The irrational fear of
speaking or of trying to speak is called
lalophobia, from the
Greek lalein, to speak. Unlike the fear of public speaking,
glossophobia, lalophobics always suffer from their condition to varying degrees. Some develop
speech disorders or even
selective mutism[?] or total
mutism[?].
Psychological treatment, as opposed to
speech therapy, can usually alleviate these symptoms, since they are not linked to any physical condition, like
logoplegia[?] or
aphasia. In many cases, lalophobia leads to other conditions, such as
social phobia. Historically, some lalophobics have been drawn to a
cloistered[?] or
hermetic[?] life.
Compare to: logophobia[?], logorrhea