ABSTRACT
The sense of inadequacy to a situation has different expressions in different individuals. Any of the physical reactions of fear may occur. When adaptations have to be made, as in social commerce, the paralyzing effects of dread may come to be feared. In the habitual stammerer, for fear of the situation has been substituted the fear of stammering. In the former case the cure is to be effected by transforming the patient’s attitude towards the situation he fears. Persons who fear to stammer must first learn that it is not the stammering itself which is the important feature, but the foundations of character which have made it possible, and that the more they think of their speech, the less easy it will be for them to speak. An overwhelming environment has to be escaped from, such as the dominance of an over-bearing or too exacting parent, or a censorious community.
