A New Approach to the Experimental Study of Stuttering and Stress

Abstract

Almost one per cent of all people are stutterers. In spite of this high prevalence only very few controlled psychopharmacological studies have been published in this field. A modified double-blind technique for objective evaluation of biochemical and psychological drug effects is described. It combines a study of (a) psyhological and endocrine effects of single doses of psychotropic and vegetotropic drugs, (b) the effects of long term treatment and (c) pharmacological modification of experimentally induced psychological and endocrine stress reactions in 44 stutterers. An account is given of (a) subjective feelings reported in questionnaires, (b) audio-and video-recorded speech behaviour, and (c) urinary catecholamine excretion as modified by different drugs.