Moncton teen learns to live life with selective mutism
When Lauren Whiteway entered high school five years ago, she didn't just deal with all the issues most teenagers face — a new school, new friends, new teachers.
The 18-year-old Moncton resident had to learn to deal with a rare mental illness called selective mutism, an anxiety disorder that causes paralysis of the vocal cords in certain situations.
Whiteway said it became very difficult for her to speak at school and in other public settings.
"I ended up not being able to speak outside of my house. I was completely mute at school."
Whiteway is now sharing her story, hoping it helps other teenagers and children dealing with mental health issues to know they aren't alone and help is available.
The teenager changed schools in Grade 12. She said that helped for a time, allowing her to do things she hadn't been able to do before like play on a varsity sports team, eat in the dining hall and attend a leadership camp.
Those accomplishments were big ones for Whiteway, but she later became depressed and her obsessive compulsive disorder became worse.
Getting help
By the time she graduated things got worse for Whiteway. After being home for six days and being completely mute, she said her parents, Mark and Donna knew they had to get her help immediately.
"My OCD eventually progressed to the point where it told me that I couldn't speak," she said.
Whiteway says she felt like she had a bomb in her throat and the obsessive compulsive disorder was telling her if she spoke it would blow up and she would die, or her family would die.
The teenager was admitted to the Garron Centre at the IWK, a treatment centre for child and adolescent mental health in Halifax.
Whiteway remained there for 30 days, undergoing therapy to enable her to speak again.
Over the years two special interests helped Whiteway cope with the selective mutism — curling and playing the fiddle. The teenager doesn't have difficulty speaking when she is doing those activities.
"For a long time my fiddle gave me a voice when I couldn't speak. When I was playing I felt relaxed and I felt like I was expressing myself even though I wasn't speaking."
'It was emotional'
Whiteway says it was playing the fiddle while she was hospitalized that helped her speak again. After playing for 15 minutes she would mouth the words in a book to a nurse.
By the sixth day in the centre, Whiteway was able to speak and she made a call to her parents.
"We were all just in shock because I hadn't spoken in two weeks. It was very emotional."
Whiteway said the treatment not only helped her speak but also taught her ways to cope if she starts to feel that way again.
While she takes a gap year before starting to study psychology at Mount Allison University, Whiteway is teaching curling to elementary students and tutoring.
Whiteway said while she still struggles to deal with depression, anxiety and OCD, she has learned ways to help herself and others deal with it by writing a blog to share her experience.
"I'm doing things now I never would have done. It's helped me," she said.
