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Stuttering Hi! Sorry for the long post. I just wanted to get this out of my chest. I have been stuttering since middle school. I believe it all started because I was and still talking very fast. I was talking really fast, and that caused me to stutter. With the bad experiences that go with it, when I was in middle school, my friends often laugh at me so which made me so self-conscious about my stutter and caused me anxiety which made me stutter more. That was way back when I was in my native country. I moved to the U.S. a few years ago. I rarely stutter in my native language now, sometimes but not too much. Now, I started to stutter in English, it is very bad actually. My English is not very bad, but sometimes I had so many blocks that I could not get anything out that people thought I did not know what I was saying, but the thing is I knew exactly what I wanted to say I just could not get it out. It is really tiring and exhausting. While having a block, I could not breathe and with a mask on it is even harder. I believe my stutter is anxiety-based, not neurological. After all, I do not stutter when I talk to myself and even my brother because I am so comfortable around him. I feel like I need to work on my confidence. Stuttering is already hard and even harder for nonnative speakers. I have noticed several times that I do not stutter when I do not think about it. Like if you suddenly ask me something, I just think about the answer but not the stutter then I will not stutter. I find it easier when I speak softly. I can speak well when I raise my voice too but only when I am the only one who talks. I am a college freshman. In one of my classes, we often have discussions in groups where everyone in different groups talks at the same time and I found it extremely hard for me to talk, especially when I have to raise my voice in a busy environment. I always block and could not get a word out and it make me feel so suffocated. I always reminded myself to breathe but I always forgot and just wanted to push through a block, make it even harder. I believe putting myself out there would help a lot. I have an overprotective dad. He did not let me do anything or let me hang out with my friends or even have a job. But I am trying to get one in retail. I believe this is one of the reasons why I have social anxiety and my stuttering is becoming worse. I believe working in customer service jobs where I have to talk to people every day is a great way to work on my stutter and confidence. I do not mind stuttering when I am a customer. But when I have to work since English is not my first language, I am still struggling sometimes in English and also have an accent and also stutter. I am worrying that if I have a job where I have to deal with people, that would make it more difficult for me and other people. Pre-pandemic, I did not think my stuttering is this bad. I still stutter but do not have this many blocks. Any advice for me to stop overthinking or stop stuttering anticipation? Thank you in advance!