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From: Pamela Mertz
Date: 28 Sep 2008
Time: 14:38:21 -0500
Remote Name: 24.195.241.203
Yep, I can definitely relate to this. I think I started to try and be perfect at around the same time I started stuttering, at 5. I can remember my dad yelling at me, and showing disapproval and embarsssment when I stuttered publicly. He had to be perfect in everything he did, so it seemed my imperfection of stuttering was too shameful for him to tolerate. Being the oldest of six, I had care-gving responsibilties and other household chores, at a very young age. I became covert about my stuttering in an effort to keep it hidden. But I strived to be perfect at other things, to compensate for my imperfect speech. And I was always hyper-critical of myself and mistakes I made. Still am, as an adult. Its a hard habit to break. (but I am working on letting go!) I agree with one of your concluding thoughts: maybe the drive to perfection does contribute to the struggle of stuttering. I have some minor secondary stuff that I do, like squeezing my eye shut when I stutter, esp on the phone. Its almost like I am wincing about speaking less than perfectly. It will be interesting to follow future research you do on this topic. Do you think that being a perfectionist is ever a good thing?