Psychology Review - Article Example

The major cause of this disorder is not yet known. However, there is a clear genetic contribution to the emergence of stuttering. The signs of this disorder can be visible between the ages of two and five years. The majority of the children may recover naturally, from the disorder but for some, stuttering becomes an intractable, long-term problem for a small proportion of adults. Behavioral speech therapy for chronic stuttering may involve speech restructuring to eliminate stuttering by inducing a change in the aspects of speech production. However, cases of relapse after such treatment are very common. The disorder is usually associated with negative consequences across the life span. For instance, children who stutter are often teased and bullied and can often experience negative peer reactions. Such problems increase even in adolescence leading to a negative impact on self-esteem, anxiety levels, academic performances, and social relationships. All the people who suffer from this disorder usually experience listener reactions and negative stereotypes. Many develop negative attitudes towards speaking and experience avoidance or struggle in speech situations. Such experiences could lead to feelings of worthlessness, embarrassment, shame, and expectancy of social harm among others. Adults who stutter could develop emotional, psychological, and behavioral problems.

Anxiety has been particularly cited as one of the most common psychological effects of stuttering. There is enough evidence to suggest the presence of social phobia or social anxiety in people who stutter. Social anxiety is ranked as one of the most commonly experienced anxiety disorders. The disorder is characterized by an excessive fear of humiliation, embarrassment, or negative evaluation in performance-based situations. The ultimate result is extreme distress. In many cases, the phobia develops in childhood and its developmental course is usually associated with an age-related increase in fear of social interactions, victimization and peer group rejection, traumatic or negative life events, and other behavioral inhibitions. The bad childhood experiences associated with stuttering could be the precursors of the development of social anxiety in adults who stutter (Iverach, et al., 2009).

The World Health Organization currently excludes the diagnosis of social phobia in individuals whose anxiety relates to the fear of stuttering only. If a large number of stuttering people experience social anxiety, this would call for the routine engagement of clinical psychologists in the treatment and assessment of the disorder. Several studies have been carried out to investigate the use of cognitive behavior therapy in the treatment of anxiety. Many studies have found that adding CBT treatment for social anxiety in adults was associated with significant reductions in anxiety and avoidance, though the fluency rates were not better than those achieved by speech pathology treatment alone. There is a dire need for undertaking further research on how to manage anxiety among adults who stutter to enhance their functioning. This includes further studies of CBT and other treatments for social phobia in stuttering. There is no doubt that clinical psychologists and psychiatrists have a great deal to offer in this pursuit.