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 appetite,
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."