commentr/StutterFebruary 9, 2022

Content

Sounds like stuttering to me! Panic attacks cause muscle tension, and with muscle tension, our diaphragm can freeze, causing stuttering. I would really recommend the Dave McGuire course. They have an inexpensive self help book on Amazon called “Beyond Stammering: The Mcguire Program for getting good at the Sport of Speaking.” You can have the book downloaded onto your phone in minutes if you get the Amazon Kindle app. The book will go through psychological reasons for stuttering, give you a breathing technique, and inspire you to get out and practice speaking. The program will be fear inducing but use the people closest to you for support. Keep practicing the techniques and follow what the book says. Then I recommend reading “Redefining Stuttering” by John Harrison, someone who stuttered for many years and was part of the National Stuttering Association for many years. You can find a free link to the book if you google the title. If you can’t find it I will help send you a link. I was surprised to find the book for free after seeing it was sold out on Amazon. The more familiar and used to your stuttering that you become, the less it will phase you when it happens, or you feel it coming on! Just don’t try to hide your stuttering. Because the only way to hide stuttering is by adding muscle tension to the muscle tension that is already taking place. And this only causes more stuttering. So just relax and accept the stuttering. Believe that you are a competent speaker even if you stutter. I’m sure you have many qualities as a speaker. And any area as a speaker you want to work on, look into it. Never just focus on treating stuttering as a speaker. As humans we are systems. So work on speaking with powerful body language, a powerful and deep tone. Beneficent in the content of your message, etc. It also may help to get a therapist. I recommend CBT (Cognitive Behavior Therapy) because it can do wonders for correcting inaccurate beliefs you have about yourself that cause anxiety. Also, are you typically someone that lacks assertiveness and people-pleases? You may be feeling inferior to others, causing anxiety and you trying to make yourself smaller in others presence. In this case, you must increase self-confidence and assertiveness. And among other things, I would look into seeing if you possibly are possibly on the autistic spectrum. This may be leading to you being hyper-sensitive and dealing with confusion in social interactions. Again, causing panic. Never-the less, it’s a journey, and take it one day at a time. It never helps to worry. This advice may sound like more than you asked for. But if you are stuttering, I want to give you this information up front so you have a good idea of what you might need to do on your journey to recovery.

Themes

Causes & VariabilityCoping & AdvocacyEmotional Experience

Subthemes

Stress & Fight/FlightMindfulness & BreathingTrauma & PsychologicalAnxiety & Social JudgmentHelplessness & AgencySelf-Advocacy & Boundaries