Chip Chick
A 17-year-old girl has been diagnosed with selective mutism, a type of anxiety disorder on the more severe side of things.
According to the NHS, selective mutism mainly shows up during childhood and can follow an individual through adulthood if it’s not adequately treated.
“A child or adult with selective mutism does not refuse or choose not to speak at certain times; they’re literally unable to speak,” the NHS stated.
“The expectation to talk to certain people triggers a freeze response with feelings of panic, like a bad case of stage fright, and talking is impossible.”
So, this poor teenager’s dad has sat her stepmom down on multiple occasions to try to outline to her what selective mutism is, but her stepmom has never been able to understand.
Recently, her stepmom went away on vacation, and when she came home, she asked to have a meeting with her and her dad.
As they sat down together, her stepmom mentioned being exhausted over the fact that she can’t really talk to her normally.
She gets why her stepmom is frustrated, but her stepmom is someone that she gets stressed out talking to.
“She then told my dad and me that if I couldn’t “get over it” she would divorce my dad,” she explained.
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