Stuttering

Myth: The fact that people with stuttering experiencing worsening stuttering according to the interlocutor evidence that stuttering is psychological.

Reality: Oscillations in stuttering that depend on the caller can generally be explained by activation of the freeze response. The freeze response is related to a low overall activity of the organism, including decreased heart rate, blood pressure and speech movements. When a person (with stuttering or not) is in a situation of doubt, the brain gives a command to move the body least until the person decides what to do. For people who stutter, ambiguity of the situation may worsen stuttering. This effect can also explain the improvement in stuttering when the person speaks or reads alone.