How can I tell if I have an internal monologue?

I have a inner monologue but I can't see pictures in my head.

Surely no-one thinks that slowly? Don't we think abstractly and convert that into words afterwards? Doesn't everyone do that? If not it must be a real nuisance.

I think I must be the same. Ever since I was little (younger than 5) I have 'seen' letters, words and lists in my head. Always a standard sort of appearance - like in a printed book or newspaper - what I later learned to call a 'serif font' - just like what computers users call Times New Roman. I can't imagine what an interior monologue would be like.

If you had one you would know as it's chattering away at you, offering commentary on what you're doing, telling you what you need to do, replaying things, acting out conversations etc.

Yeah, I don't hear anything - what you hear or whatever it is your DH hears (I'm confused too). So you can't think faster than you can speak? Sounds potentially lethal in an emergency situation. I mean, if (for example) your DC was about to run off a cliff edge, you wouldn't wait until you'd had time to speak / hear the words "Oh my God, that could kill him, I need to run as fast as I possibly can and stop him" before you started moving, right? You think about what the problem is and what's to be done in a split second.

I asked my DH and he said he doesn’t hear his voice but he hears his thoughts, it’s so confusing. Even as I’m typing this out I can hear my voice saying it in my head

I was very confused when I learnt that some people DO hear their voice in their head. Still find it a bit hard to believe really.

I just. . . think. Words are for conveying your thoughts to others, not for actually thinking. (And my thoughts mostly move a hell of a lot faster than anyone could speak, or I could go through the actual words in my head).

Was astonished to learn, well into adulthood, that some people DO "think in words".

I had a very critical internal monologue and since I've been on sertraline it's disappeared.

Mine is literally like the film inside out, so I'll have one voice telling me I look awful in that, another saying don't be silly it's your favourite, one getting angry we are even discussing it as we need to concentrate on work, another running songs in the background, one chilling and dreaming of the beach, the planner keeping tabs on my calendar etc, they are all me and my 'inner voices' though and they've been there as long as I can remember, it is very busy in my head

This is such a fascinating thread.

I have a constant prattle going on internally, plus songs (sometimes two at the same time)

When I'd just had DD and was getting just a couple of hours of broken sleep a day, I had Livin on a Prayer (Jon effing Bon Jovi) playing in my head permanently. For months. I honestly thought I was going mad (and I didn't like it before this happened - I utterly loathed it during and after)

I have always suffered with insomnia, and I'm undiagnosed but have definitely got ADD - does anyone else think that these conditions go with the noisy monologuing?

I do. I'm always telling people to Fuck off in my head with a big smile on my face 😂

Following from my pp. I have 2 boys and 2 girls. I just asked them about multiple thoughts at once. My 2 boys both confirmed they can only think of one thing at a time. (This makes sense to me as if I gave them a list of things to do and I ask them about it they can only focus on one thing at a time)

The girls said their thoughts don't stop and they have a constant voice. Equally, if I gave them a list they could run through it quite quickly whilst also having a chat and discussing a few things and still work through the list of things to do

Could be just us though!

I don't know, but assuming that women have more of an internal monologue than men. From talking to people, most men can only think or focus one one thing at a time. Whereas women have about 6 thought trains crossing over at once which would probably mean we need an internal monologue to keep it flowing.

My dh asked me last night what I was thinking about and I had about 6 things going at once. He said he's brain hurt just thinking I was thinking about all that.

I described it as having boxed in our brain we have a few open at a time. He reckons he only has 1 open at a time.

I can very much relate to most of your post! Although I wouldn’t say I specifically suffer with face blindness, I am generally very poor at remembering faces and particularly struggle when I see someone out of context, unless I know them extremely well.

Someone above asked if people who have an inner monologue do or don’t get ear worms. In my case, the answer is yes. Currently it’s Tom Jones telling me he’s never going to fall in love again. Sometimes the same one sticks for weeks and I’m so bored and fed up with it that I start slowing it down, speeding it up, adding an orchestra, turning it into rap or whatever😆 Occasionally a short riff of just a couple of notes plays on repeat for a few hours like a stuck needle on a record. Usually when I’m anxious about something.

I'm not sure what an internal dialogue is isn't it just thoughts? I think things all the time but I don't hear a voice in my head

I have a constant internal monologue. I’m always having conversations with myself about what I need to do, my thoughts on things, and going over past conversations and rehearsing future ones. I struggle a bit in the present as it’s always happening, even when I’m having a conversation with someone. My mind will go off on a tangent so I don’t always fully focus on what people are saying, or I’m busy rehearsing what I should say in response. I also struggle to follow films and programmes because as well as face blindness my mind wanders off very easily. It only takes one word being mentioned to remind me of something else and I start having a conversation in my head instead of paying attention to the film. I can waste hours doing this instead of a task that I’m supposed to be doing.

i have not been diagnosed with anything and have never suffered with anxiety or depression. I’m terrible with faces and names but I do suffer with face blindness.

I can ponder lots of things without hearing any sort of words or voice in my head. I can muster up words in my head if I want to but that would be a conscious effort.

Like @Funnywonder I can have a few strands going at a time, and it's not all complete sentences. I was watching TV & in different strands I'm following the story, guessing what might happen, thinking "that actor looks so familiar, oh I'm so bad at remembering names. What sharp cheekbones he has" and that might trigger a thought about something related to that. It all happens so swiftly though, possible simultaneously.
Also like @Funnywonder I tell myself stories to send myself to sleep.
I can't create silence in my head - if I wanted to clear my mind to meditate I'd actually be thinking "oh, look, I'm doing pretty well not thinking about too much" which would veer into "it's impossible to have an empty mind because I'm talking to myself about my empty mind so it's never actually silent" and then also imagining myself telling someone about this.
When reading I can understand whole paragraphs but that's more fiction, not MN. And I do vaguely imagine a shadowy film behind the story. But my visuals in my head aren't great and tend to be quite fleeting.
Though if someone says a word like cat to me, it's more likely it appears as a written word on a screen in my head, than an image of an actual cat.
Even while I was reading this thread I was simultaneously having a conversation about what it's like for me / maybe I'll reply / shall I quote a post... It's quite hectic in my head!

That'd be really useful to have @HollyBerri . I've had therapists say to me a couple of times 'what do you think a friend would say to you about this person?' or something like that.
If you can manage to do that for yourself, have a voice telling you a different view on the situation, that should be great for working out how to move forward in different circumstances.
Assuming that the other perspective isn't evil. 😀

I have constant chatter and I’m great with faces, names etc

i could probably tell you everyone in my primary class’ name and date of birth

I have a constant inner monologue and I am dreadful at remembering names 😂
I once walked up the office stairs behind a man I'd worked with for three years and went "morning erm - erm - erm..." He very gently told me his name. It was mortifying, but quite funny afterwards!

Do those of you who don't have an inner monologue not get ear worms then? That sounds like bliss.

DD1 says she doesn't have constant chatter from her inner monologue so she can shut it off which also sounds good, mine (and DD2's) never stops. Just thought though, does that mean some people can actually clear their mind when doing meditation practice? Because I just daydream.

I’m really confused I thought this was just thinking and everyone hears their voice in their head.

That last one's bizarre. She can't describe say a pear without looking at it? How does she know it's a pear when she sees it?

I have a very active inner monologue but barely any ability to picture things. So I find it impossible for example, to tell if a cushion will go with my sofa because I can't picture it. I have to buy it and try it. My DH can get a perfect picture in his head and just knows what things will look like before he's seen them.

So although I can't picture things, I CAN tell you exactly what they look like, so I can describe what a pear looks like for example without being able to picture a pear. I could also describe to you what my sofa looks like without being able to picture it! Brains are weird!