Thursday, February 11, 2010

WHY saying our own name is so difficult

Ever wondered WHY saying your name is one of the most difficult things for us?

There is probably more than one factor involved here, but surely increased stress plays a crucial role. It is difficult to say our name because we know, consciously or subconsciously, that we can't word-substitute our name, and this lack of choice increases stress tenfold.

There have been PWS who have changed their name because of the difficulty of saying it - and then later started to stutter on their new name; once again because they HAD to say it. They did not have space, freedom and alternative options for saying their name. That's how stress works - a lack of options is an important source of stress.

Fact is, saying your name remains difficult, not only because of the lack of options, but also because you have stuttered countless times on it. If you stutter lots of times on a particular word or sound, a "stutter pathway" is created in your brain. This happens by means of the process known by psychologists as "conditioning" or "learning". When you want to say that particular word, like your name, a "reminder warning" pops out from your brain, "warning" you that you stuttered on that word in the past. This warning will tend to stress you so that you actually stutter on that word.

A possible solution

 If you have learned to use a fluency technique, there may be a solution to the name problem. Dr Martin F Schwartz recommends the following procedure, which worked very well for me. I quote from my book Coping with Stuttering:

"If you have problems with saying your name (or any other particular sound or word(s) which you need to say frequently and makes your life a misery, such as your home address, telephone number, a standard work-related telephone greeting etc.), you should devote four focused days to eliminate this problem once and for all. Use the Passive Airflow Technique (or any other effective technique) to say your name as much as possible every day for four days. Vary the exercise with full sentences, e.g. ‘My name is (name)’. Approximately four thousand applications – one thousand per day for four days – should remove much or all of the word stress associated with your name. Of course, you don't actually have to count the number of applications. Just fill those days with repeated, continuous applications.

"This procedure is based on the reconditioning principle in psychology. By saying your name fluently so many times, you 'overwrite' your previous 'programming' lodged in your brain. Because of your stuttering in the past, your brain contains 'stutter pathways'. But when you say your name fluently so many times, you overwhelm and overwrite those stutter pathways and replace them with fluent pathways. Psychologists call it 'extinguishing' the old conditioning.

"I personally found this procedure to work very well. I actually took some days off from work just to practise saying my name for hours at a time. It was one of the best investments I ever made in my life. One’s name is a symbol of yourself; if you can’t say it, it really damages your self-esteem, so it pays to work on this. I know it's a boring procedure, and demanding - but the effort should be well worth it. Actually it's a good sign that you get bored, because that shows that the reconditioning is taking effect. The old fears are being replaced by boredom. At the end of my four days of doing this I was completely sick and tired of saying my name - and I know that I will never again stutter on it because I created a fluent pathway to it." 




20 comments:

  1. Words that start with «H», «S» and «T» were giving me a hard time to pronounce.

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  2. I remember how i stuttered in those school days when teacher asked my name and I began to stutter on "D" Actually I blocked on letter D at that moment my vocal chords become locked. By using Passive Air Flow technique I can now easily say my name. It's fun to stutter.

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  3. Randomly found this page while I was bored so I figured I'd thrown in my two cents.
    I have issues saying words that begin with a hard consonant, like words that begin with C or G. I seem to have more issues with the words either at the start of a sentence or when I get nervous which is quite frequently due to being an introvert, however the "choking" on the words still happen when I'm by myself. I'm 26 years old and still have this issue.
    There are special cases where I have no problems like when imitating a voice or singing, but I can't do that in the professional world.

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  4. Corey, have a look at my latest posts on this blog. These days I believe that we need to think completely different about stuttering. I now believe that stuttering is a "mindbody" (psycho-physical) issue. It is a type of TMS (tension myositis syndrome). You can google it. TMS is treatable. Introverts and Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) are highly susceptible to TMS, because they tend to repress their emotions. Do join my Facebook group titled "Stuttering as a mindbody disorder". I hope to see you there!

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  5. My name is Cory too and my name is one of the only few words that are hard to say. It's only when people ask what my name is but I can stay my name perfectly when I'm by my self. I just get this instant pressure of saying my name and it's really embarrassing. Please help

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    1. Cory, have you tried the 4-day procedure mentioned in the article? You have to practise saying your name fluently many, many times - about 4000 times within a period of a few days - until it becomes automatic. Learn and use a fluency technique for this. I know that's not easy to arrange, but you just have to make arrangements. It will be an investment in your future, because in your life you will have to say your name quite a lot.

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  6. For some odd reason I was able to say certain words & now I can't, & the opposite for others. My last name is Camacho & I always struggle with it when people ask for my last name first. I always embarrass my self

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    1. Alex, stuttering is not static, it can change ... usually due to experiences and learning. For instance, a person may stutter on a "c" word for a long time, and then, one day, he blocks heavily on a word beginning with a "b" due to excess tension or stress. This unpleasant experience may result in him also beginning to stutter on b-words. Similarly, if he hasn't stuttered on c-words for some time, he may lose his stutter on those words. I can only suggest that you practise saying your surname lots of times, as mentioned in the article above, until you lose your stress when saying your surname. Best of luck!

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  7. my first name begins with a J.... and so does my siblings and my father (my mom named us all J names... the one sound i have the most trouble with....).
    Some days I can say it (and their names). Other days I cant.... Likewise, I can say my name (and theirs) perfectly when I'm alone, but when I have to speak to someone and it comes up, i block on the sound...

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    1. Anonymous, I am sorry to hear about your problem. Have you tried practising your name, as mentioned in the article. In fact, try to practise other words and names starting with a J. The more you say it fluently, the easier it should become. Being alone involves zero stress, that's probably why you are fluent then. Stuttering is in many ways linked to tension and stress. All the best.

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  8. How does saying your name 4000 times in a comfortable, stress-free environment, help to eradicate the problem of name blockage? How can someone introduce into this exercise? Aside from yourself, do you know of others who have tried the 4000 times exercise with satisfactory results? references?

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    1. Hi Unknown - This procedure is what behaviorist psychologists call "extinguishing" conditioned (learned) responses. I got the concept from Dr Martin Schwartz who mentioned it in the manual of his fluency program years ago. It seems that much of what we call stuttering has been learned, and this includes the feelings of fear and tension when we have to say our name. The tension is significantly increased because, when saying our name, we can't word-substitute or use other tricks - we HAVE to say those exact sounds. These stress responses have, in the course of time, formed neurological pathways in our brain. BUT ... by saying our name fluently, and doing so many, many times, we weaken the original learned pathway, and create a new, "fluent" pathway. Regrettably, I am not aware of anyone except me who has tried this. That's part of an old problem: many people who stutter are unwilling to spend time and energy on improving their fluency. They want to talk the talk, but not walk the walk. Feel free to try it yourself! Hopefully a speech & language therapist / pathologist with an enterprising spirit will one day experiment with this in a laboratory with a sample group of people who stutter, to see if the concept has scientific merit - but I'm not holding my breath until this happens ...

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  9. I really meant to say how can someone introduce stress into this exercise

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    1. Well, you can, for instance, record your practising; or record samples. Recording is often stressful for people. You could get a friend / parent / significant other / therapist etc. to listen to those recordings, or to listen in "live" - the person could be in the room while you endlessly repeat your name. Would be quite boring for him / her and for yourself lol ... In other words, you don't have to be alone while doing the procedure. In my own case, I didn't put any additional pressure on myself, and it still worked quite well. After hours of doing this it becomes extremely boring and tedious, but that's actually a good sign because it shows that you are losing some of the fear and stress associated with saying your name ... maybe you don't even have to work for days on this, just work until you lose ALL signs of tension or fear when saying your name. If, later, you again get problems, go back and do this again until all the associated stress has been completely extinguished.

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  10. Hi im new to this my name is john and i cant literally not even go out and meet people because i cant say john ive tried these techniques and still cant seem to get over it other words beggining with d,e,f,h,j,l,m,n,p,r,s dont get me wrong i can still speak semi frequently but depression and anxiety hit when i want to say mpre but mentally cant i haye interacting with new people even though i want to

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    1. Unknown, join my Facebook group "Stuttering as a mindbody disorder" ... if you want to remain anonymous, you don't have to use your real name ... stuttering seems to be a "mindbody" disorder (psycho-physical), it's also known as TMS (tension myositis syndrome). Check out my latest posts here on this blog for more info. There seems to be new hope. Very likely your depression and anxiety is part of the syndrome. Here is the link to the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1808396596092330/

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  11. I have something similar to this... but it's not so much about saying my own name to describe myself... it's more along the lines of either tslking to someone whom shares the same first name and finding a comfortable way to adress them, or talking to someone else about a person that shares the same first name... i usually end up coming up with a nickname for them that we can both agree on... took me a while considering i work with 3 or 4 other people also named alex lol

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    1. Alex, you should practise saying "Alex" as mentioned in the original post, it really works. Also consider joining my Facebook group "Stuttering as a mindbody disorder" ... if you want to remain anonymous, you don't have to use your real name ... stuttering seems to be a "mindbody" disorder (psycho-physical), it's also known as TMS (tension myositis syndrome). Check out my latest posts here on this blog for more info. There is new hope. Here is the link to the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1808396596092330/

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  12. Hello, my name is Nishanta Talukdar. Firstly I thank you for sharing this article. Actually I'm not a stammer or stutter I do not stutter about 5% of my speech is stuttering. But the most chronic part is my name. My name is what makes me a stammer. The irony is that in some situations when people ask my name I can say it fluently and in some I get a severe block. I dont know why this happens but the situation is same and same stress levels. I dont know why this happens sometimes I stammer and sometimes I dont. Can you help me with this problem and also confused ?

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    1. Nishanta, we are not programmed robots who act according to a strict set of computer commands. So sometimes we will be fluent and sometimes not. Stress levels and stressors fluctuate and so do our responses to them. There is not much I can add to my article above, except to say that our name is a symbol of ourselves. So if we have a bad self-image or a lack of confidence, it may reflect in our speech. Keep in mind that most people who stutter are Highly Sensitive Persons (HSPs) and that High Sensitivity (the psychologists call it "sensory processing sensitivity") predisposes children to stuttering onset. I now believe that stuttering is a symptom of what Dr John Sarno MD called "The Mindbody Syndrome" (TMS). My advice would be to follow a stress deconditioning procedure as mentioned in the article above (continuously practising your name until it ceases to be a problem), but also to work on general confidence and better self-image. I have just finished writing a new book on stuttering which you might want to read: "Stuttering as a Mindbody Disorder". It will be found on Amazon and here is the link: https://www.amazon.com/STUTTERING-MINDBODY-DISORDER-EXPRESSIVENESS-ASSERTIVENESS-ebook/dp/B083KQ1JWB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1MJTTOJX2YGEL&keywords=stuttering+as+a+mindbody+disorder&qid=1580468181&s=books&sprefix=stutt%2Caps%2C564&sr=1-1

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