Pressured speech is when you talk faster than usual. You may feel like you can’t stop.
It's different than talking fast because you’re excited or you naturally speak that way. You might jump from one idea to the next. People could have trouble following the conversation.
Pressured speech is often a sign of mania or hypomania. That’s when your energy level or mood is very high. It’s linked to bipolar disorder. Here’s what you need to know.
Symptoms
When you have pressured speech, you may:
- Talk quickly
- Talk more
- Feel like you can’t control your talking
- Keep talking when people aren’t paying attention to you
- Not let people interrupt or stop you
Why It Happens
You may do it if you have bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder.
Mania changes how you think and act. During an episode, you have a lot of energy and changes in mood. Your mind races. This is where the constant stream of thoughts you may want to share can come from.
Hypomania has many of the same symptoms as mania, but they aren’t as severe. You can still do the things you usually do, like go to work or school. The episodes are shorter and last about 4 days in a row.
Other Causes
Bipolar disorder and schizoaffective disorder aren’t the only reasons for pressured speech. You may do it or something similar if you have:
- Schizophrenia
- Autism
- Psychosis and postnatal psychosis
- Major depression with mixed features/persistent depressive disorder with mixed features
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- An anxiety disorder
Using illegal drugs could also lead to pressured speech.
How It’s Treated
Your doctor may prescribe antipsychotic medication or other drugs that calm you down and ease symptoms. They might also suggest antidepressants or other drugs for anxiety.
Cognitive behavioral therapy, or talk therapy, may help you better understand your thoughts and manage them. Working with a speech-language pathologist could also help.