hm, don't buy into the "introvert" label too much. it's become popular in recent years, but my worry is that people are digging the self-identification part of it a little too much. we might as well suggest that the reason you're so exhausted is _because you stutter_. like, seriously, i feel it every time i have to speak: heart rate goes up, i'm breathing more, i'm starting to sweat if i'm speaking at length... it's rather obvious to me that all the pressure stuttering applies taxes us like this. there is one element in your recent comment that might suggest otherwise though, the "what to say next" thing. if you feel like you _have_ to say something, that's a perspective that could be changed. unless of course you just mean that _when_ you want to say something, you've got all this pre-work to do, to figure out how to deliver it without stuttering too much. i'm not sure "fluent speech" could become a matter of "use it or lose it", in the context of stuttering. but i think i get what you mean... if you _know_ you're only shying away from interaction because it's too hard, that threat of interaction doesn't diminish over time, because you _know_ it's still there, waiting, lurking... these things tend to build up (not a thing specific to stuttering, mind you). and we do have a tendency to get less comfortable with things we don't regularly do. and i don't think "chatting with friends" is the same mode of speech as "customer support". and that's why i'd rather see us actively connecting with friends, instead of disconnecting. probably healthier for us in the long run :)