口吃

口吃（俗称“结巴”、“磕巴”，广东话称为“漏口”或“口窒窒”，是一种言语障碍，表现为言语频繁地与正常流利的人在频率和强度上不同、且非自愿的重复（语音，音节，单词或短语）、停顿、拖长打断。术语“口吃”通常是与非本意的语音重复相联系的，可以涵盖从最轻微而难以察觉的障碍程度一直到最严重、足以阻碍大多数语言交流的障碍程度。不过它也包括言语前的反常犹豫或停顿（被口吃者称为“语塞”）和某些语音的拖长（通常为元音）。口吃的许多表现不能被他人观察到；这包括对特定音素（通常为辅音）、字和词的恐惧，对特定情景的恐惧，还会出现焦虑、紧张、害羞和言语中“失控”的感觉。

口吃这一疾病的病理机制尚未完全探明，目前认为和遗传，神经生理，家庭和社会多方面都有关系。口吃与发音障碍不同，口吃患者通常在发出语声方面没有障碍。且与失语症（Aphasia）等其它一些言语障碍不同，口吃者通常能够正常地组织词序、语法和语句。与人们通常想象地不同，口吃这一疾病和智力高低没有直接关系。大多数口吃患者除了言语有障碍，身心其他各方面都可以相当健康。而且，焦虑、自信缺乏以及紧张等心理因素通常不是口吃这一疾病的导致因素，而更大程度上是这一疾病的结果。这些心理因素使得口吃在一些情况下属于严重残疾。口吃者对自身口吃反应出的情绪状态也是最难校正的方面。口吃患者的言语流利程度可能随情境而变化。这和情境所造成的焦虑程度有关。比如在打电话时，一些口吃患者的病状可能会加重。在一些特定的活动，例如唱歌、自言自语或朗读时，一些口吃患者的病状会显著减轻。（有学者认为在这些特定活动中，言语发生的神经机制和其它情境中的不同。）

对于许多中度或重度口吃患者来说，该疾病是生活和事业上的一个巨大障碍。虽然现在有许多针对口吃的治疗和校正方法（参见言语治疗），但是尚未找到治愈口吃的有效手段。

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