General Can " Rambling" Be A Symptom?

[Crl1983]

I usually can't bring myself to say two words when someone attempts a conversation with me in person or by phone, (it must like pulling teeth for them). But there are times I have to talk to someone, such as the doctor, or when someone puts me on the spot and I can't escape, or I'm made to feel guilty for not talking to someone. I start getting stuck on words and tripping over them, will often stop mid-sentence and then frantically start rewording what I'm trying to say, and I often find myself repeating the same things multiple times or talking about the same things in loops and circles but trying to make them sound different. My fiance has told me that sometimes I will just drop the subject of a conversation entirely and out of the blue and move onto something completely unrelated and different, jumping from subject to subject; and that this confuses him and others. The way people look at me when I do these things makes me feel even worse inside than when I simply don't say a thing.

 

[BloomInWinter]

What we often think of as 'Rambling' can also be a sign of dissociation.

I still struggle with this when triggered. If certain topics keep 'poking' at me despite my attempts to avoid them, sometimes they trigger dissociated 'stream of consciousness' speaking...my safe people now tell me they can tell by my pupils getting larger, glazed over; my affect/look on my face goes blank & pale; I tend to stare in one space.

It's really hard to learn to recognize when I'm in it, then force myself to alter my gaze and try to do some 'grounding' skills.

Mindfulness helps....but those dissociated traumatic mems are still in there and until I process them out, a trigger can still cause them to rupture through that now all too permeable traumatic memory wall and hijack my system into full alert status.

UGH.

 

[Toria]

Crl1983 - husband does the things that you have described too. When I first came on here discovering things like this were symptoms used to get me down too as I had previously been able to brush them under the carpet. But now I get quite excited when I can put his - I'm going to get myself in to trouble with this description - unwanted behaviour down to PTSD. It's the illness and not actually him and for that I am grateful.

 

[Crl1983]

Thank you for the tips, Anthony. I am going to do my best to try to start reading again. I do have a love of reading somewhere in there, I just don't know where it has gone. I used to be such a bookworm, I would go through 2-3 books a week. Now I am lucky to be able to focus on reading one every few months. I check them out and even buy them wanting to read them but I always end up losing focus or just losing interest. Maybe I will pick up one of my old favorites and start with re-reading one of those.

 

[jasmin]

^me too.

Bahjeez I thought that Rambling was just an element of my character- but I guess I've been noticing it more recently. Like the other night I went to a bar for birthday drinks for a friend of mine and there were a bunch of people I'm not that familiar with. I was very anxious even prior to walking in there. And I have always had difficulty in social situations (though I am so proud of myself for having overcome many of those issues in the last say 6 years, I'm a lot more comfortable now albeit not completely). But I just threw myself into it and began a full blown conversation (of many a ramble) to a guy I hadn't met before. It was like "woah where are these words coming from? How am I stringing this together coherently even though I am so agitated and anxious and tense inside?".

 

[ChrisK]

My husband does this too. Usually its when we're in the car, but he will go on & on & on about something - yesterday it wass religion, but it could be ways to make more money, politics, his job, anything. And once he starts, I can pretty much put away all hope of getting a word in edgeways or even keeping up some days, because some days his train of thought jumps all over the place.

 

[freakofnurture]

I've been 'rambling' for as long as I can remember. Still learning how and practicing to stop myself before I start to annoy people.

 

[Srain]

I can't seem NOT to ramble :speechless:. I have no doubt the inability to control it has to due with my PTSD. I've always been a talker but also a listener. This is a good thread, though like a thorn.

Rain

 

[May1321]

Wow! This is very helpful... I just thought my sufferer was really smart but it could be related.

It seems like Dandi said, everything turns into a lecture. I learn a lot of new things from him but depending on his stresses, these sometimes come harshly, or talking over me. If he's calm, he recognizes it and appologizes for talking over me, or is a little more empathetic and in tune with my feelings. It's like, though, he has tried to fill his brain with all this other stuff to not think about the trauma stuff... possible?

Bad days bring on almost an obsession of having to scroll through the news on his phone, look stuff up on Google (that I find endearing because they are hobbies I only know my father of having) to calm down, but he can't handle long letters, or books, or anything that requires a ton of focus. YET he seems to be deeper than the Grand Canyon at times with his wealth of tid-bits... we joke sometimes that he's a real life "rainman" :laugh:

 

[cat]

I find my rambling is a sign that i need to take a break because of over stimulation. I mostly affects me when i'm at work, trying to have too many conversations. There has been a few times when people have given me a curious look as though they dont understand what i'm saying, its at that point i know i need to give my excuses & leave.
I also do this when i see my T, its as though I feel i wont have time to get everything out or I'll miss something very important.
I feel such a twit when I ramble especially as I'm 55 & have got to an age where people think its the menopause or old age!

 

[Sazza]

I ramble all the time i to thought it was just part of my stress head character. My problem is half time my heads all jumbled and if don't say something there and then i will lose it forget it. I also speak really fast because trying to get stuff out before my head jumps to the next. I think rambling is quite common in any type issue that involves anxiety, fear and trauma. As for repeating things i do it all the time and can ramble for england, glad its not just me.

 

[Martin Taylor]

yup, me too. Especially when I am nervous - like always when I talk to someone I don't trust - like most of the time unless I remind myself to be concise. If I focus, I do fairly well. It takes a lot of work some days.