In the TV series "The Big Bang Theory", there is a protagonist named Rajesh, who is an astronomer who suffers from social anxiety disorder, and every time he talks to a girl, his mouth is like a mushy and he can't say a word. Unless he drinks alcohol or takes anti-anxiety medications, he is unable to communicate with women outside of his household.

Although this is a joke design in the play, in fact, in real life, each of us may stutter (stutter) in a state of extreme tension and anxiety, especially for some "social fears", and even can't speak well when they are nervous.

每年的10月22日定為“國際口吃日”，為什麼我們一緊張就會口吃呢？又該怎麼解決口吃的問題呢？

How do the "words" in your head come about?

The brain is the center at which we control everything we do, and although speaking is a very simple thing for normal people, when we analyze the language function of the brain, we will find that it is much more complicated than moving the mouth.

When we speak, there are many areas of the brain that need to work together, such as the hippocampus to recall the knowledge and information we need to express, the amygdala to add emotions to our language, and the most closely related areas to language function are Broca's area and Wernicke's area.

Located in the prefrontal lobe of the left hemisphere of the brain, roughly behind our left temple, slightly closer to the ear, Broca's area is responsible for the production of language and the control of language expression. When people want to speak, the Broca district organizes and plans the language so that we can speak fluently.

The Wilnicker area is located in the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere of the brain, roughly above the left ear, and is responsible for language comprehension, where what we hear and what we say is processed, helping us understand the meaning of words and sentences.

But these two areas are not completely independent of each other, but are connected to each other by arcuate fasciculus, ensuring that our language can be transmitted smoothly from one part of the brain to the other.

Source: Bibliography

So, to put it simply, when we speak, we organize the language through the Broka area, and after we finish speaking, the Wernick district will come to "review" what we said to see if there are any mistakes, and then pass the audit results to the Broka area through the bow beam, at which point we will decide whether we need to correct what we just said or move on to the next sentence.

When we need to answer someone's question, the Wilnick district first understands the meaning of the other person, and then "relays" it to the Broka district through the bow beam, and then organizes the language to answer the other person's question.

How does nervousness cause stuttering?

However, when a person is nervous or anxious, the amygdala in the brain can begin to interfere with the normal functioning of areas of language function.

The amygdala is the emotional control center in the brain, and when we are faced with some threatening and challenging stressful events, the amygdala will quickly recognize these stimuli and "sound the alarm", allowing the body to prepare for dangers and challenges, including feeling nervous and anxious, rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, muscle tension, etc., this process is called the "fight or flight" response, that is, mobilizing the resources of the whole body to prepare to overcome the danger or flee the scene.

The "fight-or-flight" response, while helping us to act quickly in the face of real danger, has been of great importance in the history of human existence and evolution. Because of this, this response also generalizes to any situation that we consider important or challenging. For example, giving a public lecture, or being questioned and criticized in public, the resulting state of tension and anxiety can put the brain into a state of overload for a short period of time, and also disrupt the normal function of other areas of the brain.

This not only affects our ability to pay attention, process information, and remember, making us unable to understand others quickly or remember what to say, but also affects the language organization function of the Broca area, making it difficult for us to speak fluently, i.e., stuttering.

In addition to the rapid functioning of the brain, the rhythm of breathing and the relaxation of the associated muscles when speaking are also important, and our vocal cords, tongue, laryngeal muscles and mouth all need to maintain a certain degree of coordination to produce a smooth sound. You can try to recall that when you or others give a speech and speak nervously, do you find that your voice becomes a little shaky, your breathing becomes rapid and unstable, you feel that your breath is not enough, and your facial muscles become stiff or even twitch.

This is because a series of physiological reactions caused by tension will make our breathing unstable, and the muscles of the larynx will also stiffen due to excessive tension, affecting the vocalization, which will not only stutter, but also because we realize that we are not speaking fluently or incoherently, which in turn will further increase the tension and anxiety, forming a vicious circle.

Particularly prone to stuttering

Be careful!

It is normal to show a certain degree of stuttering when you are nervous, but more serious and frequent stuttering needs to attract our attention, according to psychological research, which is often related to the following factors.

1. Fluency disorders

In the clinical diagnostic criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, stuttering is considered a fluency disorder that causes a person to involuntarily interrupt speech when speaking or reading aloud. The prevalence of fluency disorder is approximately 1.0% in all age groups, but most occur in childhood, with a prevalence of 0% in children, most of whom generally recover spontaneously between adolescence and adulthood, and less than 0% of stuttering in adults.

Therefore, if children have stuttering since childhood, it is recommended to seek medical diagnosis in time to avoid continuation into adulthood, while frequent stuttering in adults needs to pay attention to whether there are other more serious psychological events, which will affect language function.

2. Social anxiety

Social anxiety disorder, often referred to as "social phobia", refers to an individual's excessive fear of negative comments about themselves in social situations, resulting in intense feelings of discomfort or avoidance behavior. The study found that this anxiety is particularly prevalent among stutterers, with about 60% of stutterers also suffering from social anxiety disorder. Many stutterers experience high levels of nervousness and fear when they need to communicate with others, which leads to a further deterioration in their speech fluency.

3. Anxious personality

Research suggests that recurrent stuttering may reflect a person's level of chronic anxiety and trait anxiety. Chronic anxiety refers to the state of anxiety that an individual continues to feel over a long period of time, while trait anxiety can be seen as the degree to which a person is prone to anxiety in personality, both of which can cause the individual to be in a tense emotional state at all times, and when they are about to face a social or speaking situation, they will show a high degree of anticipatory anxiety, that is, they cannot stop feeling anxious about upcoming events, and will continue throughout the interaction process, leading to the phenomenon of stuttering.

How to relieve stuttering?

For most stuttering caused by nervousness, there are many simple ways to do a good job.

1. Slow down your speech

When we are nervous, many people will unconsciously speed up their speech, which makes our brain unable to keep up with the mouth, so deliberately training ourselves to speak slowly and rhythmically, such as prolonging the pronunciation of words or adding pauses between sentences, can help the brain and mouth work in harmony and reduce unnecessary language lag.

2, Deep Breathing Practice

Anxiety tends to make breathing short, and uncoordinated breathing can worsen stuttering. When you feel anxious, you can use deep breathing or abdominal breathing exercises to help regulate your heartbeat and relax your body, balance your emotions, and keep your tone steady.

3. Prepare and simulate in advance

When faced with situations that can trigger stress, such as a presentation or interview, simulating speaking scenarios at home can help reduce anxiety and avoid stuttering by practicing self-practice, practicing in front of the mirror, or practicing conversations with friends and family.

4. Self-acceptance is imperfect

The fear of stuttering can become more stressful for many people, especially those who are more demanding of themselves. But as we mentioned earlier, it's normal to have language stutters when you're nervous, and learning to accept yourself and reduce your demands for perfection in your language performance can make us more relaxed and perform better.