Stuttering and Social Anxiety Disorder Connections

Stuttering and Social Anxiety Disorder Connections Social Anxiety Disorder Coping Print Stuttering and Social Anxiety Disorder Connections By Arlin Cuncic Arlin Cuncic, MA, is the author of Therapy in Focus: What to Expect from CBT for Social Anxiety Disorder and 7 Weeks to Reduce Anxiety. Learn about our editorial policy Arlin Cuncic Medically reviewed by Medically reviewed by Steven Gans, MD on August 05, 2016 Steven Gans, MD is board-certified in psychiatry and is an active supervisor, teacher, and mentor at Massachusetts General Hospital. Learn about our Medical Review Board Steven Gans, MD Updated on October 07, 2019 Social Anxiety Disorder Overview Symptoms & Diagnosis Causes Treatment Living With In Children GARO/PHANIE/Getty Images Stuttering and social anxiety disorder (SAD) are both included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). However, SAD is categorized as an anxiety disorder and childhood-onset fluency disorder (stuttering) is now considered a communication disorder in the chapter on neurodevelopmental disorders.   What Is Stuttering? Stuttering is described as dysfluent speech involving overt and covert (hidden) symptoms. Overt symptoms are obvious to other people and include: Repeating or prolonging soundsBlocks when speaking Covert symptoms may not be obvious to others and include: Omitting wordsSubstituting wordsCircumlocution (rearranging words in a sentence) 9 Tips to Use Your Best Voice When You Have Social Anxiety Stuttering and SAD Diagnosed Together If you stutter, you may also feel bad about your speech difficulty and experience anxiety, avoidance, low self-esteem, and embarrassment. However, you would not be diagnosed with SAD unless the fear, avoidance, and anxiety are about more than the stuttering. Signs That You May Have Social Anxiety Disorder If you are only anxious because you stutter, you would not be diagnosed with SAD because the fear is about stuttering, not social and performance situations. How Are Stuttering and Social Anxiety Related? Current research shows that there is likely a relationship between stuttering and social anxiety, but the nature of the relationship is not clear. The rate of overlap between social anxiety and stuttering is thought to be as high as 75%. However,  studies have not been consistent in how they define social anxiety (e.g., stuttering-specific or general). Research has shown that the neurotransmitter dopamine plays a part in both stuttering and SAD. And, in fact, a higher rate of SAD has been found in people with Parkinsons disease, a disorder involving dopamine production and metabolism. Neuroimaging research has shown that people with SAD and those who stutter have differences in the dopamine D2 receptor, meaning that they process dopamine differently than people without these disorders. The amygdala has also been shown to be related to both stuttering and SAD. Treatment   Treatment options for stuttering depend on whether or not you are also experiencing psychological reactions. If you stutter but do not have anxiety, fear or avoidance, you would receive speech training alone.If you stutter and also have psychological reactions or a comorbid diagnosis of SAD, you would also receive treatment such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Although medication such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have been shown to be effective in treating SAD, there is not enough research to support their use for stuttering. If you experience both SAD and stuttering, it is important to realize that SAD can be overcome even if your stuttering does not completely go away. While stuttering can be embarrassing, it is possible to improve and feel better about the way that you talk. The 9 Best Speech Therapy Apps