You might have seen that people who are drunk either have a difficulty speaking properly or speak with a kind of slur in their voice. Slurred speech can therefore be termed as an associated symptom of drunkenness. But, slurred speech can also be a speech articulation disorder where a person speaks poorly constructed sentences or rapid sentences.
Properly defining slurred speech and associating it to a particular syndrome can be really tough.
Causes of Slurred Speech: It is not necessary that a person with slurred speech is drunk. He might be suffering from several of the existing speech disorders that might have affected his speech.
Let us look at a few factors that can effectively cause slurred speech:
- Various speech disorders like dysarthria, apraxia, aphasia et., exhibit symptoms of slurred speech.
- Often brain strokes can lead to severe speech related problems and cause speech disorders.
- Abnormal facial and oral disorders like a cleft lip also can lead to slurred speech.
- Various external agents like alcohol and drugs cause slurred speech.
Defining Slurred Speech: Usually, persons suffering from dysarthric conditions are associated with slurred speech. Several other speech disorders like speech disarticulation and other brain related disorders like Parkinson’s disease are often mistaken to be a cause of slurred speech.
- Dysarthric patients face severe problems when it comes to expressing their feelings. A person knows what he (usually males are the most affected by dysarthria than females) has to speak but just cannot find the right words to express it. This is the prime reason for slurred speech in dysarthric patients. The speed at which a dysarthric produces his sound is varied when compared to a normal person’s speech.
- The slurred speech is a direct resultant of the damaged brain nerve that is responsible for speaking. In slurred speech, the larynx and vocal cords do not play a part as the brain no longer has any control over them owing to the damaged nerve.
Defining slurred speech and it’s associated syndromes has been addressed with paramount importance by many doctors. This is due to the fact that slurred speech can be a symptom of a few life threatening diseases. Hence, addressing the issue and seeking proper medical help is mandatory upon developing slurred speech.
