Feeling this sense of numbness...like my life is just slipping out of my hands..
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Feeling this sense of numbness...like my life is just slipping out of my hands.. **Intro** I am a 21 year old guy who stutters. I moved abroad in order to pursue a Bachelor's degree (Degree in Communication, funnily enough) I have been living alone and abroad for almost 2 years now. Before I moved abroad I was really worried how will I be able to function alone despite my stuttering, but I guess I am being forced to make it work. **My stutter** Most of the time when I stutter it's when I am anxious, and when I am anxious I stutter. It doesn't happen with family ( I speak perfectly with them), and talking with my friends my stutter is basically non-existent. I start to stutter when I need to speak to strangers. It happens almost every time, and it's very demoralizing everytime it happens. I did speech therapy for 1 year but I am not sure if that helped. It's very difficult having a conversation with strangers, I feel like I am constantly out of breath, there is this tightness in my chest, like I can't breathe. I don't know how will I manage to find a job, and even if I do, how will I be able to work when I find it difficult to have even the most basic conversations with strangers (in the supermarket, pharmacy, at the university). I think I am pretty good with words, I know what to say and how to say it, but I just psysically can't do it in those situations. That leads me to keep to myself more often than not. Sometimes I think that if I could speak easily and effortlessly with everyone that I could be much more successful. **Sense of numbness** I think that because of my stutter and inability to express myself adequately I started to feel this sense of numbness, I don't enjoy many things like I used to. I don't remember the last time I was feeling happy. I am constantly worrying about something. When I did go to this concert , I was feeling happy in the moment, but happy in general I can't the remember the last time. More than anything I want to get rid of that inner feeling of suffocation and anxiety that I experience every day, not only because it's tiring but also because I feel powerless. I don't care that I stutter, and I am 99% sure that it would go away if I could just get rid of the feelings I mentioned above. Because my stutter comes from anxiety, and I suppose that my anxiety comes from my stutter, so I guess that subconsciously I do care that I stutter. **I just don't know how to proceed from here, I don't want to continue living like this. I just can't.** Any tips/ideas of how I can improve my current situation? Thank you all in advance for responding!