My stutter got worse when I went to uni. The anxiety feels like air pumping into an already full balloon. I was afraid to talk to my friends about it. I was afraid people would know that I stutter (lol they can hear me), and I was afraid people knew I was afraid. When I was 19, I started sharing my experiences with my friends. When I introduced myself and stuttered on my own name, I quickly followed up with "sorry, I have a stutter" before they could respond. I found it was easier to break the tension and just tell people I have a stutter. Then, the fear of perception no longer had a grip. I have the power to release the tension. As stutter, we are way more concerned and bothered by our own stutter. Most people don't think twice about it. It was when I opened up that I realized that much of my fear came from self-hatred. I hated my stutter. There's a lot of self acceptance thay comes with moving through stutter anxiety. I will never not stutter. It will always be with me. Yes, it still annoys me, but it doesn't own me.