"At the present time not the slightest trace of stuttering remains10, not the slightest vibration11 of the muscles of the face, not the most inconsiderable play of the lips. His speech is, throughout, well toned, even, and flowing."
Thus was inaugurated a period of butchery that lasted until—almost before the year was out—it was observed that those "cured" by this sanguinary means usually began, before long, to stammer5 as badly as ever, and also that those who were not "cured" had a tendency to die. Yet Dieffenbach was no charlatan12, no "quack13." He was a reputable surgeon who honestly believed that he had discovered the true remedy for stammering14. And, if the passage of time has intensified15 the tragedy and absurdity16 of his method and has relegated17 his glowing account of it to a place in the literature of medical curiosities,[209] there is this to be said of him—that he has had plenty of successors who have erred18 almost as seriously in their attempts to solve the problem presented by the widespread and baffling malady19 of stammering.
In fact, up to within quite recent times the record of the struggle against stammering has been one of continuous failure. There has been a steady accumulation of methods of treatment, from surgical20 operations of a less drastic type than Dieffenbach's to the use of various articulatory and respiratory exercises and devices, without any appreciable21 effect in the diminution22 of stammering. Even to-day the great majority of physicians and lay specialists—to whom, by a sort of tacit agreement, the medical profession has largely relinquished23 the task of dealing24 with stammering—labour to next to no purpose. At this very moment there are in the United States at least three hundred thousand persons who stammer, fully25 half of whom stammer so badly that they are severely26 handicapped in the gaining of a livelihood27.[210] Thousands of these have resorted to medical advice, or have attended so-called schools for stammerers, with lastingly28 beneficial results to few. Small wonder that there is, among stammerers and their friends, a tendency to believe that stammering is one of the hopelessly incurable30 maladies of mankind.
And this would undeniably appear to be true, as regards many stammerers. On the other hand, it may confidently be said that nearly all cases of stammering are actually susceptible32 of marked improvement, often amounting to 75 or 90 per cent. of a cure; and that a number of cases can be completely cured. Such a statement, to be sure, could not have been safely made even a few years ago. This for the reason that only lately has there been any really systematic33 effort by scientifically trained investigators34 to study the phenomena36 of stammering, with a view to ascertaining37, with scientific exactness, its true nature and causation.
Stammering, it has long been recognised, is not a malady of uniform symptomatology, like tuberculosis[211] or typhoid fever. No two stammerers stammer precisely38 alike. They stumble over different letters and sounds; time, place, and circumstances have varying effects on the degree of their stammering; and the physical spasms39 and contortions40 that so often accompany this trouble differ in different stammerers. There is, too, a great variation in the onset41 of stammering. Mostly, it is true, it manifests itself in childhood, from the age of four to eleven. But it may not set in until much later in life; and, when it does begin in childhood, it begins under much diversity of conditions.
Sometimes a child stammers42 almost as soon as he has learned to speak, though seldom, if ever, coincident with the learning. Often, the first appearance of stammering follows some disease like measles43 or diphtheria. Or, again, a child who has been speaking quite well, suddenly begins to stammer, and persists in stammering, after being brought into contact with people who are themselves stammerers.
"I was entirely44 free of stammering," declares a[212] clergyman, in a typical statement, "till I was five years old. At that time of life there was a gentleman who occasionally came to my father's house, and stammered45 very badly. I distinctly remember one afternoon trying to imitate him; when, unfortunately, he heard me, and was very indignant. So ashamed were my parents at my conduct that, after he had gone, I was taken to task and punished severely for it. Ever since that night I have been afflicted46 with this most distressing47 malady, in spite of all my efforts to overcome it."
Compare a statement by a Philadelphia physician, Doctor D. Braden Kyle:
"Several years ago I saw three interesting cases of stammering. Two of the cases were imitation. These two lads, who were associated with a boy several years older, the worst stammerer I ever saw, clearly imitated him. As they were constantly together, the imitation was almost continuous. They certainly developed into expert stammerers. In less than two years they were confirmed stammerers, and[213] it was impossible for them to speak at all without stuttering and stammering."
Facts like these, I repeat, have long been observed and commented on by specialists in the treatment of stammering; but they have, for the most part, been dismissed as mere7 "oddities," while emphasis has been laid on the single fact that, in the majority of cases, stammerers have had parents or other relatives who themselves stammered. "Heredity," consequently, has been assumed to be the one and sufficient explanation of all stammering; and it has also been assumed that what is inherited is either an anatomical or a physiological48 defect. Hence, in too many instances, the use of the surgeon's knife; and, hence, the invention of innumerable systems designed to train the stammerer in the correct use of his breathing and articulating organs—in a word, systems intended to teach him how to talk.
But, as even the most enthusiastic exponents49 of these corrective systems are now beginning to appreciate, whatever else the stammerer may need, he does[214] not need to be taught how to talk. For he can talk well enough on occasion. Nothing is more significant, from the standpoint of assisting to a clear understanding of the nature of stammering, than the fact that there are uncommonly50 few stammerers who have any difficulty in speaking when nobody is with them. On this point, every stammerer with whom I have been in touch is in remarkable51 agreement, and others who have had a far wider acquaintance with stammerers testify to the same effect. For example, Mr. Charles L. Rowan, of Milwaukee, a gentleman who has stammered for years and has made a close study of the subject, informs me:
"When I am alone—and the same is true of other stammerers—I have no speech difficulty whatever, and can talk or read aloud for hours with ease. It is only when I am with others that I halt and stammer in my speech. Sometimes I talk in my sleep, and the folks tell me I do not stammer then. But, if I am dreaming, and in the dream imagine myself talking, it is always in a stammer.
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"I have also noticed that most stammerers talk better when the subject is light and frivolous52 than when it is something serious. And they talk better when conversing53 with people whom they regard as inferiors. I know a man who is a section foreman, and he says he can give orders to his negro and Mexican labourers perfectly54, but if the roadmaster comes along he cannot talk to him at all."
And a stammerer from Spokane, Washington, informs me:
"I would like to say that there are periods when I can talk much better than for corresponding periods. Indeed, there are times, generally a few days at a time, when it is most difficult for me to talk with even a slight degree of correctness; and, then, there are periods of as long, or longer, duration when speech seems to flow with more ease, though never perfect, except for a few words in succession."
More than this, according to one diligent55 investigator35, the majority of stammerers fail to stammer if addressed in such a way that their replies are[216] made without their realising that they are talking. Says this observer:
"Suppose a stammerer is engaged in a deep study and unaware56 of your presence. You speak to him softly. He answers readily, without hesitation57, in an absent manner. Again, you ask a careless question, implying by your manner that you do not expect or desire an answer; to this he quickly and easily replies also. Now, look straight at him and pointedly58 interrogate60 him. See, when it becomes necessary for him to speak, how he is thrown into confusion."
It has further been found that most stammerers are at their worst when in the presence of strangers. Some stammer scarcely at all when at home with their relatives and intimate friends. On the opposite, there are some who stammer worse than usual when with relatives. Not so long ago I learned of one stammerer—a young lady who had stammered from early childhood—whose trouble was most in evidence when she was talking with her mother. Almost all[217] stammerers, too, enjoy temporary relief from their speech defect when greatly startled, angry, or otherwise excited.
Decidedly, then, it is not from anatomical or physiological inability to speak that a stammerer suffers. It is, rather, from a psychological inability. That is to say, the facts just mentioned indicate strongly that stammering is primarily a mental malady—that it is due to the presence, in the mind of the stammerer, of some idea or ideas that inhibit61 the normal functioning of the organs of speech. This conclusion is confirmed by the additional circumstance that nearly every stammerer who has been questioned on the subject admits that he is perpetually tormented62 by a haunting dread64 of not being able to express himself clearly to others, and so of exposing himself to their ridicule65, contempt, or pity. Many, indeed, affirm their conviction that if they could only overcome this dread they would be free from their affliction. "I believe," is a characteristic utterance66 of stammerers, "that if I were to wake up[218] some morning with total forgetfulness that I had ever stammered, I should never stammer again."
Still more significant is the fact that, of the many methods which have been invented for the treatment of stammering—and which include such curious devices as beating time with every word, and wearing artificial supports under the tongue—all have had to their credit a certain—however small—proportion of genuine cures. This would suggest, not that they have been intrinsically valuable, but that, in the cases cured, they so impressed the mind of the stammerer with their therapeutic67 virtue68 as to banish69 his long-entertained belief that he could not talk like other people. For that matter, recent experiments go to bear out the view that almost any method, no matter how fantastic, will cure some stammerers, if only they have a lively faith in its efficacy.
For example, there was once brought to the Boston City Hospital a woman of thirty-five, who, though formerly70 speaking without any difficulty, had begun to stammer in a frightful71 manner, following[219] a violent quarrel with her husband. She could utter scarcely a sound, except weirdly72 inarticulate noises, and these only by a great effort. The physician to whom her case was entrusted73 soon became satisfied that she was suffering mainly from a profound belief that she would never be able to talk again; and he therefore endeavoured to reason her out of this, but to no purpose. Finally, he abandoned the attempt, and, after leaving her pretty much to her own devices for several days, impressively said to her one morning, in a tone of great authority:
"Well, Mrs. Blank, I have been looking carefully into your case, and I find there is one way certain to cure you. It may be a little painful, but I know you will not mind that, as long as it is going to make you entirely well."
So saying, and with an air of the utmost confidence, he began to apply to her an electric current, just strong enough to make her wince74. Only a few treatments of this sort were found necessary to enable[220] the hospital authorities to discharge her as cured—and she stayed cured.
Of late, consequently, with growing recognition of the dominant75 psychic76 factor in stammering, there has been an increasing tendency—though as yet it is far from universal—to employ psychological methods in treating stammerers. The effort is made to instil77 confidence in the sufferer—to convince him that he need only exercise his will power to bring about his own cure. In a good many cases, and frequently with gratifying results, resort is had to hypnotism, the "suggestion" being reiterated78 to the patient, while in the hypnotic state, that in the future he will experience none of his overwhelming sensations of dread and anxiety and will speak as fluently as persons who have never stammered. Or he may be treated by psychic re-education, which consists essentially79 in the development of volitional80 control by suggestions tactfully imparted in the ordinary waking state. All of which unquestionably marks a tremendous advance over the theories and[221] practices based on the alleged81 anatomical or physiological defects of stammerers.
There is this to be added, though, that, sanely82 beneficial as is the psychological treatment of stammering, it often happens that the confidence-inspiring suggestions given to stammerers do not "take." The stammerer, albeit83 he may perhaps show improvement for a time, remains without clear articulatory power. When this occurs, the natural tendency among those treating him—in view of the demonstrated truth that stammering is the effect of a peculiar84 state of mind—is to throw the blame on the patient instead of on the method. Yet, actually, it is the method that is at fault—or, to be exact, it is the failure to apply the method, which itself is thoroughly85 sound—in such a way as to remove from the stammerer's mind not only the fear that haunts him and helps to perpetuate86 his stammering, but also the ideas in which his stammering originated.
Here we come to the central fact in the whole problem of stammering—a fact which, when it is widely[222] enough known and appreciated, is certain to exert a far-reaching influence on the prevention of stammering, as well as its cure. Until very recently, few have been aware of this fact except a small group of foreign investigators, physicians with a psychological training, whose special business it has been to determine scientifically the possibilities, the limitations, and the exact procedures to be followed in supplementing, by wholly mental treatment, the ordinary medical and surgical treatment of disease. Impressed by the predominance of the mental factor in stammering, these investigators were particularly impressed by some of the peculiarities87 mentioned above—as, the ability of almost every stammerer to speak well when alone or when in a state of abstraction. Such peculiarities, they knew from long experience, bore a strong resemblance to oddities in the behaviour of victims of hysteria, psychasthenia, or other psychoneurosis, in all of which disorders89 there is a tendency for symptoms to disappear when the sufferer's attention is momentarily withdrawn90 from[223] them. Accordingly, it seemed to the investigators quite possible that, in the last analysis, stammering was not so much a disease in itself as a psychoneurotic symptom.
They were well aware, for reasons already set forth92 in these pages, that psychoneurotic disorders have their origin in emotional disturbances93 of one sort or another, which, occurring to a person of nervous temperament94 or rendered neurally95 unstable96 by a faulty upbringing, react adversely97 on the entire organism. Exactly what happens is that the emotional disturbance—whether it be a fright, a grief, a worry, or what not—while perhaps completely forgotten by the victim, so far as conscious recollection is concerned, remains subconsciously98 alive in his memory, is ever seeking to emerge again into conscious remembrance, and, failing to do this, takes its revenge, so to speak, by the production of disease symptoms ranging from mere eccentricities100 of thought and behaviour to symptoms mimicking101 those of true organic disease.
[224]
Also, the investigators knew that the particular form these mentally caused symptoms take depends chiefly on the kind of suggestions received from the sufferer's environment. If he chances, for instance, to have a relative or a friend who is a paralytic102, he may, in time, develop pseudosymptoms of paralysis103 himself. Or, if his nervous equilibrium104 be sufficiently105 upset, he may develop them from merely hearing or reading about them. Whatever the symptoms he manifests, his malady is curable—precisely as it was produced—by mental means alone. Often, a counter-suggestion, to the effect that henceforth the psychoneurotic person will be perfectly well, is enough to work his cure. Or, permanently106 curative effects may be had only when, by special techniques devised for the express purpose of rummaging107 through the subconsciousness108, the forgotten memory, or memories, responsible for the psychoneurosis are brought to light, and the specific suggestion directly or indirectly109 made that from that time they will do no harm. Sometimes, experience has shown, the mere[225] recalling of them to conscious remembrance is enough to put an end to the disease symptoms they have caused.
On the view that stammering is similarly a psychoneurotic symptom, and that, when it fails to yield to treatment by general suggestion, it is because the subconscious99 memories underlying110 it are too intense to be thus subdued111, this group of investigators undertook to treat it as they would any stubborn psychoneurosis. The outcome of their experiments has been such that I feel justified112 in declaring that science has at last penetrated113 to the true inwardness of stammering. These psychologically trained physicians have taken stammerers who had well-nigh exhausted114 their hopes and their resources in a futile115 quest for normal speech, and, after subjecting them to the searching methods of psychological analysis, have sent them on their way rejoicing, either in a perfect cure or in a lasting29 improvement far beyond their expectation.
Citing a few instances of actual occurrence, a[226] German member of the group, Doctor B. Dattner, was once consulted by a stammerer of thirty-six, who had been burdened by his speech defect from boyhood. He had first stammered, he told Doctor Dattner, after an attack of diphtheria, at the age of nine; and he had for some time been treated on the supposition that the diphtheria had caused a peculiar kind of throat paralysis.[13] This treatment failing, he had sought relief by other means, always without more than temporary benefit. Like many another stammerer, he spoke116 of the abnormal dread that harassed117 him, especially when with strangers, and expressed the belief that if he could conquer this he would be free from his stammer.
"Ah, but," Doctor Dattner pointed59 out, "do you not realise that, after all, your dread is caused by—not[227] the cause of—your stammer? It has helped, doubtless, to keep it alive and to aggravate118 it. But it has not been the thing that originally made you stammer. That we must seek elsewhere."
"You mean in the attack of diphtheria?"
"Not at all. I mean in something that happened to you before you had diphtheria—something which so exceedingly distressed119 you that it was continually uppermost in your thoughts, and which finally worked on you so much that when your nervous system was weakened by the diphtheria it gave rise to your stammering. Now, we are going to try to discover what that something was, and, when we have done so, it will be possible really to cure you. Can you recall any particularly disagreeable incident of your childhood occurring at any time before you were ill of diphtheria?"
"No," said the other, after a little reflection, "I think that I was perfectly happy as a child, and certainly I was treated kindly120."
"Just the same, something must have happened[228] at that period to disturb you very much. Let us find out, if we can, what it was."
To this end, Doctor Dattner now made use of the "free association method of mental analysis," which consists in requesting the patient to concentrate his attention on his symptoms, and state without reserve the thoughts coming to him in connection with them—the theory being that, if there is any exceptionally distressing idea underlying them, the current of his spoken thoughts will, soon or late, reveal it. In the present instance, this method at first brought forth only trivial and commonplace memory associations. But, after a time, a reminiscence of intense emotional colouring suddenly emerged.
It related to an episode of the stammerer's eighth year, shortly before his attack of diphtheria, when he was pounced121 upon and frightened almost into convulsions by a huge black dog. This had virtually faded from his conscious memory; but now, as he sat in the quiescent122 mood enjoined123 on all patients undergoing psychoanalytic treatment, it welled up[229] into full recollection, every detail of it being vividly124 recalled—the sight of the dog, the emotions of fear and horror, the hysterical125 shrieking126 that followed his escape, the difficulty his parents had in convincing him that he was unharmed. He used to lie awake, he remembered, thinking of the dog; he used to dream of it; the thought of it was always with him.
"Precisely," said Doctor Dattner, drily. "And, you see, the thought of it is still with you, for look how graphically127 you have described it all. The trouble is that it has been leading an independent existence, as it were, in the depths of your mind, with all its original emotional intensity128. Your stammering, I can assure you, has been nothing more than the external manifestation129, the symbol, of its continuing presence, and of the deadly power it has had over you—sensitive, impressionable child that you must have been. But I can also assure you that your stammering will now come to an end; for we have not only found its cause in the subconsciously remembered shock of your boyhood, but we have[230] actually removed that cause by the very fact of recalling it to your conscious recollection and, consequently, finding a normal outlet130 for the repressed emotions."
Altogether, it had required just six hours of psychoanalysis, at the rate of about an hour a day, to recover this horror-encrusted memory of the stammerer's childhood. But, with its recall, and strikingly validating131 Doctor Dattner's confident prediction, he once more began to enjoy the blessing132 of a facile, flowing speech.
In another case—treated by the American neurologist, Doctor Coriat, who has made extensive use of psychoanalytic methods—the patient was a man of middle age, who stammered not only when he spoke, but even when he wrote, repeating letters and syllables133 in anything he tried to put on paper. He had been to two stammering schools and had been discharged from both as cured, but each time had speedily relapsed.
As in the case of Doctor Dattner's patient, psychoanalysis[231] demonstrated that the causal agency of his stammering was a lingering subconscious remnant of distressing emotional states experienced in childhood. Only, in this instance, the distressing states related, not to an unexpected, stupefying fright, but to painful reveries indulged in as a child, and occasioned by certain unpleasant stories he had been told regarding the end of the world and the fate of the sinful.
"These," he recalled, "took complete possession of my mind. I became convinced that the end of the world could not be long delayed, and I was in an agony of terror. Constantly I kept asking myself what I should do to escape destruction. I knew I was a bad boy—very bad. Nothing could atone134 for the sins I fancied I had committed. But I kept my fears to myself; I did not dare confide31 them to others. Night and day I worried about them, picturing to myself the terrible happenings of the approaching time of doom135."
Until psychoanalysis brought them up to the surface[232] of consciousness, he had long ceased to think of these foolish imaginings of childhood. He had as entirely forgotten them as though he had never entertained them. But, as the event showed, it was their malign136 influence, working on a nervous system already infirm by defects of inheritance, that had produced a psychoneurosis which, in his case, had taken the form of a speech disorder88 through the suggestions unconsciously absorbed by watching his mother, who likewise suffered from a peculiar variety of stammering.
Another of Doctor Coriat's patients—a young woman—impressed him, from the day of her first visit, with her extreme timidity and self-consciousness. Both were so pronounced as to be abnormal, and he immediately suspected that they, in common with her stammering, would be found linked with subconscious memories of occurrences that had tended to deprive her of proper appreciation137 of her abilities and rights. She proved a good hypnotic subject, and, knowing that in hypnosis long-forgotten events[233] are easily recalled, Doctor Coriat questioned her as to her previous history.
"Can you remember," he asked her, "just when it was that you began to stammer?"
"It was when I was a very little girl."
"Had any one or anything greatly frightened you before then?"
"Yes."
"What was it?"
"It was my father."
Then followed, in answer to further questions, a long series of reminiscences of the severe discipline imposed on her in earliest childhood by her father, a stern, hard man. As she related them, she seemed to feel again all the emotions that they had provoked—the shame, grief, fear, doubt, longing138 for sympathy. Literally139, she lived through them anew, and to the trained understanding of the physician it was evident that she had never really forgotten them—although, in the waking state, she was able to recall her childhood only vaguely—but had subconsciously dwelt[234] on them all her life, to the wrecking140 of her self-confidence, as well as the causing of her troubles of speech. Only by completely blotting141 them out, through psychotherapeutic means, could her restoration to health be effected.
Similarly, it has been found that emotional disturbances are at the bottom of stammering when it develops, not in childhood, but in adult life. A particularly instructive case, because of the insight it affords into the ingenuity142 with which the expert psychoanalyst gets at the truth in even the most complicated cases of functional143 nervous or mental disorder, is one that was successfully handled by Doctor A. A. Brill, already mentioned in these pages, a pupil of the pioneer Austrian psychoanalyst, Doctor Sigmund Freud. Doctor Brill's patient was a man who, after an early life untroubled by speech defect, had begun to stammer from no discernible cause, and had been stammering for a number of years before he consulted the New York specialist. Several weeks of psychoanalysis elicited144 nothing that[235] would account for his trouble, and Doctor Brill was in much perplexity, until he one day noticed that the words on which his patient chiefly stammered were words beginning with or containing the letter "k." It occurred to him that this letter might have some significant association in the stammerer's mind, but the latter denied that it could have.
However, after psychoanalysis had proceeded further, Doctor Brill learned that there had been an event in the patient's life, though occurring some little time before the development of the stammering, that had made a most painful, even agonising, impression on him. He had been engaged to a young woman who had eloped with his closest friend; and this had so wrought145 on him that he had vowed146 never to utter her name again.
"And what was her name?" asked Doctor Brill.
"Haven't I just told you," he cried, "that I have taken an oath never to speak it? What business[236] is it of yours, anyway? What bearing can it have on my trouble of speech?"
"Only this bearing—that it may be the means of curing you. Come, now, I am sorry you have taken an oath, because you will have to break it and tell me the name."
"I'll die first."
With this he seized his hat and dashed out of the doctor's office in a frenzy149 of indignation. Doctor Brill did not see him again for a month. Then he returned, repentant150. He would tell the name, he said, on condition that Doctor Brill did not write it down in the detailed151 record which, as is customary, he was making of the case. To this a prompt assent152 was given, and the troublesome name was as promptly153 made known. As Doctor Brill had expected, it began with K. He then said, leaning forward and showing his sheet of notes:
"See, I have kept my promise. I have called her Miss W. And, now, we'll soon have you quite well."
But on his next visit the patient was in despair.[237] He was, he protested, stammering worse than ever. Words that had never given him any trouble before were now almost unpronounceable by him. On investigation154, it turned out that they were, one and all, words in which the letter "w" had a place.
"At last," said Doctor Brill, "we know for a certainty what has made you stammer. It was the foolish oath you took, which served to sustain in your mind the memory of the terrible experience you went through on account of your faithless sweetheart. Vowing155 never to utter her name, yet thinking constantly of her, you have unconsciously made it difficult for you to utter even words in which the most prominent letter of that name—its initial—occurs. And, now, since she has become Miss W. to you, as well as Miss K., you are stammering on words with "w," as well as words with "k." We must free you from the torment63 of that vow147 and of the pent-up emotions that go with the forbidden name, and then you will never stammer more."
To this mode of dealing with stammerers could[238] anything be in stronger contrast than the brutal156 Dieffenbach technique? The latter exemplifies, if in an extreme form, the folly157 of attempting—as is so often done, even to-day—to treat stammering on a basis of imperfect observation. The former shows the happy results that may be obtained when it is attacked in the light of thorough investigation. No; it is neither by the surgeon's knife nor by the use of mechanical appliances or physiological devices that stammering is to be really conquered, but by intelligent application of the wonderful remedial measures which modern medical psychology158 has worked out.
Stammering, to recapitulate159, is not at bottom an anatomical or physiological trouble. Its individual peculiarities, varied160 as they are, all tend to prove that it is a mental malady, symptomatic of a psychoneurosis having its origin in subconscious emotional states. The r?le that heredity plays in it is merely to provide the soil in which it can flourish. Of wholly mental causation, it is curable by mental[239] means, whether by faith in the efficacy of any method of treatment, however intrinsically worthless that method may be; by "suggestions" of a general character; or, if needful, by specific recall and eradication161 of the "forgotten memories" that underlie162 it.
Lest, however, I raise hope unduly163, I would at once add that not even the most expert practitioners164 in psychoanalysis, or in any other psychological mode of treating stammering, are justified in guaranteeing an absolute or an "approximate" cure in every case. Experience is showing that the "emotional complexes" responsible for stammering are, in many cases, so deep-seated—and often so entangled165 in later complexes—that it is virtually impossible to get at them by any present-known method of mind tunnelling. And, in many other cases, the process of psychoanalysis is so slow and tedious that the stammerer is all too likely to lose heart and abandon the effort at cure.
Consequently, in respect to stammering, prevention becomes of more than usual importance. And[240] the prevention of stammering, I trust I have already made amply clear, rests chiefly with parents. It is again primarily a question of guarding the young from needless emotional stresses, of early training to foster in children calmness, courage, self-confidence; so that, when inevitable166 shocks and trials come, they will have no power to overwhelm the mind and give birth to stammering or any other neurotic91 evil.
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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memoir
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| n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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excision
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| n.删掉；除去 | |
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stammer
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| n.结巴，口吃；v.结结巴巴地说 | |
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stammerer
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| n.口吃的人；结巴 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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embellished
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| v.美化( embellish的过去式和过去分词 )；装饰；修饰；润色 | |
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anesthetic
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| n.麻醉剂，麻药；adj.麻醉的，失去知觉的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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vibration
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| n.颤动，振动；摆动 | |
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charlatan
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| n.骗子；江湖医生；假内行 | |
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quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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stammering
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15
intensified
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| v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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17
relegated
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| v.使降级( relegate的过去式和过去分词 )；使降职；转移；把…归类 | |
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18
erred
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| 犯错误，做错事( err的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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20
surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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21
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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22
diminution
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| n.减少；变小 | |
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23
relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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24
dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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25
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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26
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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27
livelihood
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| n.生计，谋生之道 | |
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28
lastingly
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| [医]有残留性，持久地，耐久地 | |
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29
lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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30
incurable
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| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
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31
confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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32
susceptible
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| adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的 | |
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33
systematic
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| adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的 | |
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34
investigators
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| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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35
investigator
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| n.研究者，调查者，审查者 | |
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36
phenomena
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| n.现象 | |
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37
ascertaining
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| v.弄清，确定，查明( ascertain的现在分词 ) | |
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38
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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39
spasms
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| n.痉挛( spasm的名词复数 )；抽搐；（能量、行为等的）突发；发作 | |
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40
contortions
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| n.扭歪，弯曲；扭曲，弄歪，歪曲( contortion的名词复数 ) | |
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41
onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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42
stammers
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| n.口吃，结巴( stammer的名词复数 )v.结巴地说出( stammer的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43
measles
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| n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子 | |
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44
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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45
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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46
afflicted
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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47
distressing
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| a.使人痛苦的 | |
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48
physiological
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| adj.生理学的，生理学上的 | |
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49
exponents
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| n.倡导者( exponent的名词复数 )；说明者；指数；能手 | |
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50
uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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51
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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52
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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53
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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54
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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55
diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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56
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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57
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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58
pointedly
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| adv.尖地，明显地 | |
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59
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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60
interrogate
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| vt.讯问，审问，盘问 | |
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61
inhibit
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| vt.阻止，妨碍，抑制 | |
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62
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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63
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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64
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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65
ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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66
utterance
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| n.用言语表达，话语，言语 | |
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67
therapeutic
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| adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的 | |
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68
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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69
banish
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| vt.放逐，驱逐；消除，排除 | |
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70
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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71
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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72
weirdly
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| 古怪地 | |
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73
entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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74
wince
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|
| n.畏缩，退避，（因痛苦，苦恼等)面部肌肉抽动；v.畏缩，退缩，退避 | |
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75
dominant
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|
| adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因 | |
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76
psychic
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| n.对超自然力敏感的人；adj.有超自然力的 | |
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77
instil
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| v.逐渐灌输 | |
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78
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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79
essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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80
volitional
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|
| adj.意志的，凭意志的，有意志的 | |
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81
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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82
sanely
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| ad.神志清楚地 | |
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83
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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84
peculiar
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|
| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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85
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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86
perpetuate
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| v.使永存，使永记不忘 | |
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87
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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88
disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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89
disorders
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| n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调 | |
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90
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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91
neurotic
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| adj.神经病的，神经过敏的；n.神经过敏者，神经病患者 | |
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92
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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93
disturbances
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| n.骚乱( disturbance的名词复数 )；打扰；困扰；障碍 | |
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94
temperament
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| n.气质，性格，性情 | |
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95
neurally
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| 神经的； 背的，背侧的 | |
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96
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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97
adversely
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| ad.有害地 | |
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98
subconsciously
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| ad.下意识地，潜意识地 | |
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99
subconscious
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| n./adj.潜意识(的)，下意识(的) | |
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100
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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101
mimicking
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| v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似 | |
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102
paralytic
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| adj. 瘫痪的 n. 瘫痪病人 | |
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103
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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104
equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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105
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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106
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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107
rummaging
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| 翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查 | |
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108
subconsciousness
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| 潜意识；下意识 | |
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109
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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110
underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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111
subdued
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| adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词 | |
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112
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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113
penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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114
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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115
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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116
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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117
harassed
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| adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词 | |
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118
aggravate
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| vt.加重(剧)，使恶化；激怒，使恼火 | |
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119
distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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120
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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121
pounced
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| v.突然袭击( pounce的过去式和过去分词 )；猛扑；一眼看出；抓住机会（进行抨击） | |
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122
quiescent
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| adj.静止的，不活动的，寂静的 | |
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123
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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124
vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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125
hysterical
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| adj.情绪异常激动的，歇斯底里般的 | |
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126
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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127
graphically
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| adv.通过图表；生动地，轮廓分明地 | |
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128
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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129
manifestation
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| n.表现形式；表明；现象 | |
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130
outlet
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| n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄 | |
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131
validating
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| v.证实( validate的现在分词 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力 | |
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132
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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133
syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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134
atone
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| v.赎罪，补偿 | |
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135
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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136
malign
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| adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑 | |
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137
appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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138
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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139
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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140
wrecking
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| 破坏 | |
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141
blotting
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| 吸墨水纸 | |
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142
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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143
functional
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| adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的 | |
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144
elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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145
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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146
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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147
vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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148
tirade
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| n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
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149
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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150
repentant
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| adj.对…感到悔恨的 | |
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151
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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152
assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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153
promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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154
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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155
vowing
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式） | |
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156
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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157
folly
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| n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话 | |
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158
psychology
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| n.心理，心理学，心理状态 | |
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159
recapitulate
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| v.节述要旨，择要说明 | |
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160
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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161
eradication
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| n.根除 | |
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162
underlie
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| v.位于...之下，成为...的基础 | |
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163
unduly
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| adv.过度地，不适当地 | |
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164
practitioners
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| n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师） | |
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165
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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166
inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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