I have a hard time slowing down my thoughts when speaking to strangers… I think I am generally better with my wife and the rest of my family. I get pretty self conscious about word salad when talking to others and especially in any kind of public speaking. I guess I am still not used to being socially scrutinized. I am hoping the employment program I joined will provide me some more help with developing self confidence.
(as a side note there was an interesting article on Npr a couple of weeks ago about using the word “I” in subservient communication. “I” will look for the link and post it )
I say we were doing this…yet I was alone…I feel like golem…my speech is fragmented and slow like forest gump…it has taken a lot of time just to get myself to keep up with this inner crowd!
Definitely the word salad for me also when it happens, before I took meds at anyrate. Humour goes a long way in helping break it down though. So when I hit the word salad and I know it. I kind of do this rolling of the tongue thing that ends up sounding like I hit a tongue twister thing. As I find word salads basicly like that, a tongue twister! As I just can’t get the right words out. I tend to empathise that and making jokes at the situation eases the tension with both parties. Thus making friends and decent social contact helps with our mental health in the end.
I have my salad with a side of big chicken. I used to be very afraid to talk to people when I felt nervous and the wheel in my head was amping up.
I do used some humor now and I know that my family will be patient with me when it hits. Also, I’ve been working on not getting so angry with myself when talking to other people. I just try to let it go.
The work program that I was in did help me learn how to interview and how to make a resume and how not to get nervous at a panel interview so my words don’t jumble. It did help me a lot.
I sometimes wonder if word salad can actually be an advantage to some writers. My other brother who doesn’t have sz got a masters in creative writing. His writing is very complicated and goes off on tangents mid sentence, but in a pleasing way. He speaks very coherently and does a lot of public speaking but sometimes throws a lot of information at you in casual conversations. I also think about the poet and writer Alan Ginsberg who had a schizophrenic mother and I think had a breakdown himself. I remember reading parts of howl and kaddish and was surprised how he could make what seemed like word salad into striking literature. I have to remind myself that speech doesn’t have to convey as much information as writing does.
thought blocking i wrote a post on this once something like my head feelas like a hollowed out coconut when i try to get words out of it to say to others.
)