Content

• Steps
• Tips
• Personal characteristics of a person
• Warnings

Have you or someone close to you encountered the problem of selective mutism? Selective mutism is a rather rare disorder in children that manifests itself in the inability to speak in certain situations (for example, at the blackboard at school) in which it is necessary to speak, and in the absence of speech impairments in other situations. Selective mutism affects 0.1-0.7% of the population, but it is assumed that not all cases are recorded, since this condition is very often misunderstood by people. Symptoms most often appear between 2.7 and 4.2 years of age. This article provides tips for dealing with selective mutism that can help reduce the impact of the disease on a person's social life.

Steps

1. 1 Find out if you, a friend, or a loved one has symptoms of selective mutism. These symptoms include:
   • Frequent episodes of inability to speak in certain social situations (such as school) when it is necessary to speak.
   • The ability to speak and communicate normally with people in other situations.
   • The inability to speak under certain conditions negatively affects social life and learning.
   • Symptoms last for more than one month, including the first month of school (usually the child needs time to get used to the new environment).
   • Symptoms cannot be explained by ignorance of the language spoken in certain situations (that is, a person who speaks English poorly and prefers to remain silent when others speak this language, does not suffer from selective mutism).
   • Symptoms it is forbidden explain by other medical conditions (autism, Asperger's syndrome, schizophrenia and other mental illnesses).
   • The inability to speak is not a conscious decision - it is caused by excessive anxiety that prevents the person from speaking the words.
2. 2 Determine to what extent selective mutism affects your life. To overcome this disorder, you first need to understand the impact it has on you. Find out under what circumstances you cannot speak. For example, a child can communicate freely with peers and become silent when he needs to talk to adults. The other child may speak and behave normally at home, but remain silent at school. By understanding the situations in which the disorder manifests itself, you will be able to direct all your efforts to overcome this state in these conditions.
3. 3 If you have the opportunity to seek help from others, try to combat selective mutism through desentization. In a controlled environment (where you can always ask for help), communicate with someone you can talk to. Then bring another person into the conversation. Start talking to a person you are comfortable with and then move on to a new person. The essence of the method is to relieve the anxiety associated with communicating with a new person, erasing the boundaries between familiar and unfamiliar.
4. 4 If the above technique does not work or cannot be used, try systematic desensitization.First, imagine yourself in a situation in which you cannot speak. Then, imagine what you are saying. Then try to communicate with people who are in the same situation, indirectly, that is, by letter, message on the Internet, SMS, e-mail, etc. Then move on to other ways of communication: by phone, at a distance, to personal communication. This method is used to treat other anxiety disorders, including specific phobias. The method is based on the desire to overcome anxiety, which deprives a person of the ability to speak, by gradually increasing the impact of stimuli.This allows you to muffle anxiety so that a person can behave normally in difficult situations.
5. 5 Practice communication in a variety of ways. Learn to feel calm when attention is paid to you; raise your hand, nod your head, point to something, write, look people in the eye.
   
   Gradually start talking, trying to speak more and more each time. Expand your comfort zone. If you are experiencing severe anxiety, try to ask for help and support from a large number of people.
   
   Try it record the sound of your voice, then listen to the recording so that you feel comfortable speaking out loud. Try it whisper in a public place (for example, in an office or in a classroom with a classmate or teacher). Try gradually speak louder.
6. 6 Praise and reward yourself every time you can speak in conditions that previously caused anxiety.
7. 7 Thinking good things can help you fight anxiety. You shouldn't think like this: "I can't talk ..." Better think like this: "I can try to talk, and I will succeed if I work on it."
8. 8 Understand that sensation butterflies in the stomach (that is, anxiety and even trembling) visits you in certain situations, so you need to start communication with small groups of people. Someone will be helped public speaking coursesthat teach you how to make presentations and interviews. People involved in entertainment and public communication quickly get used to the stress that comes with public speaking, including singing in front of large audiences. However, sometimes even the most seasoned professionals seek to dampen the stress of drugs. Later, when a person learns to fully control their emotions, he may want to feel it. old stage excitement, however, it will be gone. When a person is at the table for guests of honor or on stage, they may tend to exchange glances with someone and exchange nods or smiles in support. New social situations, as well as large establishments with a large number of people, tend to be a lot of stress.
9. 9 If a person has a serious problem with selective mutism, all of the above techniques may not be effective enough. In this case, one should seek help from narrow specialistswho will prescribe medication. Fluoxetine (Prozac) and other selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed for anxiety that interferes with speech. Medicines should be combined with the methods described above, as well as therapy for anxiety. This will increase the likelihood of overcoming selective mutism.

Tips

• Selective mutism can have a profound effect on a person, and it is difficult to combat it. The techniques described above may not work for everyone, especially if the person has a severe case of the disease. Do not give up, try to fight and seek help from others.

Personal characteristics of a person

• It is important for older children and adults not only to try to think good things, but also to work on interpersonal skills - this will reduce anxiety in communication situations. They are encouraged to read Dale Carnegie's How to Make Friends and Influence People.
• Introverts prefer to be confident in what they want to say. They can squeeze all their thoughts down to one paragraph, sentence or phrase so that they do not have to ponder a statement for a long time. They can close if asked questions.
  • Introverts tend to move away from arguments, personal conversations about themselves, or negative attention.
  • Extroverts, on the other hand, like to think out loud and speak with an important air, holding the attention of the listeners for as long as possible and using various techniques to attract attention, even if others consider this attention to be negative.
• You should start using these techniques as early as possible.If you delay this, you will only strengthen the ongoing processes, and it will be difficult for you to get rid of them in the future.
• Non-aggressive behavior is characteristic of introverts, but it can manifest itself in passive-aggressive jokes uttered behind a person's back, and in provocations, because such behavior does not imply direct conflict - no one knows what led to this situation. It is not uncommon for an introvert to run away from situations due to paranoid feelings and passive anger.
  • Some introverts have a strong fear of the situations in which they find themselves in the spotlight, so they become silent.
    • The extrovert may get angry or behave defiantly under conditions in which the introvert would feel too strong pressure to myself.
  • Introverts can be more open and sociable by playing games where they can make mistakes and behave stupidly, but they tend to hide if someone makes mistakes. correct.
• Seek medical attention if your symptoms are very severe.
• There are several basic personality types: ambiversion (balance between extraversion and introversion), introversion (closeness, recessiveness) and extraversion (openness, assertiveness), but there are also a number of related states. Ambiverts are balanced people who cannot be characterized as recessive or assertive. Extroverts and introverts are often viewed as two parts of one whole, that is, if there is a lot of one in a person, then the second will not be enough.Recessive character traits (including the inability to respond to any phenomena during communication) often accompany the daily life of an introvert, but they can also manifest themselves selectively. A person can behave openly if they feel safe and surrounded by colleagues, friends, and family.
• Young children should be rewarded for small accomplishments. It is also worth letting them listen to their voice recordings. These techniques allow you to successfully fight selective mutism and contribute to positive dynamics in the next 13 weeks after therapy.

Warnings

• Drugs should only be used as a last resort, especially when it comes to selective mutism. All drugs have side effects. In particular, fluoxetine can cause drowsiness, trouble falling asleep, excessive sweating, headaches, yawning, nausea, diarrhea, nervous conditions, and weakness. Rare but severe side effects include itching, rash, joint and muscle pain, fever, chills, hives, and difficulty breathing. Rare symptoms include neuroleptic malignant syndrome, serotonin syndrome, adverse drug effects (when taken concomitantly with monoamine oxidase inhibitors such as phenelzine, tranylcypromine, isocarboxazid, fluoxetine can cause serotonin syndrome), hepatitis, erythema polymorphism, lymph node convulsions, in the liver, allergic reactions, low blood sugar, hyponatremia (low sodium in the blood), increased risk of bleeding, excessive cheerfulness and hyperactivity, the initial stage of manic syndrome and thoughts of suicide.