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**paul m** · November 6, 2012, 02:30 AM

Hello Cannon. I'm not sure if what follows is exactly the same as what you describe, but it is similiar.

Long before I knew that I had bipolar there would be times when people had trouble understanding me. Part of this was due, not to my actually being incoherent, but because I was speaking so rapidily that I would appear incoherent to other people. Rapid and ultra rapid speech are another symptom of bipolar.

The only reason that I know that it was ultra rapid speech was because only those really close to me could understand me and my wife would tell me to slow down when I was talking.

Because I would speak so rapidly, my words would slur together and become garbled. Looking back, it is easy for me to pick out some of the times that I know this happened. Often when I would have a vacation, my mania( in hindsight) would spring to the fore front. My mind would have ultra rapid thoughts and my speech would speed up. In the southern USA, my wife would literally have to translate some of what I was saying if I asked for directions or local info. I spoke way too fast for the slow drawling southerners to even begin to understand what I was saying. It's funny to me now, but it wasn't too funny then and caused a lot of frustrations. Take Care. paul m

P.S. I never got many auditory halluciations, but I sure did with taste. I eventually came to realize that when I got certan tastes in my mouth it meant that I was manic( we can hallucinate in all 5 senses).

**dave** · November 6, 2012, 10:57 AM

I definitely had instances when I spoke so fast that people had difficulty understanding me. I specifically remember one time during my longest and most extreme manic episode. I was at a team meeting at work and a few coworkers mentioned to me that I must have had a lot of coffee that morning however I don't think I slept the night before and don't recall having any coffee.

This was the first time I was hospitalized. Being in the hospital wasn't all bad, it was then that I was diagnosed and started meds, both positive steps. This is also the first time I recall auditory hallucinations. I have since had several episodes where I experienced hallucinations. This time it was different though, the voices were hostile and threatening. Other episodes with "voices" were unsettling but not scary. I would prefer no "voices" but if they must happen then ones that are not threatening are preferable.

What I meant by garbled speech is a bit different though. Part of the difficulty understanding me was related to the speed I was talking but the main characteristic was that the words I would speak didn't make sense. Like different thoughts and sentences were mixed together. I would start a sentence about one topic and before I finished conveying that thought I would begin speaking about another topic then maybe go back to the original topic or on to a completely different subject.

Looking back now it is somewhat amusing however likely a bit odd to others. Often I don't remember symptoms until my wife tells me about them or confirms them when I ask or I read about them and that triggers my memory.

Another odd symptom is when I would talk outloud to myself, trying to arrange the thoughts racing through my mind while simaltaneously moving my hands around in expressive motions. I think I only ever did that around my family, at home or in the car. That also amuses me a bit. Thank God for mood stabalizers. Now if we could only get the depression and anxiety under control!

**paul m** · November 7, 2012, 01:54 AM

Hello Cannon. In regards to speaking out loud while trying to arrange my thoughts, I did that too. I still suffer from a bit of mild mania from time to time, mostly racing thoughts.

I won't realize I'm doing this until my wife will yell from another room " who and heck are you talking to"

Often this will happen when I'm on the computer making a reply to an email or a post, but once in a while I can be watching a boring tv show with one part of my mind and start to rehearse in another part of my mind something I'm going to tell someone. Once again, my spouse will ask me who I'm talking too.

As you said, thank goodness for mood stabilizers. The above doesn't happen very often now, but it used to be fairly frequent. Take Care. paul m

**paul m** · November 14, 2012, 02:05 AM

Originally posted by cannon View Post

The book I am reading currently has a small section about a bipolar symptom that is seldom mentioned in other books and I am not sure why. Maybe it is rare.

It spoke about people talking with garbled or incoherent speech that doesn't make sense to others. I asked my wife if I had ever done this, expecting the answer to be "no" but it was not. She said I have done this. I was suprised but have no doubt that she is correct.

Hello Cannon. When you asked this question I didn't give a great answer. However the hamster that spins the wheel in my brain finally spit out the answer that I was looking for. It may not be the answer that you were looking for, but it was what I meant to explain.

"Pressured speech". I took quotes from websites with the link for the full articles at the bottom. Take Care. paul m

"Pressure of speech may be severe enough that the person may not be understood"

"In a person who is also experiencing flight of ideas, the pressured speech may be disjointed and incoherent."

508 Insufficient Resource

http://www.bipolardisordersymptoms.info/bipolar-symptoms/pressure-of-speech.htm

http://bipolar.about.com/od/glossaryp/g/gl_pressured_speech.htm

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