About a year ago, I learned about a condition called selective mutism. I was immediately swept away with the poetic agony of this condition, defined as “a severe anxiety disorder where a person is unable to speak in certain social situations, such as with classmates at school or to relatives they do not see very often. It usually starts during childhood and, if left untreated, can persist into adulthood.”
© 2025 Jeannine Ouellette
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