Ties of silence - Family lived experience of selective mutism in identical twins

Abstract

This article is based on an in-depth interview with a pair of twins diagnosed with selective mutism and their parents 2 years after recovery. Selective mutism (SM) is a rare disorder, and identical twins sharing the condition are extremely rare. The twins developed SM simultaneously during their first year of school. The treatment and follow-up they received for several years are briefly described in this article. The interview explored the children's and their parents' narratives about the origin of the condition, the challenges it entailed in their daily lives, and what they found helpful in the treatment they were offered. In the interview, the children conveyed experiences that even the parents were unaware of and revealed examples of daily life-traumas for which they were unable to obtain support and help. The whole family was trapped in the silence. The twins and their parents emphasized different aspects in terms of what they believed were helpful. The implications of these findings for our understanding and treatment of children with SM are discussed, as well as the potential of service user involvement in child and adolescent mental health research.

Long-term outcomes of selective mutism: a systematic literature review

“…Nine of the studies were clinical cohorts that studied the outcomes of SM [ 16 , 29 – 35 ] and two were case–control studies [ 18 , 36 ]. Seven case series studies were excluded from the synthesis and discussion because of the low number of subjects and the fact that their findings could not be generalized to wider populations [ 40 – 46 ]. The results of these studies are not presented in the main tables, but they are briefly summarized in this paper and described in more detail in Table S 3 (available online).…”

“…The results of these studies are not presented in the main tables, but they are briefly summarized in this paper and described in more detail in Table S 3 (available online). Five of these studies were published after the year 2000 [ 40 – 42 , 44 , 46 ] and two of them were from the 1960s [ 43 , 45 ]. The number of subjects varied from two [ 40 , 41 , 46 ] to five [ 44 ].…”

Family Relationships in Selective Mutism—A Comparison Group Study of Children and Adolescents

“…Generally, parents want to support good and healthy development by creating an environment in which the necessary learning processes can take place [ 40 ]. However, this task becomes more difficult if it is unclear for them which environment may be helpful for the child with SM and its learning processes.…”

Behavioral Assessment and Treatment of Selective Mutism in Identical Twins

“…Although the twin population in the United States has been growing for several decades, only a few studies, most of which focus on individual cases (e.g., Albrigtsen et al, 2016) have examined the process of working with twins in a therapeutic context or the obstacles that may arise in treatment as a function of clients’ twin status (Ainslie, 1997; B. Klein, 2012).…”