The Psychological Impacts of Stuttering

The Psychological Impacts of Stuttering Stuttering can be a struggle, sometimes an unbearable one. Understandably so, it’s difficult. Other people seem to have things so easy, especially when a lot of life is about verbal communication. Forming connections can be tough. Bullying in school especially, school during adolescence especially is brutal. The workplace can be the same but I’ve found most people are relatively understanding, there’s always the one or two though. And it gets easier as you get older to some extent. But it stays a prevalent part of a lot of our lives. Stuttering can be traumatic, I personally believe it can bring about symptoms of C-PTSD. We’ve all had situations where we have been humiliated and then at the same time we can’t even defend ourselves. So many moments when we couldn’t even fight back. There is a powerlessness related to a lot of situations in our lives. These moments of powerlessness are actually traumatic. They leave lasting wounds on our psyche than impact so many aspects of our lives. These situations can reduce self esteem, can lead to self image issues and even depression. Social anxiety and social isolation can also be a major consequence. We dig ourselves into a hole, especially because a stutter can be unpredictable, will today be easier than yesterday? We can even make life decisions based on our stutter. Choosing a career path based on what job will have the least social interaction. The whole can get deep. If you’re reading this and struggling, during some of my adolescence I was a very severe stutterer. To the point that singular sentences could take 5 minutes to finish. Complete exhaustion after even interacting with my family. Constantly checking the dictionary for easier words to use. I can understand the darkest places with a stutter. It can be demoralising and exhausting. I’ve been there and I’ve come out of it. My stutter has improved over the years by putting a lot of effort into challenging the fear related to stuttering. But the most improvement I’ve had is when I’ve begun dealing with the psychological aspects. Finding a good therapist you relate to and researching the form of therapy you think would work best for you is game changing. It takes a while to find the right therapy type and you might need to shop around for therapists. But, once you get professional help psychologically - things get so much easier. If you can’t afford therapy, find books written by licensed therapists. I especially recommend trauma-informed therapy related books. Most of us who lack self esteem issues and depression need to work on what is freezing you in the emotional state you are in. “The Body Keeps the Score” is a great place to start, also Dr Gabor Mate has a lot of great speeches. If you can work on the lack of self worth, the inner critic, your confidence, and mental health generally, your stutter begins to weigh less on the soul. There’s a lot of misinformation around therapy, but there are a lot of therapists out there who really try and understand your world. A good therapist will actually make you come to realisations yourself. There’s a world where stuttering doesn’t have to impact your choices any more, or your mental health. You can build around it, it is possible to get past it. Because at the end of the day you just have a stutter, it’s just the cards that have been dealt. But improving your mental health and life irregardless of it is important. It’s difficult, it takes time, but it does and will get better if you dedicate yourself to it. You deserve a voice, everyone does, and you deserve to be heard regardless of how you say it or how long it takes to say. Improving your life regardless of it and getting professional help for mental health will allow you to internalise the following idea - “I deserve love, kindness and respect regardless of the how I communicate. And people who don’t have patience and understanding for me are undeserving of my attention”. At the end of the day there’s two choices, you can try and do everything you can to improve what you can change (your mental health) or continue to focus on what you cannot change (your stutter). The latter option can cause us to not live our life the way we want to, and it would be unfortunate to miss the one opportunity we do have on this planet. Honestly as well, improving my mental health has made speaking much more relaxed now. I still stutter, but at least the embarrassment and anxiety is manageable or sometimes non-existent. If anyone wants to chat about this all further feel free to DM. I just thought I’d give some helpful words to those struggling because I really feel for you.