Selective mutism
Anxiety disorder causing the inability to speak under certain circumstances / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Selective mutism (SM) is an anxiety disorder in which a person who is otherwise capable of speech becomes unable to speak when exposed to specific situations, specific places, or to specific people, one or multiple of which serving as triggers. This is caused by the freeze response. Selective mutism usually co-exists with social anxiety disorder.[1] People with selective mutism stay silent even when the consequences of their silence include shame, social ostracism, or punishment.[2]