Hi,

I have been enjoying the posts on quality of life and alternative therapies. After reading about continuum movement therapy and Bob's post where he describes talking super fast when we want to be slow dancing, I was especially struck by the seeming polarities of movement that seem to take over in us; it seems we are either consigned to moving too slowly or having dyskinetic herky-jerkies; interesting how fluid the idea of "normal" has become...

I wonder how is the quality of speech out there. Interestingly, prior to my PD diagnosis, in fact long before, I was known as a fast talker; not out of control, but a bit hasty, especially when nervous or stressed. Now that PD is in the picture, my rate of speech generally mirrors my physical status quo. If I am moving slow, my speech slows down too. I still talk fast when provoked, but I have way too many others noticing this of late, including my neurologist. He has noted that I have "pressured speech". I know this can be a PD symptom, but for me it seems to emerge either when extremely anxious or when dyskinetic. What is frustrating is that I can't tell it is happening until someone reacts; I can then slow it down no problem.

Anyone else have this just as a common PD thing? My hypertalk generally seems to take hold, when I have a little too much medication in my system. The problem is I teach, so I want to try and get this under control. I know there are strategies to help with volume of speech like LBT. Is there anything we can do for pressured speech?

Thanks!

Laura