It's a pleasure to for the first time meet a person who I can 100% rely to. I got into substance use compensating behavior for the same reason. I have felt such a tremendous pain due to my speech impediment that I was drowning my sorrows in drugs & alcohol. Even if many people accepted me the way I am, I didn't... As of now, I am more than 1 year sober staying active in AA. Hopefully I will care less about the fear of negative evaluation, rejecting and being laughed at as the time passes.