Elective mutism: report of a case successfully treated by a family doctor.

Elective mutism is a rare psychological disorder of multiple etiology, wherein intellectually normal, nonpsychotic children, who can talk, remain silent with all individuals except a small group of intimate relatives and peers. Certain characteristics and relationship patterns are typically found in the family of the affected child. This report details elective mutism in a young girl in the author's family medicine practice and the treatment attempted by different therapists over a period of several years. Only when all other treatment had failed did the author, by default, accept responsibility for the case. Based on his special relationship as the child's family doctor, and one hypothetically valid interpretation of the function played by the girl's silence, the child's speech was unblocked within a short time and is the first reported case of elective mutism successfully treated by a family doctor.