Hi. I'm a 24 year old guy. I've got a very bad speech impediment (stutter) and really bad social anxiety.

The speech problem makes it excruciatingly difficult for me to talk. People get freaked out when they see how much I have to struggle to talk. So I can't have a regular conversation with people. Even doing something simple such as asking someone for the time is nearly impossible for me.

I feel like if I had the ability to talk like everyone else, I can gradually face my social anxiety and work on my other problems. But since I can't talk, its like I don't even have anywhere to start. I feel like a lost cause.

The question is, how does a guy like me get a girlfriend? Where do I even start?

Should I try online dating and tell girls about my problems? I feel like if I do that, I'll just put them off and they wouldn't want to deal with my problems.

Or should I learn sign language and find myself a deaf girl? I don't know where I can just go and find a deaf girl. It's not like they all hang out in some place or anything.

I don't have high standards or anything. I just want a girl who I can love and who'll love me back. As long as she has good hygiene and doesn't look like an alien from outer space, I'm fine.

Here's some additional information about my stutter if you're interested:

I've had the stutter since the age of 5. It never really was a problem, I still talked throughout my childhood and teenage years and had a few friends. It only became a problem when I turned 17. It occurred to me back then that this stutter can be a big hindrance in my life. And ever since then, its become really bad and its actually turned into a problem.

Now you might say that the solution is simple. That I should just stop seeing my stutter as a problem. It's not that simple. Now that I '' see it '' I cannot unsee it.

I have tried some speech therapy but it did not help.

My speech does get better at times. If I were to get comfortable with one particular person, then I can talk to them with ease. And if I were to talk to a lot of people in one week, then my speech does become better. However if I go two days without socializing, then the stutter is back to square one. So its really frustrating.

There is no cure for this stutter. I just have to live with it.