merer. The fear of failure returns with an overwhelming force
mocking the sufferer with the thought of "Oh, how I deceived you!!";
the mental strain is exceedingly great--so great, in fact, that it
seems as if the breaking point has almost been reached. The nervous
condition is alarming, the sufferer noting in himself an inability to
work, to play, to study or even to sit still. An observer would note
the stammerer or stutterer in this condition fingering his coat lapels,
putting his hands in his pockets and removing them again, biting his
finger nails, constantly shifting eyes, head, arms and feet about. If
at home, the sufferer in this condition would probably be seen walking
about the house, unable to read, to play or listen to music or to
follow any of the accustomed activities of his life. If in business or
in the shop, he would be noticed making frequent trips to the wash
room, to the drinking fountain, to the foreman, picking up and laying
down his tools, looking out the window, shifting from one foot to
another, all of which symptoms indicate an acute nervous condition,
brought about by the return of his trouble.

At this stage, the stammerer's confidence is hopelessly gone, so it
seems, and this feeling is accompanied by one of depression which finds
an outlet in the expression of the firm belief and conviction on the
part of the stutterer or stammerer that the disorder can NEVER be
cured, by any method, although just the day before the same sufferer
would have insisted that his stuttering or stammering had CURED ITSELF
and left of its own accord.

These conditions, both at the time of the so-called improvement and at
the time of the recurrence of the trouble, will appear in greater or
less degree in the case of every stutterer or stammerer whose trouble
is of the intermittent type.

THE DANGERS OF THIS TENDENCY: This period of recurrence is accompanied
by almost total loss of the power-of-will, a marked weakening in the
ability to concentrate, and if it does not result in insomnia
(inability to sleep) puts the mind in such a state as to make sleep of
little value in building up the body, replacing worn-out tissue cells
and restoring vital energy.

The chief danger, however, resulting from these periods of temporary
improvement, is the belief that it instills into the mind of the
sufferer and more frequently into the minds of the parents of
stuttering or stammering children, that the trouble will cure itsel