Can you develop selective mutism as a teenager?

While selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder often associated with young children, teens and adults can also suffer from SM. In many cases, teens with SM have been struggling with anxiety for years.

Can anxiety cause blank stare?

These symptoms can be seen in various conditions, including certain forms of epilepsy, depression, and other mental health conditions. Anxiety may accompany frightening symptoms or may be related to an underlying anxiety disorder.

Can you be born mute?

In general, someone who is mute may be mute for one of several different reasons: organic, psychological, developmental/neurological trauma. For children, a lack of speech may be developmental, neurological, psychological, or due to a physical disability or a communication disorder.

What makes today’s teenagers unique?

Today’s teenagers are no different—and they’re the first generation whose lives are saturated by mobile technology and social media. In her new book, psychologist Jean Twenge uses large-scale surveys to draw a detailed portrait of ten qualities that make today’s teens unique and the cultural forces shaping them.

Why won’t a girl hold eye contact with you?

There are actually a number of reasons why she might not be holding eye contact with you and there are a number of things that you can consider. Each of the different reasons why she doesn’t hold eye contact with you will likely come with a number of clues in her body language and in the way that she does it.

Why do kids avoid making eye contact?

Why Kids Avoid Eye Contact. In contrast, if we don’t have good peripheral vision, making eye contact becomes more like staring—and that gets old quickly. Try it. Put your hands up to the side of your eyes to block your peripheral vision. Now see if it feels comfortable to engage in nice, easy eye contact.

Why do autistic kids shy away from eye contact?

The researchers concluded that kids with autism shy away from eye contact because they have an over-aroused amygdala. Such kids, they concluded, see faces as a “threat.” But guess what? An over-aroused amygdala is also present when the lower centers of the brain are underdeveloped.