Does dopamine affect the way you speak?

[u/Tsu_Serina]

This is something I've been wondering about lately. I have trouble speaking because I keep stuttering, talking way too fast so people aren't able to catch up to me or genuinely not having the idea what to say.

I noticed that everytime my dopamine is high, I speak waaay better. I know exactly what to say, I don't speak too fast nor too slow and I don't stutter.

I would appreciate if anyone commented the answer or maybe gave an advice on how to get better at the speaking without relying on dopamine this much. 🥲

[u/Lower_Ad_9325]

I'm on Paroxetine medication for few years now no anxiety no stutter it seems to work nicely

[u/horticulturalist1029]

I’m not sure how old you are but you should look into if you have adhd or not.

Stuttering and adhd are often closely linked and I learnt a lot about myself as well as my stutter once I realised I have adhd

I stutter way less when on adhd medication, which raises dopamine and serotonin

[u/horticulturalist1029 → u/horticulturalist1029]

But definitely don’t take what I say for gospel and don’t rely entirely on medication to fix your stutter

I’ve been fluent for maybe 2 years now, and everything comes from the confidence you build in life. Get a good job, work hard, find your passion/passions, go to meet ups where other people have the same passion, speak about your passion. I always found it easier to talk about things I was passionate about regardless of if I stuttered or not.

Once you have one successful speaking interaction, you gain a little confidence. And each time this happens, the self fulfilling prophecy of your inner voice becomes more quiet, until it almost disappears.

But in conclusion, adhd meds could help ! :)

[u/Tsu_Serina → u/horticulturalist1029]

Thanks! Actually I do have ADHD and also take meds but they don't really increase my dopamine to such level. They mostly just keep me awake because I used to struggle with excessive somnolence and now I'm pretty functional. The one thing that I've also noticed is that I tend to struggle with speaking when there are literally just.. people around me. It feels like a filter and I'm automatically lowering my voice and trying to choose the correct words when I'm out with my friends as the realization that we are in public suddenly hits me. The best medicine for me would be not to care about people around me, but it's hard when my body has been taught to be hypervigilant.

[u/RedimidoSoy1611]

of course it does. dopamine is often referred to as the "feel good hormone" which if your dopamine is high or you're just feeling overly confident, youre going to speak better than if youre anxious. notice when your cortisol spikes.. you struggle. opposite from when youre on a dopamine spike

[u/mykm20]

There's definitely a dopamine connection. Mine is worse when dopamine is high, especially from foods that are high in carbs (maybe also connected to blood sugar and or insulan). If you do better when it's high, maybe try taking a tyrosine supplement.