Talking Again

by Jess
(New York)

Hi!

I am a sixteen year old girl, and I am a singer/actress. Ironically enough (and to make a long story short), I developed a fear of hurting my voice, which unfortunately developed into a bad phobia of singing and speaking (I never had ay vocal issues whatsoever, am very helthy, and am a classically trained singer). I have barely been speaking for the past three months, and have not sung since a recital I performed in last June. I have a therapist, and am making good progress, and am working on talking a little more each day. However, I am very upset that it got to such an extreme point of me barely speaking, that I am concerned about how long it will take for me to gain my vocal strength back. As I know not using your voice can be just as bad as overusing your voice. I just want to get my voice and myself back in the healthiest way possible. Singing is my passion, and I miss communicating with my friends and family, and just hearing my own sound. I know there is no damage and my vocal cords haven't atrophied, but I just want to make sure everything is okay and get back to my best self and best vocal health possible.