Cluttering is a little-known and misunderstood speech disorder in which a person's speech can be excessively fast, jerky or both. Often, people who clutter seem to run their words or sentences together and may use more fillers, hesitations and revisions in their speech than “normal” speakers. It has nothing to do with stuttering.
Although it has so far been inadequately researched, preliminary studies have estimated that between 1.1% to 1.2% of school-age children suffer from it. They are typically diagnosed or start treatment for cluttering only around age eight or later. Data on the prevalence of cluttering prevalence in the general population are scarce, as well as its association with psychological well-being factors such as anxiety and depressive symptoms.
A team at Ariel University led by communication disorders Prof. Michal Icht has just published an innovative study on cluttering that reveals intriguing correlations between cluttering and mental wellbeing. This means that the disorder impacts the psychological health of affected people.
The study in the International Journal of Language and Communication was entitled “There is more to cluttering than meets the eye: The prevalence of cluttering and association with psychological well-being indices in an undergraduate sample.”
New findings could lead to more holistic care of those with 'cluttering' speech
Icht and her team said it could lead to a more comprehensive understanding of the disorder and underlines the importance of holistic care that also identifies and treats psychological and social aspects of wellbeing. They analyzed data from 1,582 university students among whom almost 23% identified themselves as having experienced cluttering.
They discovered a strong association between cluttering and higher degrees of psychosomatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, stress, reduced self-esteem and subjective happiness.
“Our findings highlight an urgent need to amplify public cognizance of cluttering, its diagnosis, and the requisite treatments,” Icht said. “The deep connection between cluttering and mental distress demands that speech-language pathologists integrate well-being or mental health screening tools as part of their evaluation strategy. Each treatment plan should be custom-tailored to the unique struggles of the client, factoring in both speech characteristics as well as psychological and social aspects of well-being.”