Psychogenic aphonia happens when a person loses their voice in response to a psychologically stressful or traumatic event.
What Causes Aphonia?
Most of the time, it is a stressful or traumatic life event that triggers aphonia.
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This condition is considered rare, affecting 0.4% of people between the ages of 14 and 35.
Some possible causes noted in documented cases of aphonia include:
How Is Aphonia Diagnosed?
They will need to rule out any infections or structural problems that could cause you to lose your voice.
Aphonia is considered aconversion disorder, a condition without an obvious organic, physical, or neurologic cause exists.
These include:
Treatments for Aphonia
Aphonia is typically treated using a combination ofpsychotherapyand speech therapy.
Dysphonia or Aphonia?
Dysphoniaand aphonia may be confused since both produce similar symptoms.
Both conditions can lead to a loss of voice, but the underlying causes and treatments differ.
Prognosis for Aphonia
While aphonia can be challenging to diagnose, treatment is usually successful.
Most people who develop aphonia are completely cured with therapy.
In one study, all patients treated withspeech therapyalone fully recovered.
Getting a diagnosis of aphonia can be difficult, since it’s rare and has no underlying medical explanation.
However, once diagnosed with aphonia, your treatments are usually curative.
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