The dysphemia or stuttering is a speech disorder characterized by different alterations in the expression of words. Some of the most common are the repetition or prolongation of sounds, syllables, words or phrases. Pauses or blocks may also appear, during which the person remains silent without being able to continue speaking.
For many people with dysphemia, the main problem is the involuntary repetition of sounds. However, in many cases there are other symptoms of an emotional or psychological nature that can make life difficult for patients..
The term dysphemia encompasses a very wide range of speech problems. Some of the patients have only slight difficulties speaking without standing; but others suffer from real impediments when it comes to communicating effectively. Approximately 70 million people worldwide are believed to stutter.
In this article we will see the most common characteristics of dysphemia, the types that exist, and what are the symptoms it causes in those who suffer from it. In addition, we will study the latest evidence on what causes stuttering, as well as some of the most effective treatments available today..
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The symptoms of dysphemia can be classified mainly into two groups: primary behaviors, and emotional problems. In addition, the variability with which symptoms normally occur must also be taken into account. In this section we will see all these topics.
The primary behaviors are the observable symptoms of dysphemia; that is, those that have to do with the difficulty of producing language in the usual way.
Among the most common are the repetition of some elements of language, the appearance of blocks when speaking, or the prolongation of certain sounds.
The main difference between a person suffering from dysphemia with normal mistakes when speaking of an individual without this disorder is the frequency with which these errors occur.
In addition to this, the primary problem behaviors may last longer, and the affected person usually has to go to great lengths to communicate..
The primary behaviors of dysphemia can be classified into three subgroups: repeated movements, fixed postures, and superfluous behaviors..
This group of primary symptoms of dysphemia have to do with the repeated production of one or more sounds. There can be three different types, which will vary in frequency depending on each person.
The first is the repetition of complete syllables. The individual with this symptom will repeat a monosyllable word several times, or a syllable that is part of a longer word.
The second is the repetition of incomplete syllables. In this case, a single sound is usually repeated, such as a consonant that is part of a longer word..
The third, the repetition of multiple syllables, involves producing groups of more complex sounds multiple times, such as a whole word or even several in a row..
The second type of primary symptoms of dysphemia has to do with maintaining a sound for a long time. In some cases, this symptom can also occur the other way around, maintaining silence between words for longer than normal.
People with fixed postures will appear to be making a great effort to produce language fluently, but they often fail to do so..
Finally, superfluous behaviors have to do with certain behaviors related to language but that do not add anything to the message that you want to convey. These can be of two types: verbal and non-verbal.
Superfluous verbal behaviors have to do with the production of sounds that do not belong to what is being communicated. For example, it may involve the use of interjections, misspelled words, or other similar elements..
Superfluous non-verbal behaviors, on the other hand, have more to do with bodily actions than with sounds. A person with dysphemia might, for example, clear their throat, shake their head, or snap their fingers constantly while speaking. Typically, these behaviors are an attempt to break a speech block..
Contrary to what happens in other language disorders, people with dysphemia are perfectly aware of their problems speaking fluently.
Therefore, in most cases, stuttering ends up causing all kinds of symptoms related to the cognitive and emotional well-being of patients..
Some of the most common emotional problems caused by short-term dysphemia are shame, guilt, frustration, fear, or anger. People with this speech disorder usually experience all these feelings in a cyclical way, passing from one to another depending on the moment.
On the other hand, when these negative emotions are present, the tension they produce could aggravate the primary symptoms of dysphemia. Therefore, this would become a vicious cycle normally very difficult to solve..
In the long term, if left untreated, stuttering can lead to more serious emotional problems. Among the most common, would be low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, social anxiety, avoidance of relationships with others, or even depression.
Another factor to take into account related to the symptoms of dysphemia is that they do not always present with the same intensity, even in the case of people who suffer from it severely.
In general, it seems that stressful situations make difficulties worse, while those in which the person feels confident make them decrease.
When the individual is reading a text aloud, talking to children, or singing, for example, the difficulties can become much less pronounced or even disappear..
On the contrary, when the person has to face situations such as making a phone call or speaking in public (something that these individuals usually fear), the symptoms can become so severe that they completely prevent communication.
Stuttering doesn't always present in the same way or cause exactly the same symptoms in different people. Generally, stuttering is classified into three possible types: tonic dysphemia, clonic dysphemia, and mixed dysphemia..
The main difficulty of people with tonic dysphemia is when it comes to starting to speak. When they have to start a speech or conversation, they may suffer blockages, repetitions of sounds, or even muscle spasms that prevent them from carrying out this task correctly.
Of course, once they have managed to start speaking, these individuals do not usually have great problems producing their speech without repetitions or blocks..
Unlike people with the above type of stuttering, those with clonic dysphemia have little trouble starting to speak; but they often have serious difficulties to finish what they want to say without stopping or getting stuck in some part of their speech.
Finally, people with mixed dysphemia have problems in both areas. Not only do they have difficulties when it comes to starting to speak, but they also have serious problems in maintaining a fluid and unhindered speech.
Of the three types of dysphemia that exist, the mixed one is the one that most often affects the emotional health of patients, since it is the one that makes it most difficult for them to communicate with their peers.
The exact mechanisms that cause a person to develop dysphemia are not fully understood. However, we do know that there are at least three types of factors: those that have to do with a problem during the development of the individual, those of a genetic type, and those that have to do with neurogenic factors..
The most common type of stuttering appears during childhood when people are still learning to speak correctly and developing their vocal skills..
Some scientists and researchers believe that this type of dysphemia occurs when the child's abilities are not sufficient to meet their own demands..
There are many different factors that can lead to stuttering in childhood and its maintenance into adult life. Certain currents of psychology believe that this problem always has to do with some type of trauma that would be at the bottom of the matter.
In any case, developmental factors are usually accompanied by others, such as a genetic vulnerability to this problem or the presence of some type of brain damage..
The most recent neuroimaging studies have found that there are consistent differences between the brains of people with dysphemia and those of those without the disorder. This could indicate the presence of certain underlying factors that would be related to the problem.
In addition, since 2010, at least four gene mutations have been identified that appear to be directly associated with the occurrence of stuttering..
However, as in almost all disorders of this type, genetic vulnerability has to be combined with a certain environment to cause dysphemia.
Neurogenic factors are the rarest, and are only present in a small percentage of cases of people with dysphemia. They have to do with various types of brain damage, or difficulties in coordinating the parts of the cortex related to the production of speech.
Some of the most common neurogenic factors are having suffered a stroke or head trauma. In cases where the main causes are neurogenic, the patient's recovery may be more complicated, but still possible..
The treatment applied in cases of dysphemia depends on several factors, among which are the patient's history, his age, and his objectives related to speech. Today there is no universal cure for this problem, but there are several techniques that can produce a great improvement.
When dysphemia appears during the development of a child, the main objective is to ensure that it does not become a problem during adult life.
At young ages, there are several strategies that can help children improve their fluency in language while developing positive attitudes towards communication..
In these cases, treatment usually requires teaching parents how best to support their children in developing this fluency in speech. Thus, parents will have to carry out some tasks that increase the chances that the problem will go away on its own.
One of the most important factors in children's recovery is the presence of a safe environment that allows the child to speak without being interrupted. It is also necessary that he is not constantly corrected, but allowed to find the right words on his own; and to be assured that nothing happens for having errors when speaking.
In most cases, with enough parental support and time, stuttering will eventually go away on its own..
But what happens when dysphemia ends up moving into adult life? In these cases, the solution is usually much more complicated, and the problem may never go away completely. However, there are several approaches that can help alleviate some of the symptoms..
Many of the current therapies for adolescents and adults with dysphemia try to help them minimize stuttering while speaking; for example, teaching them to speak more slowly, regulate their breathing, or move from monosyllabic responses to more complex ones little by little.
Most of these therapies also try to minimize the anxiety and discomfort that people with dysphemia may feel in certain social situations. Finally, membership in self-help groups can be very beneficial for individuals with dysphemia..
There is not yet a standardized treatment with psychotropic drugs that is used to treat dysphemia. However, in some cases, drugs used for other diseases, such as epilepsy, anxiety or depression, have been used with success..
However, psychotropic drugs often have serious side effects and are often highly addictive. Therefore, its use should always be considered as the last option, not as a quick fix..
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