking in front of people diminishes greatly. When you've worked at learning fluency and you've mastered it, speaking situations become opportunities. Teach a class of 30 new employees about using the new inventory system? I'll do it! Take a communication class in college that I had avoided before because of my stutter? Hell yes. Speeches every week. Rest of the class was putting in 10 minutes of effort preparing for their speeches (and it showed.) I put work into every speech. Not because I had to, but because I had the opportunity. I had visual aids. I walked the room while I presented. I commanded that room. And not one of my peers in the class knew I was a stutterer. Not one of them had any clue what a high I got from being able to give a speech. And it's not like I'm always 100% fluent. But my blocks are so infrequent and so minor that it's completely different from before. Putting your fluency and anxiety aside for a moment, compare yourself today to who you were five years ago. Look at the growth and changes between 2017 and today. I would guess you're a different person in many respects. I imagine you of 2027 will be just as different. Your fluency and anxiety can be among those differences. u/offtheraels suggested seeing a therapist for mental health. (It's something I probably should have done years ago.) It's worth consideration.