Selective Mutism and Anxiety

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Answer

Yes.  Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder.  It is the fear of communicating.  It best conceptualizes a specific fear of communicating and would fall underneath the specific phobias.  It is very similar to social anxiety.  The only difference is that with social anxiety you have a fear of how other people perceive you whereas children with selective mutism may have that fear as well as a fear of communicating. Actually speaking is very scary and sometimes even nonverbal communication, writing or gesturing, can be anxiety provoking.  If you are working with a child with selective mutism, you would do a stair-step approach treatment. It would be specifically towards speaking with a starting point being nonverbally communicating with the teacher or gesturing.  Then, the next step might be whispering to the teacher one-on-one.  The next step might be whispering to the teacher when another student is with the child.  You are working through that hierarchy of least to most anxiety-provoking situations that causes the fear of communicating. 

Aimee Kotrba is a clinical psychologist specializing in the psychological assessment and treatment of children, couples, and families. She also offers treatment to adults and adolescents.  Aimee is a nationally-known expert and speaker on the identification and treatment of anxiety disorders, and is active speaking in the community on a variety of psychological topics.