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Anybody relate??? A coworker of mine who over the last 2 years has turned into a best friend of mine has a stutter. I didn't notice his stutter right away since he hides it well, but after a while once I noticed, it I couldnt stop noticing it. It's not that I'm trying, but I feel bad and want him to speak more comfortably. Working with him closely for 8 hours a day, I started to question my own language and think a lot about what causes stuttering. At my work there is an overwhelming amount of pressure to fit in so I wondered if maybe he developed it at work. I certainly had tons of anxiety and insecuritys about fitting in, but as soon as I got home in in the real world id feel like myself again. Anyways, on a particularly anxious day, I was saying something and I flubbed my speech and sort of stuttered. It freaked me out so bad that I was developing a stutter that I couldn't stop thinking about it. My anxiety was through the roof for months. I was desperate, got on zanax which calmed me but couldn't stop the obsessing about my speech. Occasionally I would screw up my speech, but simply because my anxiety was so high. Its like being on a job interview or public speaking. My anxiety is so high I'm bound to stutter on occasion so it becomes a cyclical obsession. It's been a year and a half, and I don't stutter, but I still focus and try to control everything I say. It's exhausting and depressing and has caused me social anxiety out of work since the day it happened. I hate looking back on who I once was. I didn't realize how free I was, but I try to look at my coworker and realize I don't have it that bad, although he seems happier and more sane than me. It's killing me. But reading to take pride in your voice has helped. Anybody can relate?