Changing communication patterns and stammering under corona lockdown

Changing communication patterns and stammering under the corona lockdown has many psychological and social effects.

In times of a lockdown like the one that we are currently experiencing in India to contain the spread of the COVID-19, life has changed for all in many ways. The present article aims to discuss the changes in the communication patterns of people in India during the quarantine period and its effects on the lives of people with stammering. Stammering is a verbal fluency disorder that has a strong psychosocial basis underlying its “mysterious” and yet to be uncovered etiology. Let us discuss the psychological and social effects of the lockdown imposed by the Indian Government, especially in the context of stammering.

The Social Circle

In changing times like this, the systems of social networks around an individual also changes drastically. Earlier social circles would typically include one’s immediate family, extended family and relatives, friends circle, colleagues and peers, neighbours, daily acquaintances and other peripheral strangers who play less significant roles in our lives. The quality and quantity of an individual’s interactions with all these people determine how they experience and perceive these interactions and how they get embedded in one’s memory and their subconscious mind. To add to that, the actual threat of corona virus is being conveyed by the news media and the social media as human contact itself being the actual threat. This makes one all the more distanced from people. Thus the level of contact with all these people who comprise one’s social circle is altered remarkably in a home-quarantine situation.

Immediate Family

First and the greatest influence is on the immediate family level as it forms the core of one’s social support network. This may include one’s spouse and/or their children and is often termed as a nuclear family. This is observed more in cities as more people move out of their joint family structures in search of better life opportunities. In a lockdown scenario, the family has to stay with each other 24X7 with no other outlet. Thus the couple has to switch to newer communication patterns and the communication dynamics of the parents with the children also change. By including stammering as a factor in the mix, the changes become more profound.

Usually, in a nuclear family either one or both spouses are working. They get to spend some time away from each other independently and whatever time they spend together in their busy lives are well-attuned. Now due to the quarantine, this huge amount of time spent together may take some getting used to and making some adjustments in their usual way of life. This brings up unresolved issues as well as new issues might crop up. Ample time gives more time to bring up and discuss these issues. This increases the stress levels and stammering gallops with the increased intensity of these high pressure-high tension conditions.

Some of the issues that may come up during this time are couple issues, lifestyle adjustment issues, increase in workload on the home front, financial arguments, parenting arguments, etc. In general, it could be just an outburst of pent up emotions or displaced expression of frustration at the situation and quality or quantity of work that one has to do or gets done. One might feel “caged” in that situation and that environment. Fear of the unknown, surprise of the sudden announcement, panic of not knowing what to do, frustration at the situation, anger, helplessness due to the situation, hopelessness due to uncertainty, sadness due to the feeling of loss of control, all these emotions increase the stammering response.

On the other hand, it could give one time to settle those unresolved issues and mend relationships. The time together after the initial unsettling and chaos could be an enjoyable family time and put issues to rest by resolving them once and for all. In times of social distancing, physical proximity with the people we stay with and staying at home for such long periods can destress and give one the time to reconnect with themselves and their families. This can bring down one’s level of stammering after the emotional storm has rested and things start to settle in. If one uses this time to connect with themselves and their loved ones, life in lockdown becomes a blessing for the entire family and foster positivity in dire circumstances.

Extended Family

The extended family is the next level in one’s social network. This may include one’s parents, siblings, their spouses, their children, uncles, aunts, cousins, their spouses, their children, etc. These relations ideally live together in a joint family household, but the gradual decline in the joint family structure makes the physical proximity and, to some extent, the social proximity more distant. In times of crisis, the concern for their safety and wellbeing increases. Thus people have to inquire about their whereabouts and safety. Since the period is of lockdown, this happens over the phone or video calling apps. Since stammering occurs more in telephonic conversations and online modes, calling them up can turn into something fearful. If one avoids calling them, then they may be misunderstood, but if they call, the stammering gets more attention on the video calls or telephonic calls. Although online chatting through apps like Whatsapp or Facebook may be a wise solution to this tricky solution. Connecting with relatives can be a strong boost to one’s social support.

Friends Circle

Friends can be an important source of support in our social network. This may include many types of friends. There may be different friends circle like school friends, college friends, work friends, gym friends, apartment friends, kitty friends, children’s friends’ parents-group friends, etc. The nature of interactions can be varied. With some friends groups, there may be regular meetings, while with some others, there may be less frequent meetings and/or conversations. Friends group support and sharing can be a very important coping and support mechanism for many people.

In people with stammering, one can observe that they are more introverted in general. Some of them may have a limited or a small number of close friends. They need a comfortable and caring environment to express and share their feelings. If their friends are understanding of their stammering issues, they are a strength, but, on the contrary, if the friends circle mocks and makes fun of them for stammering while speaking, they constantly puncture a person’s confidence. With social distancing, losing the contact with the supportive friends circle can be a huge loss of social support. This is likely to increase the stammering intensity. On the other hand, staying away from friends who humiliate and embarrass them for stammering can prove to be healthier to rebuild and strengthen their self-esteem and self-confidence. Thus social distancing in this curfew situation could be advantageous to decrease stammering intensity for some people. However, social media apps can be a good solution for those who need to stay in touch with their friends group and continue to enjoy the social support from friends.

Colleagues & Peers

Work is an important part of all our lives. With the advent of Corona and the covid Lockdown, the work scenario has changed for all. Work has shifted from face-to-face modes of communication to technology-dependent modes of connecting with each other. Apart from the change in the formats, communication with peers and colleagues has also changed. One’s social support from work friends also suffers due to the current quarantine situation. Coping with work stress and office pressures requires involving and interacting with peers and colleagues, discussions about work, sharing their feelings, a feeling of staying connected and helping each other to get the job done. This gets hampered and restricted as most conversations have to be done by chats, emails, phone-calls and video-calls.

Amidst all this, a person with stammering has new issues to worry about. A person with stammering usually faces more problems in conversations over the telephone as well as video calling formats. Office meetings, debriefings, client meetings, presentations, etc. have to happen online. This might add to their pressure of consciousness about their speech and severity of stammering at work which they did not have to face in face-to-face meetings and conversations. Work from home might require solving complicated work issues and logistical issues over the phone or online. Conveying the problems that they are facing might become a challenge due to stammering. Technological, technical, logistical, connectivity and power issues might increase the frustration further. In addition, the increased workload might lead to an increase in irritation and frustration. Higher levels of irritation, frustration and stress can lead to more severe stammering.

Keeping all this aside, a person with stammering has to undergo some amount of humiliation and embarrassments on a day to day basis at work because of their speech. They may have been misunderstood or not heard completely due to their problem in expressing their ideas and points at work. Their contributions often get undermined as they might enlist other’s help to give voice to their work or it might be the other way around. There may be some predators at work who get their work done by others whom they perceive as “weak” or “foolish” while they can enjoy. People with stammering may be perceived as “easy targets” to these “predators”. However, the lockdown can prove to be a blessing in disguise as most of the work happens by direct contact and bullying can be avoided. The usual embarrassment and humiliation is down to a minimum and a person with stammering can get some time to heal and recover their self-esteem and self-confidence.

Neighbours, Acquaintances & Other Peripheral Strangers

This group of contacts involve people whom one may meet but don’t engage in very close or deep relationships. It might involve just recognising someone with a wave of hand or a nod of head. It might involve a greeting like “HI”, “HELLO”, “GOOD MORNING”, etc. One might also engage in social small talk like asking their wellbeing, bringing up something in the news, talking about the weather, etc. Corona has been seen to bring out solidarity where people may talk about the COVID-19 situation and discuss the matters usually seen on the news. With the announcement of the extension of Janata Curfew as Lockdown 1.0 and Lockdown 2.0, most people have been following social distancing more seriously and are trying to avoid physical contact as much as possible. Social distancing thus can be more rewarding to a person with stammering as they can avoid stammering situations.

To a person with stammering, this group appears to be the most “threatening” and hence displays more severe stammering when in conversation with them. Since starting a conversation is “problematic” for a person with stammering, exchanging greetings or suddenly meeting an acquaintance can catch them off-guard and suddenly trying to answer or say something definitely increases stammering. So a person with stammering might try to avoid such contacts that make them uncomfortable or may try to get past them nonverbally using some signs and gestures. However, the barest minimum interactions with these people are unavoidable and are required to get by in daily life. They may not be a crucial pillar of social support that an individual needs but they surely serve to reassure us that “I am not alone” and makes humans “social beings”.

The conversations with this entire group of people on a daily basis gets obliterated as staying indoors becomes the law of the day. A person with stammering can gladly avoid the communications that they used to dread and still be considered social using the excuse of “social distancing”. However, one thing that a person cannot avoid completely is going out of the house to get essential commodities and groceries. Earlier shopping could be done through departmental retail and wholesale chains, online apps and home delivery systems without much conversation, but Corona has stopped them all. Some people may have been using chits or shopping lists to place their orders to the shopkeepers but now it is void as it could spread germs. Now a person has to venture and search which store is open and then place the order of the supplies verbally in person. This is a disagreeable and uncomfortable situation for a person with stammering as it increases the pressure and consciousness of speaking and hence increases the intensity of stammering.

Conclusions

The only thing inevitable is change and those who adapt survive while those who fail to change perish and become extinct. Humans also have to change and adapt to the evolving situation or else the lakhs of people getting affected and killed by the virus will wipe out the entire human race and push us to the brink of extinction. Life has changed and so has the communication patterns in this COVID-19 lockdown. A person with stammering may be recovering or regressing depending on the nature of the environment and the people around them. Lockdown with a supportive and caring people can be a great healing opportunity while a non-supportive, high-tension environment with non-cooperative people may make things worse and a person can spiral down into the abyss of depression.