Is stuttering caused by social anxiety?
Stuttering is strongly associated with social anxiety disorder, a persistent and excessive fear of being humiliated, scrutinised or negatively evaluated in social situations,2 which may compromise many aspects of life including relationships, education and employment.
How do I stop my social anxiety from stuttering?
Speech therapy with a speech-language pathologist (SLP) is the standard treatment for stuttering and other speech disorders. SAD is often treated with medications such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). People with both conditions benefit greatly from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).
What is iGlebe?
iGlebe is a cognitive behaviour therapy program designed especially for stuttering. iGlebe is a standalone treatment—you can do it yourself without any assistance from a clinical psychologist or a speech-language pathologist.
What is cognitive behavioral therapy for stuttering?
Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) targets the biopsychosocial crises experienced by those who stutter. It is a multi-disciplinary approach that focuses on the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects of stuttering. It is important to note that CBT is not a cure for stuttering.
Do anxiety pills help with stuttering?
A number of drugs have been reported to reduce stuttering. (1,2) One of these drugs is alprazolam (Xanax), an antianxiety agent. Included also are citalopram (Celexa), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, and clomipramine (Anafranil), another strongly serotonergic drug.
How do you stop adult stuttering?
Tips to help reduce a stutterSlow down. One of the more effective ways to stop a stutter is to try to speak more slowly. ... Practice. Reach out to a close friend or family member to see if they can sit with you and talk. ... Practice mindfulness. ... Record yourself. ... Look into new treatments.
What is the Lidcombe program?
The Lidcombe Program is a behavioural treatment for children who stutter who are younger than 6 years. It may be suitable for some older children. The program takes its name from the suburb of Sydney where the Australian Stuttering Research Centre was located.
What are stuttering modification techniques?
Stuttering modification strategies include techniques such as Catching the Stutter, Relaxing the Stutter, Slide, Easy Stuttering and Cancellation. Fluency-enhancing strategies include techniques that alter students' breathing, speech rate, voice production, and articulation in ways that facilitate more fluent speech.
Does meditation help with stuttering?
A 2012 study showed that mindfulness meditation helped participants reduce stuttering's impact on their lives, and also scaled down their stuttering frequency. The researchers followed up with participants three months after the study's completion and found that the positive effects had continued.
What is CBTPsych?
CBTPsych is an individualized, fully automated, standalone Internet treatment program that requires no clinical contact or support . It is designed specifically for those who stutter. Two preliminary trials demonstrated that it may be efficacious for treating the social anxiety commonly associated with stuttering. However, both trials involved pre- and post-treatment assessment at a speech clinic. This contact may have increased compliance, commitment and adherence with the program. The present study sought to establish the effectiveness of CBTPsych in a large international trial with no contact of any kind from researchers or clinicians.
What is the SSAS? What are some examples?
Examples of items include: Ordering food in restaurant and phoning tradesmen. Avoidance is indicated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 = Never avoid to 4 = Always avoid with a maximum possible score of 220.
Abstract
Social anxiety is common for those who stutter and efficacious cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) for them appears viable. However, there are difficulties with provision of CBT services for anxiety among those who stutter. Standalone Internet CBT treatment is a potential solution to those problems.
1. Introduction
Current research literature makes clear that many who stutter—certainly those who present to speech clinics—struggle with social anxiety and its debilitating consequences (for a review, see Iverach, Menzies, O’Brian, et al., 2011 ).
2. Method
Participants were adults who stuttered between 18 and 80 years of age.
3. The intervention: CBTpsych
CBTpsych is an online computer program that is designed to treat the social anxiety of adults who stutter. The program involves no clinician, but presents customized feedback to participants based on established CBT procedures for social anxiety. It is based on the cognitive model of social anxiety developed by Clark and Wells (1995).
4. Results
Table 1 shows the user patterns of the 14 participants that started the program.
5. Discussion
The present study was a Phase I trial to assess whether a computer program has potential to remove diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder, reduce social anxiety symptoms, unhelpful thoughts and beliefs about stuttering, and improve the quality of life for those who stutter.
Financial Disclosures
Dr. Onslow as author of the paper “A standalone internet cognitive behavior therapy treatment for social anxiety in adults who stutter: CBTpsych” acknowledges funding from a Program Grant #633007 from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.
What is iglebe for stuttering?
iGlebe is a fully automated internet treatment program for adults who stutter that has been shown, in some cases, to reduce anxiety and effectively manage social anxiety disorder for many participants. No such automated internet treatment program exists for adolescents who stutter.
How old was the participant in the CBT study?
Participants were 29 adolescents in the age range 12–17 years who were seeking cognitive–behaviour therapy (CBT) for anxiety associated with stuttering. The design was a non‐randomized Phase I trial with outcome assessments at pre‐treatment and immediately post‐treatment after 5 months of access to the program. No contact by a clinical psychologist occurred during participant use of the program. Outcomes were a range of psychological, quality‐of‐life and stuttering severity measures.