postr/StutterNovember 2, 2019

Acquired adult, highly situational stutter?

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Content

Acquired adult, highly situational stutter? Hi there, I'm hoping to find others who can relate to this and possibly shed some light on what is going on. I don't recall ever having issues with stuttering as a child. I am 23 and have trouble speaking in seemingly highly specific situations now. For context, I live with my parents again and hang out with my friends rather infrequently but stay in touch online a lot. I almost never have problems speaking with family, but outings with friends is maybe 40% chance (and if it happens once, it'll likely happen again) of it happening. I have social anxiety and due to DV, I'm concerned about possible brain damage occuring 1/2 years ago. Never been diagnosed or looked at, but I have a sneaking suspicion it may play a role. It's really infrequent and only when talking with my friends but last night I was quite bad, at a point it happened every time I tried to speak. Once it happened, even after getting the worst word out the rest of the sentence sucked. I don't know what it is and I'm convinced it's happening with more frequency in the past couple years. A lot of the time, I find my brain is either 'ahead' of what I'm trying to say and the sentence comes out rushed or I'm fighting to come up with words on the spot for some reason but it doesnt usually translate to a stutter. It makes me feel slow and since my friends are big talkers, I can struggle to get a word in edgeways with being quick to reply (I like being a listener anyway, so it's not so bad). I'm fine if I can think for a sec and I'm much better with family, but with friends it can sometimes feel like my brain is soup and I need a second to compose a decent response. Sometimes conversation doesn't come naturally because I don't know what to say. It's so context dependent, I wonder if it's a social anxiety thing, but I've had SA for so long without issue and it seems this is happening much more with friends. Anyone else have trouble in extemely specific situations? Edit: I spoke to my best friend who actually experienced something very similar. She developed a stammer after a traumatic event that only happens with certain people! I asked my GP who said, due the situational nature, it's likely a mental health thing, which I intend on working on as it is. I still want a brain scan but with no real compelling reason to, of course that can't happen. I'm glad I can relate to my friend, but obviously not that we're in this same boat!

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceCauses & VariabilityEmotional Experience

Subthemes

Anticipating StutteringAvoidance & SubstitutionOverthinking & MonitoringPropositionality & WeightAnxiety & Social Judgment

Codes (5)

anticipationpropositionalitytime_pressureemotional_statesocializing_one_on_one