Fear of Stuttering

Mel Tillis and Porky Pig are visual representatives of stuttering. The act of stuttering can be frustrating, which can cause someone who stutters to find their situation worsening. For those who struggle with the fear of stuttering they are said to have Psellismophobia.

According to the National Institute on Health (NIH), “Stuttering is a speech disorder in which sounds, syllables, or words are repeated or prolonged, disrupting the normal flow of speech. These speech disruptions may be accompanied by struggling behaviors, such as rapid eye blinks or tremors of the lips. Stuttering can make it difficult to communicate with other people, which often affects a person’s quality of life.”

That quality of life issue may hinge on social anxiety. If a person feels incredibly uncomfortable speaking to others because of their fear of stuttering it can mean less opportunity to engage with peers.

What Causes Psellismophobia

An individual who has this fear may have developed a stuttering problem when they were young. It is most common for children between the ages of 2 and 5 to develop at least short-term stuttering. The embarrassment that can result from this can lead many to fear stuttering. There are approximately 3 million Americans who stutter – only a small percentage are adults. In many cases stuttering is something you either outgrow or can learn to manage. However, being incredibly anxious about stuttering can actually make you stutter. In some cases the fear itself can push a phobic personality to stutter more.

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Symptoms of Psellismophobia

A person who has this fear may avoid public areas where conversation may be expected. They may not use the phone except perhaps to send a text message to someone. What many do not realize is that the intellect of the individual who stutters may actually be faster than the mouth making it difficult to match thoughts and vocal emissions.

Other symptoms include…

• Trembling
• Thinking you are losing control
• Air hunger
• Nausea
• Crying
• Refusing to speak
• Elevated heart rate

The frustration someone who stutters can experience may lead to what may be viewed by others as anti-social behavior. This can create a stigma that is hard to break because of the overall refusal to speak to others in an effort to help them understand the difficulties you may be facing.

How to Overcome Psellismophobia

According to the NIH, “Many of the current therapies for teens and adults who stutter focus on learning ways to minimize stuttering when they speak, such as by speaking more slowly, regulating their breathing, or gradually progressing from single-syllable responses to longer words and more complex sentences. Most of these therapies also help address the anxiety a person who stutters may feel in certain speaking situations.”

Drug therapies are available in some instances and an electronic device that is similar to a hearing aid can help an individual who stutters because they hear what appears to be two voices. This can help a person who stutters because it sounds as if they are speaking in unison with someone else resulting in less anxiety.

The fear of stuttering is also referred to as:

• Stuttering fear
• Psellismophobia