Abductor Spasmodic Dysphonia Sutton Coldfield UK

Hi to all.

I have joined this forum on behalf of my girlfriend who has Abductor SD which is the type that makes the vocal cords open when speaking and creates a breathless, whisper sometimes during speech.

I have been doing a lot of research to try and find some hope of how to help her either recover from it or to at least make her life easier dealing with it and I thought I would ask for help here.

My own research has covered Botox and Surgery but this is not a route we wish to take. A lot is being said about psychological or neurological causes but we both agree that the main symptoms seem to come on in times of stress or anxiety which would point to the mind rather than body. She has suffered from clinical depression for most of her life and all we are doing to make this better seems to be pushed back by her SD and the stress it causes her mentally. It seems to be a cycle of confidence and symptoms.

I would love to hear others opinions and how anyone else has found hope through means other than surgical methods. Perhaps through CBT or other therapies.

I guess I am just looking for others who can help show me the way to further our knowledge and find a suitable way to increase her quality of life.

Thank you all for your time in reading this. Any advise is much appreciated.

Dave, in Sutton Coldfield.