If fear was the cause, then any anti-anxiety SSRI medication would fix it! Do you agree?
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If fear was the cause, then any anti-anxiety SSRI medication would fix it! Do you agree? In reply to the main statement. I believe this assumption is wrong. For example, deeply conditioned unseen/subliminal fear (in contrast to the 'obvious kind of fear') is little affected by anti-anxiety SSRI medication compared to extinction methods (where the focus lies on de-conditioning). In people who stutter, even if we are not consciously aware of fear we still aim to focus on the forward flow of speech. We need to do 'something' to continue speaking, and if these regulatory responses become maladaptively conditioned i.e., an excessive protection mechanism even though we do not actually feel the obvious kind of fear. Such a conditioned mechanism is still, ultimately, linked to subcosncious fear (which is the unconditioned stimulus). For example, as toddlers grow olders from age 3 to age 12, gradually they learn to regulate their speech execution more socially, appropriately (etc). Even thoughh we don't necessarily feel fear, this is ultimately linked to a fear of social rejection or social judgements. Because if we didn't speak more socially, appropriately, etc - people (including ourselves or our own sub-personalities) would find it inappropriate. So, even if we do not consciously fear the fear, our subconscious mind is still relying on the need for such a conditioned protection mechanism to regulate speech execution. So 'medication', I think, might ultimately (most of the time, in the long run) not be highly effective to address thiskind of sublimal unconditioned fear. Of course, I think the problem isn't this fear to begin with either way, rather it's the excessive over-protection, the excessive over-regulation of speech execution, the excessive need to rely on stimuli for speech execution to proceed. I think it's more effective to address this conditioning process rather than trying to speak without fear (to make progress towards stuttering remission) \~\~ Your thoughts?