First memory I have is from (I think) 1st grade. Remember talking to someone after lunch and I couldn’t get a word out. As I was struggling, they just looked at me and walked away. Things like that would happen to me often, aside from more direct bullying over it. I almost preferred the direct bullying because in a weird way they were at least acknowledging me and said what they thought to my face so I wouldn’t be ruminating over what they thought of me. Being ignored, or walked away from, because of my stutter always hit harder and stuck with me on a deeper level. It felt like being told that I’m not only different or “weird”, but I’m also an inconvenience and a burden. I’m 24 now and I’m still overcoming that idea. I still put a lot of pressure on myself to get my words out as fast as possible not because I’m scared of how people will react or see me, but because internally I feel like I’m being a burden for making them wait on me. I’d always recommend getting in therapy as soon as you can, and not the kind of therapy that teaches you all of these “tricks” like how to breathe or pronounce words to avoid stuttering. I think it’s more important to first be able to stutter with complete comfort, meaning you don’t feel that physical struggle and you don’t feel badly about it. It sounds impossible but it’s absolutely not. I’ve gotten so much more comfortable stuttering openly. I’ve always felt like the psychological effects of stuttering are 10x worse than stuttering itself; who cares what some ignorant idiot thinks of you. Make sure you aren’t putting yourself down for it. Sometimes when people get more and more comfortable, they stop stuttering entirely, and if not then they at least find some comfort and happiness.