postr/StutterOctober 9, 2021

Stuttering makes your life difficult. All I can do is accept and live on?

11 points9 commentsView on Reddit →

Content

Stuttering makes your life difficult. All I can do is accept and live on? I started to notice my stutter in high-school. It seemed to got worse during & after my major depressive episode. It is a mild stutter, so I can talk normally sometimes. It can worsen during random times, stress, or being anxious. I was pretty quiet before high-school, but my mom said I never had a stutter when I was younger. None of my parents or sibling has it. It makes me wonder if this is genetic or I developed this from something. Almost every social interaction requires me to mentally prepare. It's just exhausting. From ordering food, presentations, phone calls, interviews, participating in class, asking people out, etc. Words get stuck in your mouth or the beginning of a word starts to repeat. Every stutterers knows this feeling. We know its coming when we are about to speak. I've seen as speech pathologist and it seems these professionals mostly target children. I've went to about 6 sessions and it doesn't seem to help. We are basically finding techniques to minimize the stutter. It feels like changing my way of talking and it is just to much effort. The only technique I use is replacing a word with another word/phase/filler that can get the meaning across. For example, "Can I get the ..g-g...\[grapefruit juice\]...This juice. T-the grapefruit..yeah..\[while pointing\]". It makes you sound really awkward. The way of talking just doesn't have a flow, and can make me seem unprofessional in a professional setting or retarded when talking with girls. I don't know how else I can explain it. Whenever I stutter, I get sad and my mind gets filled with negative energy and just lose my focus. It ruins the moment and my day. Also I drink a lot of water and my mouth feels dry for some reason.. I know there is no cure. Is the only thing I can do is accept my stutter and live on with life? It really sucks..

Themes

Causes & VariabilityAnticipation & AvoidanceEmotional Experience

Subthemes

Severity & FluctuationAvoidance & SubstitutionHelplessness & AgencySadness & Hopelessness