口吃

口吃（俗稱「結巴」、「磕巴」，廣東話稱為「漏口」或「口窒窒」，是一種言語障礙，表現為言語頻繁地與正常流利的人在頻率和強度上不同、且非自願的重複（語音，音節，單詞或短語）、停頓、拖長打斷。術語「口吃」通常是與非本意的語音重複相聯繫的，可以涵蓋從最輕微而難以察覺的障礙程度一直到最嚴重、足以阻礙大多數語言交流的障礙程度。不過它也包括言語前的反常猶豫或停頓（被口吃者稱為「語塞」）和某些語音的拖長（通常為元音）。口吃的許多表現不能被他人觀察到；這包括對特定音素（通常為輔音）、字和詞的恐懼，對特定情景的恐懼，還會出現焦慮、緊張、害羞和言語中「失控」的感覺。

口吃這一疾病的病理機制尚未完全探明，目前認為和遺傳，神經生理，家庭和社會多方面都有關係。口吃與發音障礙不同，口吃患者通常在發出語聲方面沒有障礙。且與失語症（Aphasia）等其它一些言語障礙不同，口吃者通常能夠正常地組織詞序、語法和語句。與人們通常想像地不同，口吃這一疾病和智力高低沒有直接關係。大多數口吃患者除了言語有障礙，身心其他各方面都可以相當健康。而且，焦慮、自信缺乏以及緊張等心理因素通常不是口吃這一疾病的導致因素，而更大程度上是這一疾病的結果。這些心理因素使得口吃在一些情況下屬於嚴重殘疾。口吃者對自身口吃反應出的情緒狀態也是最難校正的方面。口吃患者的言語流利程度可能隨情境而變化。這和情境所造成的焦慮程度有關。比如在打電話時，一些口吃患者的病狀可能會加重。在一些特定的活動，例如唱歌、自言自語或朗讀時，一些口吃患者的病狀會顯著減輕。（有學者認為在這些特定活動中，言語發生的神經機制和其它情境中的不同。）

對於許多中度或重度口吃患者來說，該疾病是生活和事業上的一個巨大障礙。雖然現在有許多針對口吃的治療和校正方法（參見言語治療），但是尚未找到治癒口吃的有效手段。

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