Hello there 👋 I'm not an expert but just another stutterer (since my 7 yo) and wanting to try to answer your questions (can't say all my answers are right, I accept all correction and additions) (sorry for the possible mistake English isn't my mother tongue) 1) There a lot of reasons who can leader to a stutter : The most common and most admitted is genetic and neurological (different pairing in different brain regions), but this could also be social anxiety, trauma, meds, brain damage or muscle problems. This could be also a mix of these reasons, only a specialist like a speech therapist, a neurologist or a psychiatrist could explain the cause. 2) So I think a specialist could be very useful, in first to explain the cause, in second to help you to handle your stuttering or help you deal with it, don't let it settle in it's the best way to make it last or even worse it. 3) A speech therapist could give you advices, methods for handle it (like Erasm, speak syllabically, slow down your speech etc) or accepting it, which is also useful for not be afraid to speak, and can in addition making the stuttering much less strong and visible in the long term. 4) For a long time of my life I didn't want explain to others my stuttering, cause I found it annoying, not useful and stuff. But finally I find that talking about it allows you to resolve a real taboo, to make the other person aware of your disability and your awareness of your disability (so perhaps they will be more indulgent and tolerant), and can really free you from a weight on your speech: you will have less pressure, you will allow yourself to stutter more, which means that you will stutter less. 5) Stuttering varies depending on many factors already mentioned above: your view of it (the more you stress about it, the more you will stutter), the lack of support (which means that you will not necessarily have the right reflexes to manage it), your emotional state, your fatigue, meds... or just because. you will inevitably have periods where it will be louder, others less loud. It happens, it is not very serious, but do not hesitate to really slow down your flow in strong periods of stuttering (I know that it is the worst advice that we like to hear, but it must be admitted that slowing down calms the stuttering A LOT). There you go, I hope I have answered all your questions and been able to help you. Good luck for the future 👋