The Rarest Type Of Anxiety Is 'Often Misunderstood', Therapist Says

The name itself can lead to “misconceptions”.

In the UK, an estimated eight million people are living with anxiety at any given time. But not all types of the condition are equally common.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, for instance, about 7% of the US population experiences social anxiety. Selective mutism, meanwhile, is “the least common anxiety disorder”, affecting somewhere between 0.47% and 0.76%.

HuffPost UK spoke to BACP-accredited therapist and anxiety expert, Kamalyn Kaur, about the phenomenon.

What is selective mutism?

This “is an anxiety disorder whereby someone is unable to speak in certain situations, despite being able to speak comfortably in others,” the therapist said.

“For example, a child may talk freely at home but be unable to speak at school, or an adult may struggle to speak in........

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