Anyone have selective mutism?
@MeNitta33
@MeNitta33 Whoops my message didn't go through.
I'm sorry that no one has responded to your thread yet. I do not have selective mutism and if I am being honest, I had never heard of it before now. I just did some light reading and I'm suprised I was so unfamiliar with it. I am a shy person but I know that isn't the same as having selective mutism.
Thank you for spreading awareness about this anxiety disorder. I hope you are able to connect with someone else who is going through what you are. In the meantime, I would be more than happy to keep talking here with you. I would love to learn more about your experiences and I will try to help as much as I can in return.
Hope to talk to you soon.
Yes. It happens a lot, and it's incredibly frustrating. I try to explain it to people, but I really don't know how, and they just seem to get more irritated as if I'm being intentionally rude or something. It gets really isolating.
Nope I just think people have to realise they can't jump up with you after being a nutcase
An apology goes a long way
@sensibleStrawberries9877 what do you mean?
@MeNitta33 dunno you can read it into it for yourself and let it means whatever it means to you
Or you can just read it for what it is
I'm an adult who had this anxiety disorder as a child. I still have some remaining anxiety even as an adult people don't understand that it's a disorder people don't always completely grow up from. No one understood me my teachers thought I didn't understand the lesson and my peers thought i was too stupid to talk they used to laugh and say "I don't even know if she can talk." Which was insulting because I can fully understand what is going on but my anxiety made my mouth completely shut to everyone. I never made any friends because people were too afraid to talk to me and due to other issues I had trouble processing as well so when they did speak to me I couldn't hear them. I also had difficulty learning because I never asked for help. my grades were always poor. I'm trying to keep this relevant to the topic but selective mutism also was complicated with my other conditions as well. So all together I felt alone in the world and unable to talk to anyone else everyone pushed me aside because I never spoke. I still struggle today with my condtions and I honestly believe I still have this disorder today.
@ShadowTag You sound just like me. I too am an adult who grew up with selective mutism. I never received treatment. Although I treated myself as I got older and can talk most of the time now, I still suffer from tremendous anxiety. They are times I talk so quietly that people do not hear me, it is embarrassing. I also have a learning disorder and had trouble processing information. Other health struggles have complicated my life today and I still struggle to make friends. No one I know is aware of my disorder
@reliableMaple8519
I feel the same way. When I talk to people I only usually say a few things but once I get to know someone I open up a lot more although I'm still anxious around them. It's troubling and a lot of people either assume I'm dumb or rude.
@MeNitta33
Yes, I do. There are many times in any day where I suddenly can't talk to people for no apparent reason. Other times there are specific situations in which my mouth is like glued shut. For example, I suddenly can't speak when someone is recording me or my voice. I also have a lot of trouble speaking to police men and therapists (don't ask, it's a long story). I would like to say that I have gotten better at overcoming my selective mutism as a young adult, but the truth is that I have simply become better at not beating myself up when I failed to speak at some points in the day. To some stragers I can say a loud and clear hello as I walk by, others I can hardly give a silent nod, and that's okay. I don't have to understand it, I just have to be kind to myself about it. Because the kinder I am to myself the more I tend to be able to speak.
@Soe22 hi thanks for your reply, its nice knowing that im not alone 
@Soe22
Oh that explains how I feel sometimes too. Thank you for the insight I need that I remember what I've been through. I have definitely experieced that as well. Most people I interact with I am afraid to even make the slightest noise and I want to hide from everyone since it's embarassing for me since im a grown adult and I can barely actually communicate all the time.
@MeNitta33 I go silent alot. The words are there. I have things I want to say but they don't come out
When I get too upset or am feeling too much I go mute and can't force myself to talk no matter what. It's a real problem especially with others because they view it as me shutting down/shutting them out.
This is interesting.
Sometimes, when I am upset with someone or a group of people, I will shut down and stop talking to them or interacting with them because I am so angry that I feel like if I start to talk, I won't control what I am going to say and I am going to get myself into trouble by telling them how I feel and telling them off or making a snide comment. This is usually at my work and I don't want to get fired.
I am not sure if this is related, but I have a strong distrust in people with loud voices. You know the ones - they are usually the ones who are always trying to lead the conversation and talking over people to control things. I have a quiet voice, so I just get steamrolled by these types and find myself going quiet against them so they don't talk over me. I get upset when I am trying to answer a question and someone starts talking over me before I even finish making my point - and half the time they are misunderstanding what I am saying. So if I don't watch out, I start cutting them of and almost start an argument to try to correct them and tell them what I was actually saying - but often times even correcting them has no effect as they are still "locked in" to thinking about their original misunderstanding and won't here me when I am trying to correct them. Then I get even more frustrated and usually just go silent and try to find another way to explain it or just let it go because it is not worth the effort to correct them on a minor point.
I've always been on the quiet side. However, I've noticed that I also tend to go completely quiet in conversation without meaning to. I once hosted a dinner party and someone asked, "Why are you so quiet? You're not a good hostess". Worst feeling ever. I felt so guilty.
@daliarose47 I don't know if this counts as selective mutism but there are some conversations, especially with family members, where they ask a lot of questions and talk a lot and I just say very little because I'm awkward and don't have anything to say. I feel so weird I just want them to leave me alone :(
@Will1710
When I was with everyone else I went silent and they asked me a lot of questions i was so scared my mouth could barely say yes or no. I only talked often to specific person and other people i said nothing or barely a single word so i think it applies.
@ShadowTag
I had a lot of anxiety as a child and as you grow up its still there but you also warps and changes with time. It's a permanent issue with complications for a life time.
@ShadowTag
im saying for me its likely a permanent thing some can get over it.
People in my school thought I was genuinely full time mute because any time they tied to speak to me I would freeze up and be unable to talk. It got better as my anxiety got better but the more people commented on my lack of speech the harder it got to talk and the worse I felt about it, so I feel your pain@daliarose47