Anxiety disorders – selective mutism

People with selective mutism do not initiate speech, and do not respond when spoken to in situations where this conversation is expected.² Children with selective mutism may speak at home and to parents for instance, but not in front of more distant family members or family friends or at school.²

References:

1.Penninx BW, Pine DS, Holmes EA, Reif A. Anxiety disorders. Lancet 2021; 397 (10277): 914–927.

2.American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Fifth Edition – text revision. © American Psychiatric Association, 2022.