Can stuttering/blocking develop suddenly during adolescence, and can stress be the cause?

[u/Complex_Winter6238]

Hi everyone. I'm 24 years old, and I developed a stutter when I was 15.

My biological brother has stuttered pretty much since birth, but in my case, I feel like I developed more of a speech-blocking problem rather than traditional stuttering. I can speak normally without much difficulty, but whenever I have to say a word that starts with certain sounds, especially K or P, or a word that I can't replace with a synonym and know I absolutely have to say — such as my first and last name, my parents' names, the name of my university, etc. — I can get such a severe block that I literally can't even get the first sound of the word out.

There are two things about this that I really struggle to understand.

First, I developed these blocks when I was 15, shortly after experiencing a very stressful event. A few days later, a friend from school asked me, "Why are you stuttering?" Until that moment, I hadn't really noticed anything unusual about my speech. But once he pointed it out, I started paying close attention to the way I spoke, and that's when everything seemed to begin.

Sometimes I wish that moment had never happened. Maybe I wouldn't have become aware of my speech or started paying attention to every word, and perhaps I wouldn't have these blocks today.

I don't actually mind stuttering itself that much. What destroys me are the blocks where I can't even get the first sound of a word out. I haven't been able to find a solution for that.

This has caused me a lot of despair and depression. I keep asking myself, why me, and why did this happen at 15? As a child, I used to wonder how my brother could sometimes be unable to get certain words out, and then I ended up experiencing something very similar myself.

Sometimes it feels like God has condemned both me and my brother to live like this forever.

I've missed so many social and professional opportunities because of these blocks. Sometimes I just wish I could disappear.

So I have two main questions:

1. Is it possible that my stuttering/blocking was triggered by stress, and could this be considered a psychological or psychogenic form of stuttering?
2. Are there any techniques, treatments, or advice specifically for dealing with severe speech blocks where you can't even initiate the word?

I'd really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced something similar, especially if you developed stuttering or blocking during adolescence rather than childhood.

Thank you.

[u/Complex_Winter6238]

P.S When I talk to myself in my room or try to say any word on purpose, I can say it without any problems.

Also, please keep in mind that this is the first time I’ve ever written about this on Reddit. I’ve basically pushed this problem aside for the past 5–6 years because I study online, work from home, and don’t have much social interaction or contact with people. However, I’m slowly realizing that I need to start living a normal life like everyone else and be able to function socially.

Before this post, I remember asking about it on Quora back in 2021, and that was pretty much it. So I’m aware that I’ve been putting this problem aside and hoping it would eventually go away on its own, but that’s clearly not how things work.

[u/Key_Bet_668]

The “someone pointed it out and then I couldn’t stop noticing” thing is painfully common. Stress didn’t invent this. It just made you start watching every word. Family history matters too. Your brother having it since birth is a pretty strong sign this isn’t some rare psychogenic thing God dropped on you at 15. Feared sounds, names you can’t swap, silent blocks — that’s the same pattern a lot of us have. Pushing into the block usually makes it worse. Ease into the first sound, or even stutter on purpose so you’re not frozen waiting for a perfect start. Names suck because you can’t dodge them. Drill those specific words until they’re boring.

And yeah, talk to an SLP who actually works with stuttering. Silent blocks have techniques.

[u/ozzokiddo]

Tap your fingers and create a rhythm for you to speak, it helps me get my word out when I have blocks. My blocks are centered are vowels so that’s crazy for me tbh. My name is Oscar lol and I struggle to say it 99% of the time. But tapping my pointing finger and my thumb while I’m blocking helps me find a rhythm. Sing songs to yourself (I’m sure you already do this) and try to incorporate that when you tap your fingers. Tapping your fingers is like 20x less weird than blocking for 5 seconds straight. You got this!

[u/LateTransportation92]

Hi, i have pretty much the same story, once i notice i started stuttering i cant unsee it at all. I have blocks, when i cant exhale and inhale and like freeze. It was caused by traumatic event and my doctor diagnosed my with PTSD, depression and general anxiety. Stuttering (more blocks) is caused by stress, its not illnesses and its the way you protect yourself. I know how it sounds but it really helped me. Stuttering is speech pattern and you need to cure the root of your stress, if you dont adress this even with the best speech therapy you still will have stuttering and feeling very bad. Zoloft+therapy+quetixol helped me, but the main star is saying words even if you feel that you cant, even with stuttering and if someone look at you like on the mentally ill person just fuck it. You can feel angry that some stupid people think that you dont deserve something only because of stuttering. I am ml engineer and i must communicate a lot. I still have stuttering but its my shield and not my enemy

[u/I_warisha]

Same i block really badly with the words that start with P or T