Talking to yourself

[SpiritWriter]

My opinion is that talking to yourself is not a sign of mental illness. I say it's perfectly healthy to have a conversation with yourself and I do it all the time. I've been talking to myself since I was a kid and I think it is perfectly natural. I am a good conversationalist, at least to myself. Sometimes I feel like I should stop but I always realize that I really enjoy the discussion.

I am not ashamed to say this and do not care if any of you think I have a mental illness because I ask myself questions and actually respond to myself. Perhaps my talking back to myself phenomenon is a little more pronounced than the "normal/average/guy", who doesn't exist, but I do not think it is abnormal.

If a true poll were to be given I bet all the truth tellers would admit that they do enjoy talking to themselves.

What do you have to say about that?

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[/media] Edited September 21, 2013 by SpiritWriter

[emberdawn]

No I don't think it is a sign of mental illness. Sometimes it helps to hear your thoughts out loud.

[Hawken]

I think that talking to yourself helps sort things out and releases tension. When I'm on a project such as assembling

exercise equipment, I will talk to myself to figure out what to do to put the nuts and bolts together.

And when I'm at work. If I get mad or frustrated about something. I'll talked to myself (in low tones). It seems to be a

release valve to keep me from going off the deep end.

[Skep B]

I had a conversation about this yesterday.

What i tend to do is allow separate viewpoints in my head to start debating an issue, and helping me figure out the right choice. And in this i dont bias because they are all independent thought processes that dont think or know the thoughts of the other voice(es)

[Drayno]

As my former teacher once told me, "Only if you answer back."

[Skep B]

.....but it'd be rude to not answer back

[SpiritWriter]

As my former teacher once told me, "Only if you answer back."

This is the notion im challenging. Im talking about full on talking to yourself ..

Hi how are you?

Im good how are you?

Im good too because were the same person!

Lol! IKR isn't that so cool?

You know they say talking to yourself means your crazy.

Well im not crazy.You might be crazy but I'm not crazy.

No, neither one of us are crazy, silly. We just like talking to ourself.

Edited September 24, 2013 by SpiritWriter

[Skep B]

Yeah I do that, but purely for problem solving purposes as a sort of visualization

[SpiritWriter]

Yeah I do that, but purely for problem solving purposes as a sort of visualization

I do it sometimes when walking or driving or doing the dishes purely out of boredom. I did it a lot as a kid. I would pretend I was getting into arguments with people and cuss them out a lot for some reason and talk to myself in the mirror, my daughter does the same thing, she is very creative and loves writing and acting. Talking to yourself can be like performance theater with no audience if you think about it, depending how far you go with it. .... I dont have long conversations with myself a lot (outloud), but I am always, always, always talking to myself in my head. I actually think I should start doing more of this. It will probably help me focus on some things and help me work out the details.

Thanks Skepty

[Skep B]

Oh as a kid i pretty much only did this.

I was a weird kid and preferred to be alone and I'd just think up stories and what have you

[The Silver Thong]

When I was a kid I would have play karate fights with myself with subtitles lol as an adult say trying to figure out instructions on an Ikea bed set I also have fights with myself but they are Swedish subtitles and I still cant understand them.

I talk out loud to pose a question then mumble answers till I might have it right, just like highschool.

[Drayno]

.....but it'd be rude to not answer back

And also a sign of schizophrenia.

This is the notion im challenging. Im talking about full on talking to yourself ..

Hi how are you?

Im good how are you?

Im good too because were the same person!

Lol! IKR isn't that so cool?

You know they say talking to yourself means your crazy.

Well im not crazy.You might be crazy but I'm not crazy.

No, neither one of us are crazy, silly. We just like talking to ourself.

Again, speaking out loud to oneself to clarify an idea, or to go over something - completely normal.

Doing so, but answering yourself thoroughly - probably mental illness.

[Skep B]

I'll stick with being polite, thank you very much.

Now, I have to go...the dragons are coming

[SpiritWriter]

And also a sign of schizophrenia.

Again, speaking out loud to oneself to clarify an idea, or to go over something - completely normal.

Doing so, but answering yourself thoroughly - probably mental illness.

I think plenty of mentally ill people do not talk to themselves, and plenty of non-mentally ill people do talk to themselves. Now if they think they are talking to someone else and don't realize it is themselves, that would be a different story.

There should be some other factor than just 'answering yourself' that would pinpoint a mental illness.

Edited September 25, 2013 by SpiritWriter

[LostSouls7]

I love talking to myself..!

It's actually more fun than talking to a lot of the normal

boring people out there at times.

But I do enjoy and have fun with my friends...

we are just as creative and interesting...

but other than that talking to myself is quite fun!

[Moon Gazer]

I talk to myself all the time when I am in the car. It will be things like "is that driver gonna let me out", "where the heck did you learn to drive" etc etc.....

[rodentraiser]

I talk to myself all the time on account of I'm such good company! LOL

In Connections, or maybe it was When the Universe Changed, it was pointed out that in eons past, everyone talked out loud. There was no such thing as say, reading to yourself. When people wanted to do an audit of something, one person would say the name of the item out loud to another person. And that's where the word audit comes from - from auditory, something that is heard.

There you go....lesson for today.

[Skep B]

In Connections, or maybe it was When the Universe Changed,

please tell me these are books, and not some astral plane...thingy

[little_dreamer]

When I curse, it's usally out loud, and not silently to myself. Not as much relief, I guess.

[HDesiato]

It's a tool to map out an opposing pov.

Kind of like figuring out chess moves in advance.

[keninsc]

For many years I worked as a design engineer. Designing equipment, modifying equipment and tooling to improve productivity or to correct problems. On many occasions people accused me of talking to myself, which I often did because I found that thinking something wasn't always as good as saying them out loud and hearing yourself say it. I also discovered a lot of people really don't get it and think you're animal crackers or something. I even had one boss schedule some time with the company shrink, which I found to be offensive.......not because he wanted me to talk to the shrink but that he scheduled to see him without my knowledge or consent.

After I spoke with the shrink.....and this is ironic.........the shrink set up an appointment for my boss who obviously had some issues if he scheduled me to see him because all I did was talk to myself when I was engrossed in my work.

[SpiritWriter]

I love talking to myself..!

It's actually more fun than talking to a lot of the normal

boring people out there at times.

But I do enjoy and have fun with my friends...

we are just as creative and interesting...

but other than that talking to myself is quite fun!

Thank you!

[spartan max2]

Talking to yourself could benefit the brain study suggest

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/23/talking-to-yourself-brain-memory-search-find_n_1447211.html

And honestly I think its weird for people not to talk to themselves.

And this is not proven but I have always felt like smarter people tend to talk to themselves.

[Skep B]

Im a smart person and I approve

[J. K.]

My guess would be that verbalizing your thoughts utilizes more parts of your brain than just thinking. Perhaps those extra connections in the brain expedite the process.