Excerpt from How to Stop Stammering: A Treatise on the Science and Art of Correct Speaking

Stammering is, then, at bottom, caused by impression, imagery, made upon the sub - conscious mind. The sub conscious mind is the seat of the emotions, the storehouse of memory. It is when we are in a sub - conscious condition that the most profound impressions are made. This state or condition often comes about by having the sub - conscious faculties more highly developed than those of the conscious faculties. It is at this time - when the conscious faculties are dethroned - that an unseen something, probably due to former experiences, so fixes itself upon the sub - conscious mind, that it is shaken off only with the greatest difficulty. Impressions made in this way seem to be indelible, and they remain with us, because the memory of the sub-conscious mind is next thing to being perfect. These impressions are either hereditary in nature, or they are apt to be made early in life. However, the child is more susceptible to emotional, sympathetic feelings, and there is an inclination on his part to believe in things, not because of their truth or untruth, but because to his imaginary mind, often mere fancies be come the truest truth. He is largely controlled by intuition.

There are many ways in which these impressions are made upon the sub-conscious mind, which, in turn, according to the law of the influence of mind over matter, affect the physical organism and are manifest in the various forms of stammering and stuttering.

Stammering and stuttering impressions may come from mimicry. It is true that most cases emanating from this source were somewhat predisposed to a favorable develop ment of what, rightly speaking, would be hereditary im pressions. However, when a child mimics another who stammers, he is in a favorable condition for receiving the images of his unfortunate victim upon his own mind. He is then in a state of exceeding mental emotion, and after wards is inclined to do, intuitively, the thing like the one whom he mimicked.

And again, the workings of this unseen something may be actuated through fright, taking on the form of a speech de feet; or it may be transferred to some other part of ourphysical make-up. The part of the body that the mind dwells upon during the fright is most likely to get the effect. For instance, should we attempt to talk while we are in this state of mental emotion, it is highly probable that we will stammer. Should we continue to stammer after the fright has passed away, it is proof enough that our speaking organs, under certain conditions, have been influenced by these ih delible impressions made upon the inner consciousness. When we attempt to talk, we are constantly haunted by the thought that we are likely to stammer.' Our organs of speech, then, become unruly, because of mental agitation fear thoughts. Just why all people who have been badly frightened, did not stammer afterward, may be accounted for from the fact that all people are not constituted alike. One is subject to impressions of a particular nature, another to impressions of an entirely different nature.

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