postr/StutterMay 19, 2024

How do I avoid this?

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Content

How do I avoid this? Hello people. 26-year-old male stutterer here. My stutter mainly consists of blocks. However, during said blocks, I feel so much physical tension that I re-direct it to my eyes, causing them to be wide open every time a block occurs. It feels like I'm opening my eyes instead of my mouth to avoid repetitions; but then again, even if I try to speak and resort to repetitions, no words come out. I physically can't speak during blocks. When I was a kid, instead of opening my eyes, I would make a "clicking" noise with my tongue to "overcome" the block, but opening my eyes it's a habit I picked up over two years ago and can't seem to get rid of it. How do I avoid having my eyes wide open during a block? It's become second-nature at this point and I don't know what to do. It looks weird when it happens :( .

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceSpeech & Stuttering

Subthemes

Avoidance & SubstitutionOverthinking & MonitoringPhysical Tension