postr/StutterNovember 9, 2025

My experience trying to talk to people while stuttering

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Content

My experience trying to talk to people while stuttering I'm 22 years old and I've never dated because I'm insecure about my stutter, I talked to a girl who was my childhood friend and she said that almost no one cares about that, I talked to another girl who didn't know me well to see if she would have a different opinion but the response was very similar, she even added that I have no personality and that I should "loosen up more", but how am I going to do that if I can't communicate well with people? Obviously I didn't say this to her but I was thinking about how to not care about what others think of me. I got up the courage and talked to a guy with that Chad stereotype that gets a lot of women and he told me that my problem is normal and that I shouldn't worry about it, I should just improve my appearance because I was very unkempt and that women notice when a man takes care of himself. The last time I tried to talk to a girl without it being a formal everyday conversation was three years ago, I told her that I stutter and she just said "yes, I know", and that was it, it seems like she didn't care that I stutter. So, based on all these experiences, I think the problem lies with me, I need to take more risks. What do you think? I never had any real friends and when I managed to create a friendship I closed myself off and left all the work of trying to create a connection with the other person, to this day I'm like that, I can't even maintain a conversation because I stop at every syllable, I can't form a sentence because I can't pronounce the words, how the hell am I going to be able to have a relationship like that? That's what nobody understands. Almost every time I had very bad results, I was ridiculed, they thought I was autistic or had some cognitive problem, I've had several misunderstandings, they called me strange, all of this destroyed my self-esteem and self-confidence to the point where I trembled when I went out on the street and didn't know how to walk. Today I can make eye contact, I leave the house to train in the park but I don't talk to anyone because I simply can't talk.

Themes

Anticipation & AvoidanceEmotional ExperienceIdentity & Disability

Subthemes

Feared Words & NamesHiding & ConcealmentShame & EmbarrassmentAnxiety & Social JudgmentIdentity & Self-Perception

Codes (4)

intimidation_authoritysocializing_one_on_oneemotional_stateperceived_judgment