Stuttering In Adults: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
There is a wide range of speech disorders, within which stuttering (or dysphemia) turns out to be one of the most common. This disorder consists of the subject repeating words involuntarily, or getting stuck when pronouncing them.
This condition could occur in childhood, becoming temporary over time. In adolescence it would begin to decrease, so that during adulthood it would have completely disappeared. But this does not always happen that way.
In this article we will review What are the main causes of stuttering in adults? and we will also review the most characteristic symptoms of this disorder in people who have already passed the age of majority.
As we have seen, stuttering is a speech disorder, which is characterized by the involuntary repetition of the words that are said and the presence of interruptions when speaking
The origin of this disorder is rooted in the lack of coordination of the peripheral movements required to speak, but a specific cause for stuttering in adults, nor for other stages of development, has not been definitively determined.
What has been established is that The prevalence of this speech complication is greater in people of the male gender, compared to its female counterpart. Men are up to four times more genetically likely to stutter than women.
Stuttering in adulthood
If the necessary attention is not paid to it during the early stages of development or the problem is not adequately solved, it may only disappear momentarily until the subject is faced with a situation that could trigger the stuttering again.
If stuttering has an organic root in the nervous system, the symptoms will probably be continuous throughout life, but if it is fundamentally due to emotional causes (nervousness, anxiety, fears, etc.), in many cases the presence of this alteration It can decrease, but there is no total cure
Common causes
Let’s see now some of the most common causes that cause this disorder to occur in adulthood
Symptoms of stuttering in adults
Cases of adults who present stuttering are evidenced by the following symptoms.
It should be kept in mind that the intensity of the symptoms described above is variable, depending on the level of stress or anguish that the person is experiencing at the moment of speaking.
Treatment
To determine the most appropriate treatment in these cases, you must know What have been the causes that maintain the existence of stuttering?
Taking into account that each person shows their reality in a very personal (subjective) way, it is necessary to carry out the semi-structured interview prior to the psychological evaluation.
Once the necessary data is available, the specialist will be able to determine which is the best therapeutic method, or whether it is necessary to refer to the doctor (in case of organic conditions).
The most popular methods for stuttering in adults and which have shown to have very positive results, are the following.
1. Cognitive behavioral therapy
The therapist addresses maladaptive thoughts that cause anxiety when speaking, or any other emotional symptom, and then replaces these beliefs with more adaptive thoughts. with the aim that the subject loses fear and gains self-confidence
In addition, intervention strategies are established on the person’s behavior.
In any case, as already mentioned, there is no cure for stuttering in adults that will make the symptoms disappear completely. Thus, the treatment is focused on mitigating its effects and learning to live with dysphemia.
2. Speech therapy
The speech therapist works together with the psychologist to treat stuttering especially when there are organic influences that prevent the muscles involved in speech from coordinating properly.
Through practical exercises that the person must do at home (reading with a pencil in their mouth, breathing correctly when speaking, etc.), the specialist will evaluate the evolution of each case, and will inform the psychologist of the progress.
