Stuttering when you're NOT nervous?

[spacebow]

I've been stuttering for 6 years now, but only when I was nervous and/or was afraid that I would stutter. I've also made some decent improvements along the way, and I was feeling a lot more comfortable with my speech. I was pretty confident in labeling myself as a "mild" stutterer.

Then, today, I was in a deep conversation with my parents. I was very comfortable and didn't even think about stuttering. I was fluent for the first ten or so minutes, but then I started stuttering out of nowhere. Both my parents and myself were pretty surprised; they even asked me if they were making me nervous.

Is this a sign that my speech impediment comes from a more physical cause than psychological? Am I starting to become a "severe" stutterer?

Any help is appreciated.

[emily445455]

Ya know...this has happened to me over the years as well. I'm not sure why. Maybe because I am less covert now than I was when I was in MS and HS? Not sure.

[grantM]

Stuttering is not caused by nervousness. It is there regardless of you being nervous or not. Being nervous may cause you to stutter more at times though.

[Thomkatt]

That is one of the many reasons that I don't believe that stuttering is a psychological problem.

[grantM]

That is one of the many reasons that I don't believe that stuttering is a psychological problem.

Yep and many many researchers will agree with you. If it was purely psychological then it could probably be treated fairly well. Psychological problems have an effect on it but are incredibly highly unlikely to be a common cause.

[peebee]

One of the re-occurring debates on these forums is the whole psychological vs physical thing. I am completely convinced that my stutter is 100% based on anxiety. I too have moments of completely fluency, and confidence makes a huge impact on my everyday speech. As my confidence goes up there's a day and night difference between my speech five years ago compared to today. Five years ago I was afraid to order at a drive through and would block for 5 seconds at a time... today I can make 95% fluent small-talk and I think my speech is continuously improving.

I would classify myself as a mild stutterer and when I don't think about stuttering I don't do it either. I even made a post about it recently... :)

[chris2112]

Yeah today I took a valium pill that is supposed to calm you down. It calmed me down very much but did nothing for my stuttering.

[grantM]

I am completely convinced that my stutter is 100% based on anxiety.

Remove all the anxiety you have in the world and your stutter would still be present. We in general are no more anxious in life than non-stutterers, only more so in speaking situations. I in general stutter worse around those I am most comfortable with but I am weird lol. Anxiety will for some people inflame the stutter but not cause it.

[chris2112]

One of the re-occurring debates on these forums is the whole psychological vs physical thing. I am completely convinced that my stutter is 100% based on anxiety. I too have moments of completely fluency, and confidence makes a huge impact on my everyday speech. As my confidence goes up there's a day and night difference between my speech five years ago compared to today. Five years ago I was afraid to order at a drive through and would block for 5 seconds at a time... today I can make 95% fluent small-talk and I think my speech is continuously improving.

I would classify myself as a mild stutterer and when I don't think about stuttering I don't do it either. I even made a post about it recently... :)

I agree with you here, I think being calm/ anxious free is a whole different thing then being confident. I think if you go into a speaking situation confident about your speech and self in general it will help your stutter. You can be calm and still be hesitent and unconfident about your stutter. I think it has much more to do with your thought process then anxiety levels.

[grantM]

I think it has much more to do with your thought process then anxiety levels.

True...so true..but for some it is so hard to get that confidence. So many stutterers I have met who are very successful in the lives but are either using a control method or struggling with their speech, have some things in common...confidence, self esteem and drive. These attributes are shared by successful non-stutterers also. We also hinge so much of our stutter on self perceptions, perceptions of others and perceptions of how situations will occur. Many of these are false and been proven so. We have data banks of bad situations stored in our brains and this takes a lot of fight to erase and/or reevaluate.

[chris2112]

True...so true..but for some it is so hard to get that confidence. So many stutterers I have met who are very successful in the lives but are either using a control method or struggling with their speech, have some things in common...confidence, self esteem and drive. These attributes are shared by successful non-stutterers also. We also hinge so much of our stutter on self perceptions, perceptions of others and perceptions of how situations will occur. Many of these are false and been proven so. We have data banks of bad situations stored in our brains and this takes a lot of fight to erase and/or reevaluate.

Its true, stutterers are obviously much more prone to have sever self esteem/ self image issues, I know I have. Its just so hard to put into action new perspectives of confidence, drive, and good self image when youv been ingrained to feel like shit socialy because of your stutter. This is for all people though, its almost impossible for even non stutterers to get out of the ingrained thought patterns they have built up from there whole life. I think true inner change is rare but it is possible. I think half the battle is knowing it is possible. Thanks Grant lol, you really do help and I kinda needed to hear that from someone else haha.

[grantM]

Thanks Grant lol, you really do help and I kinda needed to hear that from someone else haha.

No problems Chris, I think I have something wise to say from time to time lol. But seriously the inner change is the hardest and greatest. I had a turning point in my life where I drew a line in the sand and said no more. I was stuck in a rut as a sales rep and within 5 years I have 2 degrees, a job as a lecturer and am part way through a PhD. Stutter or not here I come!

[Adrian]

One of the re-occurring debates on these forums is the whole psychological vs physical thing. I am completely convinced that my stutter is 100% based on anxiety. I too have moments of completely fluency, and confidence makes a huge impact on my everyday speech. As my confidence goes up there's a day and night difference between my speech five years ago compared to today. Five years ago I was afraid to order at a drive through and would block for 5 seconds at a time... today I can make 95% fluent small-talk and I think my speech is continuously improving.

I would classify myself as a mild stutterer and when I don't think about stuttering I don't do it either. I even made a post about it recently... :)

peebee, your stutter may very well be triggered by anxiety and lack of confidence. But don't confuse a trigger with a cause. There are billions of people on this earth who experience anxiety and low self confinence, but only a tiny percentage of us stutter. The evidence is pretty clear that it is some sort of neurological abnormality that causes our speech to break down under certain triggers.

[spacebow]

I in general stutter worse around those I am most comfortable with but I am weird lol. Anxiety will for some people inflame the stutter but not cause it.

You're not alone, I too stutter more when I'm around those that I am most comfortable with (i.e. my parents). A lot of people still haven't figured out that I am a closet stutterer because I never stuttered when I first met them, thus giving them the impression that I am a fluent person.

[Toney]

Some of us stutter due to the fact that we have problems pronouncing certain words.

I can be as calm as ever, but if I have to pronounce words with H and L etc..., I still stutter pretty badly.

Even around Family members i grew up with.

[grantM]

Someone show me some evidence that nervousness causes stuttering. It does not and is a very active myth. It can aggravate the behaviour it but the stutter is still there regardless of being nervous or not.

[Jimmy169]

I've been stuttering for 6 years now, but only when I was nervous and/or was afraid that I would stutter. I've also made some decent improvements along the way, and I was feeling a lot more comfortable with my speech. I was pretty confident in labeling myself as a "mild" stutterer.

Then, today, I was in a deep conversation with my parents. I was very comfortable and didn't even think about stuttering. I was fluent for the first ten or so minutes, but then I started stuttering out of nowhere. Both my parents and myself were pretty surprised; they even asked me if they were making me nervous.

Is this a sign that my speech impediment comes from a more physical cause than psychological? Am I starting to become a "severe" stutterer?

Any help is appreciated.


I get these slip up's from time to time, like I don't think I'm nervous at all, really sometime's I'm deep in thought and anxious and excited to get somehting out, or even when I'm mellow it just really randomly come's on, but I can go back to normal I just don't force it out or anything, i kinda let myself stutter. It seems like the more nervous I get the worse it is, and when I try to force it out and worry about it, kinda like kicking the door in with the word hoping it gets through, lol, that make's it worse. I used to think it was all in my nerve's but I realized it really does come on randomly. I mean I can be totally comfortable one minute and stutter the next and then totally comfortable the next, but only if I don't get nervous about it cause that seems like a def. way to make it worse.

I've also noticed when I'm pissed off about something, I don't stutter at all, all I can think about is what I'm pissed about and it kinda make's me too pissed to even think about stuttering, lol. Like if I've had a hard day at work and my brother got on my nerve's blaming me about something that wasn't my fault and bla bla...

[Jimmy169]

I wanted to edit this in but no edit button...but have you ever gotten really upset or kinda pissed off after a hard time of stuttering, and then ironically you don't stutter at all! For instance, say you just had this long conversation where you stuttered, your finally through with it, your exhuasted and upset about it, but then the next convo's you don't stutter at all because your just so exhuasted from it. Idk if it's just me but...I find that kinda funny...

[ForeverYoung]

This right here is like the total reason why I believe stuttering has got to be mostly neurological. These days, since I have more than gotten "over" my stuttering no longer kill myself mentally for it, I speak without being nervous or timid a lot of the time.

And of course ... I still stutter! I mean, it makes it even more depressing. Like at work, you know, late evening shift with no one in the store and just 2 close friends talking, I still stutter. I still block. And it sucks. It makes me feel like less of a conversationalist.



But point is, yes, I stutter when I am not nervous. Which is, these days, almost all the time.

[Robinmd]

Just my two cents - but I really believe stuttering is primarily a neurological disorder with secondary complications (shame, nervousness, guilt). Hence all of the research being done using anti-anxiety drugs and risperidone, pagaclone, geodon, etc.

For me, nervousness causes me to speak rapidly and sometimes mumble because I don't want to be the center of attention. If I was to speak slower to get my thoughts out, I would then be prone to stutter because people would be looking at me or paying attention to me.

[JohanZombie]

Yep and many many researchers will agree with you. If it was purely psychological then it could probably be treated fairly well. Psychological problems have an effect on it but are incredibly highly unlikely to be a common cause.

I dont think it that easy. There are many problems that are purely psychological that is hard to treat. Phobias, depression, anxiety etc. It can be treated yes, but we have seen that stuttering can too. I think that psychological problems that are deeply rooted in our subconscious is very hard too treat, because they are grounded so hard.

Maybe the stuttering was a symptom of nervousness, fear or whatever when it first started, and then became a learned behaviour.

[sgiles]

This neurological stuff has been around for a while, usually has been pretty well debunked. Now its chemical imbalance and possibly genetic somewhere along the line. However, all the anxiety attacks we had at school, on the phone everyone knows the drill has become part of our makeup. We did it to ourselves with lots of help from our peers and quite frankly its up to us to undo it. What we have is an unacceptable behavior pattern and we individually have to change our outlook and behavior patterns

[Violet]

Just my two cents - but I really believe stuttering is primarily a neurological disorder with secondary complications (shame, nervousness, guilt). Hence all of the research being done using anti-anxiety drugs and risperidone, pagaclone, geodon, etc.

For me at least, anxiety is the secondary complication which perpetuates the stutter. If i were to be 100% rid of any anxiety relating to stuttering, I would still stutter, as is often the case when talking to people who i am 100% comfortable with stuttering in front of.

Its odd how there are people who started stuttering at older ages, perhaps their stutter is more related to anxiety, but I started stuttering as soon as i could talk, and had numerous other speach problems. and how can a two year old be nervous enough to cause themselves to develop a stutter?

It is a possibility however that certain events, such as my mum having a still born and then going into depression when i was 3 and my parents cold relationship, acted as a perpetuous for my stutter to develop and become more engrained within me, but it certainly didnt cause it.

[spacebow]

Its odd how there are people who started stuttering at older ages, perhaps their stutter is more related to anxiety, but I started stuttering as soon as i could talk, and had numerous other speach problems. and how can a two year old be nervous enough to cause themselves to develop a stutter?



I'm one of those people that started stuttering at an older age. For me it was between 12 and 13. But I'm starting to believe something must have happened neurologically that triggered my stuttering. It's because I know a number of shy and reserved people with low self-esteem and whatnot, yet they don't stutter.