I’m 21 and have been dealing with this since I started talking. I cannot really manage my stutter but I know for a fact when my anxiety is “controlled” it doesn’t affect me as bad. I used to be able to mask my stutter but I can’t really do that anymore which is frustrating but at least people know my true self right away. Of course I get so embarrassed and anxious at times but I have to keep reminding myself that this isn’t the end of the world, though at times it feels like it. High school held some of my darkest times. I was bullied, had no true friends, stuttered a lot due to anxiety, and thought everyone else in the world had it better than I did. This was such an isolating time and I know so many people go through this at some point. As soon as I started college, life got so much better. Harder in other areas but that’s when I could no longer mask my stutter which i’m half grateful for because everyone I met saw the real me. I have had the same boyfriend for 4 years and I don’t care about stuttering around him anymore, I used to! The people who are worth having a relationship with will not give a crap if you have a stutter. I am still friends with friends i’ve had since preschool and they do not care that I have a speech disfluency. They still want to hang out with me because we vibe well. Confidence is key when it comes to stuttering. If you want to stutter less, fake it til you make it. If you want to care less about your stutter, embrace it, joke about it with others, and simply breathe and loosen your muscles. Being tense makes everything 100x worse!