Hi. I want to become mute even though I have a voice. I have voice dysphoria but my parents dont believe me. Ive explained to them multiple times that when I speak I feel uncomfortable when talking and have shown themes ways for people to understand me without talking. I already have depression and anxiety so talking adds on to it. One day at school i tried to not talk and it made me feel wonderful. I wasn't a ball of anxiety that day. I felt more like me. But every time i talk its makes me miserable. If someone can help me with my problem i would greatly appreciate it. Thank you
I have a text to speech app on my phone, and that helps me. I have sensory issues (self-diagnosed aspie)and a lot of the times I don't want to be touched or talked to. Talking too much honestly makes me tired. I wish I could make people understand that without sounding rude.
I totally understand! Talking makes me tired as well. Plus having to deal with other people makes me super anxious. I wish I could help people understand too. Also I have looked into apps like that but im not sure if my parents would approve.
When I was a teenager I was almost completely mute for several years. I answered direct questions but other than that I rarely spoke. For me the reason was that I was very afraid and had a lot of symptoms from trauma. Now that I have been healing and growing for a good many years I really enjoy talking because I feel safe and able to defend myself if I need to. I don't have a lot of specific advice but I want to say that for me it got a whole lot better with time and work on my mental health. Everyone is different and unique and is on their own journey. Take care of yourself the best you can and remember it won't be too long before you are an adult and you can take a lot more power over your life and how you live. You don't have to talk if you don't want to and you don't have to explain yourself to other people. Focus on the stuff you like and are good at and the people (if you know any) who make you feel safe. If you don't know any safe people, remember that they exist and that someday you will find them if you keep looking. Hang in there and don't give up.
Symphylan thank you, though an hour ago I was talking to my mom and she did not approve of my decision. I still believe I am going through the start of selective mutism and I am grateful that you are supporting me through it. On EC I feel like i can open up without having to speak which makes me feel amazing! Thank you for your support.
Hi Isla, I love you and hope you make it to your beautiful, mute self, Stay Positive because it makes everything better.
I would concur with Austin. This is an issue that isn't really going to be effectively solved in the long term by being mute, at least it is unlikely to work in a way that's practical and effective for a good quality of life. A therapist should be able to help you resolve the dysphoria, and perhaps refer you for speech therapy if appropriate. In the meantime, there's nothing wrong with minimizing speaking... but I'd encourage you to think of it as a temporary solution rather than a permanent one.
You can train your voice to sound more feminine (guessing you’re MTF?) and there are video tutorials on YouTube…it’s hard at first but definitely beneficial. I’m FTM and training my voice to sound more masculine really helped to alleviate my dysphoria. It takes time and practice but I’d look into it as it’d be better for you in the long run than going mute.
I actually feel the same way about talking and the sensory issues so I went to get a diagnosis from an official doctor and they said I do have sensory problems, but not asperger's so maybe you could look into that? It's a good thing to know you don't have to worry as much about sensory issues in school or things like that due to a diagnosis that means the school will have to accommodate it. It's helped me a lot so far, so if you can pay for it I would try for a diagnosis. Also I'm not trying to say you don't have Asperger's or something because of my experience I'm just saying it's best to get it officially looked at ya know? It's fine if you can't though, everyone's circumstance is different. I just hope I was helpful with the school accommodation stuff?
Your post has reminded me that I was effectively mute for a few years in my childhood - it's a long time ago now so I only remember it dimly, but I think it started when I was 4 and probably lasted till I was 8 or 9. I remember feeling that words were the source of all the worlds problems and wishing they would just go away and leave me alone. But....not words per-se......the spoken word specifically. I had no problem with reading. My family was pretty well disfunctional and I guess my response was to become quite introverted. I listened a lot, and leaned a lot, I just didnt speak a lot. I was fine about it being pretty young, but I think others were pretty well concerned. After a time the family situation changed and settled and I slowly became more open, but I still go quiet if I'm in a large social group. As before - I'm pretty much ok with that.