How I Deal With It

I received a comment on my post Maybe the best isn't always the best? and wanted to respond to it. Here's the comment:

I know exactly the feeling you're talking about.

I have pretty much the same problem.

How do you deal with the psychological impact? I have tried psychotherapy but that was pretty useless.

I've been dealing with the stress and psychological impact myself since I was little. I've never been to a therapist (although, since my school offers therapy for free, I've been considering trying it), and my surprisingly optimistic moods is the result of a combination of methods I use.

That's not to say I'm always happy, because I most certainly am not, but I've realized that being happy is worth the effort. Here's a few methods I use to boost my mood, not stress out when I have to do something like present information in front of a group of people, and calm my mind overall:

• Meditation. Meditation has helped me, and is probably the most important thing I've ever done for the psychological impact growing up with a speech impediment has caused me. It's incredibly easy to do. Find a quiet place to sit, and count your breaths. Or use any other method of meditation. More Info
• A supportive group of family and friends. This is pretty obvious. You need someone to talk to. I used to have a problem with bringing up issues I was having with people I was close to because I was embarrassed, but you'll never be able to be happy if you have a lot of internal issues that you're keeping entirely to yourself.
  
• An outlet. Find something that makes you happy. Painting, writing, sports, whatever. Be passionate about it. Then, if you're having a particularly bad day, you'll have something to make you happy.
• Exercise and athletics. I have never been an athletic person. I always hated P.E., never participated in sports, but I changed a bit once I got to college. I joined the fencing club, became more athletic, and work out every day. My moods have improved, I'm happier, and I have nearly no stress.
  
• Religion. This won't apply to everyone. I think my Buddhist belief in impermanence has really helped me a lot to see that trivial insults and daily problems don't matter, because it won't last forever. I'm not an expert on other religions, such as Hinduism or Christianity, but a lot of people seem to pull a lot of faith from their respective religions.
  

That's all the advice I can give for now. If anyone has any more tips, please post them in the comments.