User talk:Depressed Cadence Sonoma

How To Be Selectively Mute
1. The proximity of certain others ‘renders me mute’ 2. Every single time I encounter the same individuals I will be 'rendered mute' again 3. Every individual associated with / related to an individual I am mute with I will also be mute with 4. I will hide my muteness from individuals I can speak to who are unaware of it 5. I will hide my speech from individuals who identify me as mute

Note that: 1. is instinctive 2. is what makes SM so enduring (as will be explained) 3., 4., & 5. are based on avoiding challenge

The rules exist for different reasons: 1. Fear of being heard / seen / overly perceived / appraised / overwhelmed / embarrassed 2. Anticipatory anxiety / avoidance / feeling ‘safer' silent, despite feeling ashamed of being so / self-concept as a silent person / sound-of-voice fears ... 3., 4. & 5. Avoidance of mutism being challenged by others - extrapolated to everyone who could potentially do so

So, SM is a primitive fear which wraps round on itself, traps the child / adult into muteness (amongst other things), and around that core ‘trap’ is constructed a complex and seemingly impenetrable system of anxieties. However, SM can be resolved (in younger children more easily) by focusing on 2. primarily. 3., 4., & 5. will resolve themselves if 2. is successfully worked on.

A fear of being heard can be overcome in two principal ways: by increasing volume (shaping) or the hearer reducing distance while volume is maintained (Sliding In.) This is just as relevant to young adults as children. It is thus possible to avert mental health issues that may follow for a child with SM by adolescence and adulthood: depression, which is almost universal, and all manner of other anxiety disorders which are very significantly more likely in adults with SM – e.g. social anxiety disorder (SAD), generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), agoraphobia, panic disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Depressed Cadence Sonoma (talk) 19:10, 9 December 2020 (UTC)Depressed Cadence Sonoma