THE INTERMITTENT TENDENCY
Paradoxical as the statement may seem, it is nevertheless true that one
of the symptoms of least seeming importance marks one of the most
dangerous aspects of both stuttering and stammering.
This is the alternating good-and-bad condition known as the
Intermittent Tendency or the tendency of the stutterer or stammerer to
show marked improvement at times.
This seeming improvement brings about a feeling of relief, the
unreasoning fear of failure seems for the time to have left almost
entirely; the mental strain under which the sufferer ordinarily labors
seems to be no longer present; there is but little worry about either
present condition or future prospects; the nervous condition seems to
have very materially improved, self-confidence returns quickly and with
it the hope that the trouble is gone forever or is at least rapidly
disappearing. With these manifestations of improvement come also a
greater ease in concentration, a greater and more facile power-of-will
and an ambition that shows signs of rekindling, with worth-while
accomplishments in prospect.
Hope now burns high in the breast of the stutterer or stammerer. They
go about smiling inwardly if not outwardly, happy as the proud father
of a new boy, at peace with the world. The sun shines brighter than it
has for months or years. Every one seems much more pleasant and
agreeable. Things which the day before seemed totally impossible seem
now to come within their range of accomplishment. Such is the feeling
of the confirmed stutterer or stammerer during the time of this
pseudo-freedom from his speech disorder.
In his own mind, the sufferer is quite sure that his malady has
disappeared over-night, like a bad dream and that freedom of speech has
been bestowed upon him as a gift from the gods on high.
The higher the hopes of the sufferer and the greater the assurance with
which he pursues the activities of his day, the greater is his
disappointment and despair when the inevitable relapse overtakes him.
For disappointment and despair are sure to come--just as sure as the
sun is to rise in the heavens in the morning. The condition of relief
is but temporary, and will soon pass away to be followed by a return of
his old trouble in a form more aggravated than ever before.
Fate seems to play with the stammerer's affliction as a cat plays with
a mouse, allowing him to be free for a few hours, a few days or a few
weeks as the case may be, only to drag the dejected sufferer back to
his former condition--or, as is true in many cases, worse than before.
THE RECURRENCE: With the return of the trouble, the bodily and mental
reaction are almost too great for the human mechanism to withstand.
Hope seems to be a word which has been lost from the life of the
stammerer. The fear of failure returns with an overwhelming force
mocking the sufferer with the thought of "Oh, how I deceived you!!";
the mental strain is exceedingly great--so great, in fact, that it
seems as if the breaking point has almost been reached. The nervous
condition is alarming, the sufferer noting in himself an inability to
work, to play, to study or even to sit still. An observer would note
the stammerer or stutterer in this condition fingering his coat lapels,
putting his hands in his pockets and removing them again, biting his
finger nails, constantly shifting eyes, head, arms and feet about. If
at home, the sufferer in this condition would probably be seen walking
about the house, unable to read, to play or listen to music or to
follow any of the accustomed activities of his life. If in business or
in the shop, he would be noticed making frequent trips to the wash
room, to the drinking fountain, to the foreman, picking up and laying
down his tools, looking out the window, shifting from one foot to
another, all of which symptoms indicate an acute nervous condition,
brought about by the return of his trouble.
At this stage, the stammerer's confidence is hopelessly gone, so it
seems, and this feeling is accompanied by one of depression which finds
an outlet in the expression of the firm belief and conviction on the
part of the stutterer or stammerer that the disorder can NEVER be
cured, by any method, although just the day before the same sufferer
would have insisted that his stuttering or stammering had CURED ITSELF
and left of its own accord.
These conditions, both at the time of the so-called improvement and at
the time of the recurrence of the trouble, will appear in greater or
less degree in the case of every stutterer or stammerer whose trouble
is of the intermittent type.
THE DANGERS OF THIS TENDENCY: This period of recurrence is accompanied
by almost total loss of the power-of-will, a marked weakening in the
ability to concentrate, and if it does not result in insomnia
(inability to sleep) puts the mind in such a state as to make sleep of
little value in building up the body, replacing worn-out tissue cells
and restoring vital energy.
The chief danger, however, resulting from these periods of temporary
improvement, is the belief that it instills into the mind of the
sufferer and more frequently into the minds of the parents of
stuttering or stammering children, that the trouble will cure itself--a
fallacy greater than which there is none.
Stuttering and stammering are destructive maladies. They tear down both
body and mind but they have not the slightest power to build up. And
until a strong mental and physical structure has been built up in place
of the weakened structure (which results in stammering and stuttering)
a cure is out of the question.