The Selective mutism it is a social anxiety disorder, which mainly affects subjects in developmental age. It is often characterized by an inability to speak in certain situations. THE children with selective mutism they are able to understand spoken language and have the ability to speak normally. The child with selective mutism is able to speak and feel comfortable as long as he addresses his parents and siblings within the home setting. But what are the causes of selective mutism? Within this article we will answer this and other questions.
Children with selective mutism
Many times parents describe their child with selective mutism as a child who behaves completely differently when he is at home than when he is in school or other public places. Parents often say that they would even prefer their child with selective mutism to speak a little less when at home. It may happen that the child also includes other people, such as a neighbor or a close friend, in this small circle of people with whom he speaks. Most of the time if a person who is not included in the child’s selective circle comes to visit the parents, the child will remain mute until this person leaves. Several studies have confirmed that selective mutism is linked to strong apprehension, shyness and social anxiety. The behavior of the child with selective mutism becomes more and more complicated to change due to the length of time that has passed without any attempt to intervene in any way.
The causes of selective mutism
A real cause is not yet known. Some studies believe the possibility of a genetic or vulnerability influence for selective mutism. More often than not, other cases have been found in families where there is a child with selective mutism, or there are other family members with severe problems of shyness and social anxiety. Often families with children of selective mutism are hyposocialized with little contact with other people who do not belong to the family unit.
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Can selective mutism be caused by abuse?
In the past, some studies conducted by psychoanalytic child psychiatrists formulated the hypothesis that selective mutism was a reaction of a sexual abuse. Subsequently, more recent research has denied this theory, however, due to the incorrect evaluation of the symptoms, or due to a careless and very imaginative interpretation of the child’s drawings, some psychologists have suspected and sometimes even accused the parents of child abuse. Fortunately, these hypotheses turned out to be unfair and unfounded. The suspicion or accusation of abuse directed at parents is devastating and has caused so many problems and pain in families in the past. Of course, there is always the possibility that some abused children will not speak. However, the abuse may not be specific to close family members, but could have been committed by any adult, or even by other children or teenagers.
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