Fear of speaking: chronic anxiety and stammering

Awarded an honoray doctorate in 2002 for his research and clinical work in neurological disorders, Ashley Craig is now Professor of Behavioural Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney (Department of Health Sciences, University of Technology, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2007. Tel.: +61 2 9514 1358; fax: +61 2 9514 1359; e-mail: a.craig{at}uts.edu.au). He also works as an honorary clinical psychologist at the Royal North Shore Hospital, New South Wales. He has been involved in research into stammering and in its treatment for the past 20 years. Yvonne Tran is currently a senior research fellow at the Key University Centre in Health Technologies, University of Technology, Sydney. Her research work has focused on clinical and neuropsychophysiological aspects of diseases such as spinal cord injury and stammering.

Stammering results in involuntary disruption of a person’s capacity to speak. It begins at an early age and can persist for life for at least 20% of those stammering at 2 years old. Although the aetiological role of anxiety in stammering has not been determined, evidence is emerging that suggests people who stammer are more chronically and socially anxious than those who do not. This is not surprising, given that the symptoms of stammering can be socially embarrassing and personally frustrating, and have the potential to impede vocational and social growth. Implications for DSM–IV diagnostic criteria for stammering and current treatments of stammering are discussed. We hope that this article will encourage a better understanding of the consequences of living with a speech or fluency disorder as well as motivate the development of treatment protocols that directly target the social fears associated with stammering.