Circumstantial speech

Stop Pretending: Circumstantial speech

So I learned a new vocabulary phrase today: circumstantial speech. I was asking my p doc why he thought I was bipolar. He mentioned this and changing moods. I was like doesn’t everyone moods change? Anyways I was like ok so if I can stop this circumstantial speech does that mean I don’t have bipolar anymore? And he was like, it doesn’t work that way. I’m like, ok... anyways. Anyone else been told this symptom?

Nope that's a new one for me.

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/bip...-subtle-signs/

There’s another article I read on the topic.

I've never heard of that, but that's interesting. I always just thought it was a personality/imagination thing. I don't do this myself but know people who do. Anyways thanks for sharing.

That is interesting!
thank you for sharing
bizi

I do that all the time. In writing and in speech. I don’t think it’s my bp though. It’s just who I am.

What do you think your p doc would say

Oh, my goodness!

The excessive description of circumstances is something that I do all of the time — well, any time that I have someone with whom I converse. I’m mostly alone.

I’m sporting a terrible black eye, and other facial bruises, and I went into every small detail of my fall when telling my caregiver of the injury. My mouth gets dry and I have trouble ‘wrapping up’ the conversation — I get confused and feel that I’ve been babbling.

I’ve never heard the phrase, or it’s meaning. Pretty interesting.

Not sure really, she’s new to me. My therapist might have something to say about it though, if I asked her.

Now that I think about it it’s worse when im hypomanic for sure.

There is tangential speech and circumstantial speech. They are not uniquely characteristic of bipolar, though - people who suffer from schizophrenia may speak like that.

Also, although linear speech pattern is considered the norm, sometimes topics are too complex not to follow tangential paths.

I think that provided you can return to the main idea, can understand that you digressed, then it is not characteristic of thought disorder.

Circumstantial and tangential speech is NOT word salad!

That is interesting and a little bit too much to process because it goes against my initial diagnosis.

This is all interesting. What is the difference between circumstantial and tangential speech?

I will write tomorrow - going to bed now and just want to say that if you look at your provider's note, you probably would see mentions of your tp (=Thought Process) after each session, as LINEAR (all is well) or as tangential/circumstantial. I assume TP may not make any sense - I just have not exhibited yet so I have not seen it in my medical record, but I have seen tangential and circumstantial.

I think it is a symptom of hypomania

Never said it was, word salad is a symptom of a different disorder, and circumstantial speech is symptomatic of schizophrenia too.

I think I might have read somewhere that in extreme cases mania can produce word salad, but am not sure. It is more on the schizo spectrum than on the affective spectrum.

Why circumstantial speech, but not word salad, can happen in hypomania is easy to see - the hypomanic mind is quick to make associations, often perfectly valid, and those associations lead to digressions from, but then return to, the main topic of a conversation.

I have never had circumstantial speech issues. I definitely have bipolar disorder; I was diagnosed 25 years ago and have been rediagnosed several times since.

In my experience of working with people with mental illness, being married to a man with mental illness (OCD), and just life in general, circumstantial speech is typical of someone with OCD and/or an OC personality, or some who has schizophrenia. I am not clear on what circumstantial speech has to do with bipolar disorder. Some people, when manic, have pressured speech, but that's somewhat different.

I do this on a daily basis. lol. Has nothing to do with my BP.

But you know, I can't even tell if it's worse when I'm manic. My therapist said (in a nice way) that my manic speech is all f'ed up and she can't understand it. I rapidly jump from one topic to the next and nothing is coherent. Then sometimes I jumble up words and pronounce them wrong because I'm talking so fast. She also said that some of the topics I talk about make no sense whatsoever, so she just lets me talk and tries to see if she can make sense of it. lol. She told me this like 2 months ago

It's good that your doctor picks up on your speech. I never had a doctor discuss my speech with me although I've been incoherent at times due to racing thoughts. The doctor I consulted with in the 90's for ECT labeled me as schizoaffective only because I was incoherent. I was so mad, I've never had a break with reality.

Actually word salad is a symptom of abusive behavior, stemming from personality disorders such as narcissism, borderline, and antisocial.

Schizophrenics can have disorganized thoughts which includes word salad.

I know circumstantial evidence too well. If that's what they got, make no comments.

Have you seen some of the more bizarre results of someone diagnosed with hypergraphia?

Creative, maybe, but just weird.

(I can say that, having trouble, again, with hypergraphia.)

***that’s unexpected***

I am reading "Touched with Fire" by Jamison and she cites Kraepelin and others describe the phenomenon of associative thinking, without using the word "tangential". I will post quotes once I finish reading.

I did not know that abusers exhibit word salad.