I'm the same way, I don't tell but a few people. I hate having it used against me, and having a stigma with BP.

I have a lot of manic/rage phases, so that's the last thing I need is someone calling me crazy. I honestly would rather be called a bitch.

I don't even like to tell people why I am on disability. I usually use my bum knee, that keeps me from working, yes, but it is not my biggest problem.

I just posted something similar yesterday. I was wondering how I could "come out with bipolar", especially to my friends. I have been quite careful with whom I tell, but when I get my mood swings, I sometimes can't help it but post weird Facebook statuses, so my guess is most my friends know about it. I just told two of my close friends yesterday, and they were quite receptive. I was thinking of coming out to my close friends, to at least educate them. I just need people to know that when I can't sleep for weeks, it is sometimes because I am manic, not because of my "lifestyle". I need them to know when I'm depressed, I can get suicidal and can't just "snap out of it".

Bottomline is, I think we should still be careful with who we tell. On the other hand though, I feel like, why should we be ashamed? It's a disorder just like any other.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Rapid speech is a symptom of bi polar, and more common of one than I think most people realize. To answer your question, no normal people do not talk like this. But are we "normal", not really, you can either embrace it, or let people make you feel ashamed. I choose to embrace it.

shoot sorry that was for a different post :(