Talking too much can be an early warning sign of four mental health conditions

If you often have trouble talking or rambling about specific topics, you may be suffering from a mental health condition.

Talking too much, also known as overtalking or oversharing, is exactly that. It involves talking for long periods of time without letting the other person speak, rambling about special interests, or interrupting someone to let you understand their thoughts.

Someone who talks too much may be especially gregarious, but experts told DailyMail.com that it could be a sign of certain mental health conditions such as anxiety, ADHD and autism, all are diagnosed at record rates.

Dr Carolyn Rubenstein, a licensed therapist in Florida, told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s not a two-way conversation. It’s more like a monologue. You are talking to someone else but not allowing the other person to participate in the conversation, so you are not aware of their desire to participate or their interest.’

‘Many people aren’t even aware that they’re talking too much and once they are aware it’s a huge moment of awakening.’

While overtalking itself is not a sign of a mental health condition, here are four possible causes of overtalking.

Autism

About 1 in 36 children in the US has developmental disability autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

People with ASD often have problems with communication and social interaction, as well as restricted or repetitive behaviors and interests.

The rate is higher in boys 4 in 100 than in girls 1 in 100. However, autism is notoriously difficult to detect, with the average age of diagnosis being around 5 in the US. And over the past few years, more and more adults have been diagnosed with the condition.

There is no clear cause of autism, and research suggests the disorder develops from a combination of genetic and environmental influences that affect early brain development.

Although talking too much does not automatically make a person autistic, it is a behavior that autistic people may exhibit.

‘[Autism] more like a social communication disorder. The important part is recognizing the need to pause, cut back, and monitor eye contact, all of the nonverbal cues that are part of communication,” says Dr. Rubenstein.

hyperactivity and attention deficit

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common disorder often diagnosed in childhood, but in recent years the number of diagnoses in adults has increased.

The main symptoms of ADHD, which often manifest before age 12, include lack of concentration and hyperactive-impulsive behavior. People with ADHD may constantly fidget, be unable to focus on a certain task, talk too much, interrupt others, and be easily distracted, among other symptoms.

‘Typically, with ADHD, there is a tendency to be impulsive and have reduced inhibitions. For example, you can say whatever comes to mind without filtering, so you’re having thoughts pop into your head and you’re just blurting them out and not thinking. You just say whatever comes to mind,’ Dr. Rubenstein said.

While this is often seen in children who have difficulty waiting their turn to talk in class, it can also be seen in adults with ADHD. For example, an adult may feel impatient and not wait for the other person to stop talking. They may continue talking even though the other person has lost interest or forgotten to pause or take a breath.

‘With ADHD, there is a tendency to need stimulation and talking creates stimulation. “All the other aspects can get lost because you’re overwhelmed by the stimuli you’re focusing on,” says Dr. Rubenstein.

Medications like Adderall can help people with ADHD focus and avoid talking too much.

Worry

There is a common misconception that people with social anxiety are quiet or have difficulty starting conversations.

However, Dr. Rubenstein says excessive talking is a common feature of the condition.

‘Many times, people tend to have a lot of anxiety related to silence. People will talk to avoid facing silence. That nervous energy really gets dispelled by talking.’

‘A mark [of anxiety] are having racing thoughts. You have those racing thoughts, and then they come back as talking too much.”

The same is true for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), which involves persistent, excessive worry that interferes with daily life. GAD affects 6.8 million American adults, according to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), but less than half receive treatment.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) estimates that one in five adults in the US developed an anxiety disorder in the past year,

Bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder (BPD) is a mental health condition that causes extreme mood swings, ranging from depression to mania.

People with bipolar, an illness that affects seven million Americans, endure changes that cannot be resolved by making small changes, such as sleeping more or going for a walk.

During the manic phase, the patient may feel happy, uncontrollably excited, confident, easily distracted, and irritable.

They may also be more active than usual, speak very quickly, be very friendly with others, act inappropriately or out of character, and sleep very little.

Meanwhile, during a depressive episode, bipolar patients may feel irritable, tearful, agitated, tired, uninterested in things they usually enjoy, and have suicidal thoughts.

They may act withdrawn, have trouble sleeping or sleep too much, eat too much or too little, avoid contact with people, and spend a lot of time thinking about unpleasant things.

Patients with bipolar I disorder have a history of at least one manic episode, along with depressive and manic episodes. In Bipolar II, mood swings from high to low, but the outbursts are less intense than in Bipolar I.

Talking too much can be a sign of both subtypes.

This condition can cause rapid or erratic and often meaningless speech. This is called pressure speech, which happens when someone thinks so fast that they can’t speak fast enough.

‘The speech was very fast. You’ll see that during a manic episode,” Dr. Rubenstein said.