Hyperspeed, a symptom of manic depression?

by K
(ohio)

Is This A Symptom of Manic Depression?

Sometimes it feels like my thoughts are on hyper speed, like I am shuffling through thoughts about 20x as quickly as I should, during this sensation it feels like my heart is beating extremely fast (it is not, it is beating at normal speed)...I feel as though my brain is going much faster than my movements and everything around me...what is this?

Pressure of thought, A Symptom of Manic Depression and Schizophrenia

The symptoms you initially describe would be compatible with two mental health disorders. Pressure of speech can be a symptom of manic depression, a condition characterised by pressure of thought or hyper speed as you describe, pressure of speech (hyper speech) and delusional state. The symptoms of a racing heart with normal pulse would be an example of a delusion. When the above is observed, it is known as mania but when combined with depression it is called manic depression. A manic depression episode needs treatment by a psychiatrist with a variety of treatments including drugs such as Lithium and antipsychotics.

Another condition that can be associated with pressure of thought is schizophrenia. This is another mental health condition associated with delusions and hallucinations including auditory hallucinations and many more. Again this needs to be treated by a psychiatrist.

To investigate your symptoms further I would suggest seeking a psychiatric opinion. If this does turns out to be a mental health problem, there is plenty of help available. However, the symptoms you describe may end up being just a characteristic that you have rather than a specific mental health problem. Good luck.




My name is Dr Peter Thatcher MBBS, MRCPI and I am a consultant physician and gastroenterologist in the UK. I have an interest in internet based medicine and administer this site in my spare time. I hope you find this site useful and informative. If you have any suggestions, please Contact Me or if you would like to comment on my site, please do so by Clicking Here. If you like the site and would like to make a donation to support what I am doing please do so by Clicking Here. Thank you for visiting and please drop by again!