Part 7 (1/2)

THE EFFECT ON THE MIND

It is hardly necessary to describe to the stammerer who has pa.s.sed beyond the first stage of his trouble the effect of stammering on the mind. Most any sufferer in the second or third stages of the malady has experienced for very brief periods the sensation of thoughts slipping away from him and of pursuing or attempting to pursue those thoughts for some seconds without success, finally to find them returning like a flash.

The stammerer who recalls such an incident will remember the feelings of la.s.situde or momentary physical exhaustion, as well as the feeling of weakness which followed the lapse-of-thought. This mental flurry is but an indication of a mental condition known as Thought-Lapse, which may result from long-continued stammering, especially a case which has been allowed to progress into the Chronic or Advanced Stage.

A CASE OF APHASIA: One writer, in citing instances of thought-lapse, or aphasia, tells of the case of a man unable to recall the name of any object until it was repeated for him. A knife, for instance, placed on the table before him, brought no mental image of the word representing the object, yet if the word ”knife” were spoken for him, he would immediately say, ”Oh, yes, it is a knife.”

A chapter could be filled with instances of this sort, but I shall not attempt to quote further any of the symptoms of aphasia in a stammerer, for in cases that become so far advanced, there is considerable question as to the possibility of bringing about a cure. I say this, notwithstanding the fact that my experience with students having this tendency has been very satisfactory indeed.

Cases of unreasoning despondency, which result in the stammerer's desire to take his own life, are so numerous as hardly to require comment. Very frequently you see in some of the large metropolitan papers an account of a suicide resulting from a nervous and mental condition brought on by stuttering and stammering. This condition seems to be very marked in the cases of stammerers between the ages of twelve and twenty, records showing that most of the suicides of stammerers are persons between those ages.

The intense mental strain, the extreme nervous condition, the continual worry and fear cannot fail, sooner or later, to have its effect upon the mind. This is clear to any stammerer, who is familiar with the mental condition brought about by the first few hours of one of his periods of recurrence. Another case where the mental strain is extremely great is that of the synonym stammerer--the mentally alert individual who, in order to prevent the outward appearance of stammering, is continually searching for synonyms or less difficult words to take the place of those which he cannot speak. This continual searching for synonyms results in a nervous tension that is sure to tell on the mental faculties sooner or later, and I have found, in examining many thousands of cases, that the synonym stammerer is usually in a more highly nervous state than any other type.

MENTAL STRAIN EVENTUALLY TELLS: The effect of stuttering or stammering on the sufferer's concentration is very marked. The sufferer notes an inability to concentrate his mind on any subject for any length of time, finds it impossible to pursue an education with any degree of success or to follow any business which requires close attention and careful work.

The power-of-will is also affected and the stammerer notes an inability to put through the things which he starts and which require the exercise of will power to bring to a successful conclusion.

A diagnosis of insanity is sometimes made in the case of a stammerer in the advanced stages of his malady, while in other instances the mental aberration takes the form of a hallucination of some sort, as in the case of the boy who was of the belief that he was continually being followed.

But regardless of what form is taken by the mental disorder resulting from stammering, such cases are almost invariably found to have long since pa.s.sed into the incurable stage, although positive statements as to the individual's condition should not be made, as a rule, without a thorough diagnosis having first been made.

CHAPTER VIII

THE EFFECTS ON THE BODY

The effect of stammering or stuttering upon the physical structure is problematical. In some cases examined, a noticeable lack of vitality has been found, together with an almost total loss of active appet.i.te, a marked inclination toward insomnia and a generally debilitated condition resulting from the nervous strain and continued fear brought on by the speech disorder.

In other cases, it has been found that the health was but little affected and that there was no marked departure from normal.

The physical condition of the stammerer is the result of many factors.

If plenty of fresh air and exercise is supplied, and the mind is well-employed so that the worry over the trouble does not disturb the stammerer, then the chances for being in a normal physical condition are good.

On the other hand, the boy of studious disposition, who is somewhat of a bookworm, keeps close to the house and does not play with other children of his age, will probably find time for much introspection, and on this account, as well as on account of the lack of fresh air and exercise, will probably be in a physical condition that of itself demands careful attention.

It has been found in examinations of stammerers and stutterers, however, that they are usually of below normal chest expansion and that the health, while not particularly bad, is subject to a great improvement as a result of the proper treatment for stammering.

Charles Kingsley, the noted English divine and writer, and himself a stammerer many years ago, has the following to say regarding the effect of stammering on the body: ”Continual depression of spirit wears out body as well as mind. The lungs never act rightly, never oxygenate the blood sufficiently. The vital energy continually directed to the organs of speech and there used up in the miserable spasm of mis-articulation cannot feed the rest of the body; and the man too often becomes thin, pale, flaccid, with contracted chest, loose ribs and bad digestion. I have seen a boy of twelve stunted, thin as a ghost and with every sign of approaching consumption. I have seen that boy a few months after being cured, upright, ruddy, stout, eating heartily and beginning to grow faster than he had ever grown in his life. I never knew a single case in which the health did not begin to improve then and there.”

CHAPTER IX

DEFECTIVE SPEECH IN CHILDREN

(1) THE PRE-SPEAKING PERIOD

From the standpoint of speech development, the life of any person between the time of birth and the age of twenty-one years, may be divided into four periods as follows: