Selective Mutism Question

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I was a selective mute for years. I couldn't speak at all at school, or to strangers. But in my own home I was perfectly fine.

hm, i dont think that's ever happened to me.
i mean, occasionally if a bit taken aback, i might not be able to speak. like if someone says hi to me, it may not come out when i say it back. i say it in my head. and then by the time it occurs to me to get it out, it's too late.
actually, maybe that HAS happened in a small dose. it's like, the words just cant come out, right? this is when im nervous, on the spot, or unprepared to answer. i think all humans experience this in small quantities, though, dont they?

I can have an entire monologue in my head and not be able to say a word and I also can't use the phone. I'm not sure WHAT that is, but I'd love to fix it. I've gone through entire therapy sessions really, really wanting to say something but not being able to... not because what I wanted to say was hurtful/embarrassing/weird but just because...

I couldn't.

I don't get how you fix that.

When I get stressed (as is almost always true in social situations) my mind slows waaay down. I find myself processing what was said about 1-2 minutes ago and if it’s a really fast, aggressive conversation with multiple people talking, I become confused and can’t keep up at all. Even if I’m able to keep up, I sometimes think of things to say and censor myself and then someone else says the same thing and the group likes it a lot. I think I process verbal communication slowly, since I even miss fast movie dialog.

Thanks for a great discussion – really helped me understand the situation.