How does your inner voice or voices talk to you?

[Ignoramusgiganticus]

I call myself a bloody idiot if I do something stupid but generally my inner voice is fairly quiet. I might replay conversations or scenarios over a few times late at night but generally I'm busy and I don't hear a lot going on in my head.

Tonight it transpires a friend has constant dialogues going on in her mind between a "good" voice and a "bad" voice and she has to adjudicate over who "wins". It sounds tiring and hard work.

How does your inner voice or voices talk to you?

Mine does too but I ignore it and it often gives up.

I have complete control over my inner voice, it's just me thinking things in my head. It can't say anything I don't want it to and if I don't want to think about stuff I just stop thinking about it.
I'm not sure I understand what PPs are describing, is it like hearing someone else's voice in your head where you can't predict what they're going to say?

Is anyone here into Eckhart Tolle? He's a bit loopy but one of his basic ideas is that to be truly living, we have to be present and that means switching off or ignoring the inner voice that is constantly thinking about the future or past, worrying, remembering and otherwise distracting us from the present moment

He says it's driven by the ego which resists your attempts to kill it. It's quite hard, especially when that voice is used to nattering all day

Chronic low self esteem, anxiety and depression here so my inner voice can be a giant bully. It says the most horrendous things about me and I have low control over it. If I make a mistake my inner voice will berate me constantly for it. It brings up memories, conversations, trauma and mistakes from the past, as far back as my childhood and can be triggered at random times. I also often have a random song playing in the background while I'm trying to think. I get overwhelmed by everyday tasks quite easily, I've wondered if I have adhd as one of my children has adhd and from what I've read there can be some genetic link, plus the hyperactivity can be inward.

Luckily I had cognitive behaviour therapy this year which has helped my massively. I've learnt how to challenge those negative core beliefs and the bully inner voice. I've started to treat myself with more compassion and discovered what an amazing tool mindfulness is for creating space. I'm still recovering as I've suffered with mental health illness my entire adult life so it was never going to be a quick fix but the first time I realise recovery is possible and a bully for an inner voice does not have to be my normal.

It's really interesting to read other people's experiences.

Mine is almost constant. We have conversations, work together to figure stuff out etc.

Wow this is interesting - never heard it discussed before.

My inner voice IS me, so I don’t understand how it can work together with you? Interesting.

I’m not very nice to myself, my self commentary is very harsh and my mind runs on going over certain things and cringing at what I’ve said or done, and generally being a right bitch to myself.

I would like to know how to stop being so harsh to myself, I think it would make my life a lot easier and me a lot less weighed down. I’d never talk about someone else the way I do about myself.

Mine refuses to stay inner and regularly speaks out loud what it's opinion is
filter. DH says he can read my face and it is a good job we don't all walk about with thought bubbles beside our heads like speech bubbles !

I don't have an inner voice, I have thoughts but they're my thoughts. I did once have a mild down time after my third child where I was sinking towards depression due to him not sleeping at all and once a negative voice told me to just drown the baby, it frightened the crap out of me, I felt strange for weeks and reached out for help. It still haunts me that my thoughts could do that. And it was just like another voice that came from nowhere and was completely unpredictable.

Mine is positive but I ignore it. Then it says things like “why are you procrastinating, it’s a form of self sabotage! Just do it and be happy!” And then it almost answers itself and says “oh but reading this book and drinking coffee is so nice and also makes you happy, do that for 30 mins more and then start on that long term task” so stuff never gets done. Maybe that’s what your friend means by two voices?

It also says stuff like “omfg that person is a raging idiot, I can’t believe how fucking moronic this is, WHY didn’t I do xxx instead ffs, I should be doing blah blah blah right now instead of standing in this queue with a bunch of dicks” type dialogue.

By it, I mean me. They are my thoughts after all

Mine is really kind and says “we”.

I might be thinking “Shall I go to X” and the voice will say “course we can! That would be lovely!” Sometimes I even smile at how positive the voice is.

Other times when driving and I come across an idiot the voice will say “oh I hadn’t realised! We have ourselves a wanker!!”

I quite enjoy my own company!

Does anyone’s have an accent that’s like theirs? Rather than the actual thoughts, I’m more interested in what it sounds like. I have a very thick London accent and my inner voice doesn’t.

My inner voice is pretty constant, but it swings from very positive to very negative. Sometimes it says really horrific things that I don't truly believe or want, which almost feels like some kind of Tourette's or like my brain is trying to shock me (I know that sounds weird) but just as often it'll be waxing lyrical about the beautiful surroundings or how wonderful DH is and how lucky I am. Or it'll be giving a running commentary/instructions on what I'm doing. That voice often comes out in talking to myself.

After reading more posts I don't think I have an inner voice, I just have my thoughts, pictures, memories, imaginary conversations etc. There is no 'voice' as such just my internal thoughts that I'm intentionally having.
I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or not.

I think I've two main ones - inner child and inner parent. So I'll think 'oh wow you've messed that up, now everyone is going to hate you' and then another replies 'no they won't, everyone makes mistakes. It's really not the end of the world'. Sometimes if all I want to do is lie in bed then it's the practical parent one that gets me up and on with stuff but if I've learnt to listen to the childlike one too as it's often telling me stuff I need to know about my feelings which I tend to ignore.

Nothing. I don't have one. I did once loose my grandmother's wedding ring though ams noticed I kept thinking "shit shit shit" in a panicked way. I get more of a physical sensation if I remember something cringe worthy, but my attitude towards meals is quite kind. It would be more along the lines of :
Brain: random untriggered flashback to that time I forgot that important detail.
Body: cringe.
Inner voice: we all do stuff, I meant well. What the hell prompted me to recall that right now?

Counselling also helped me realise that I needed to be more kind to myself. That I was doing well by getting through the days, even when I was only doing fairly mundane, routine things. That there were reasons for my feelings, not just "depression".

But it also made me realise that I'm not valued by the people I live with. They find it easier to criticise what I'm not doing and not realise that it's quite a struggle for me sometimes. I also realise I don't help myself as I tend to withdraw.

I try to congratulate myself inside for a job well done, even small things, and tell my more negative inner voice to stop it! It's a work in progress.

Kello That's it! Really should read all the comments first).I have the rebellious teenager and practical parent though.

Phew! It's not just me then. Since I've lived alone (for the last 16 months) I have conversations with myself. Whether it's because of the lack of someone else to talk to or the fact that I'm less inhibited because no one's around to hear me,I'm not sure......

Mine has been at me with jumbled cluttered muddled thoughts for months. It became a very negative voice and I lost the strength to overcome it with positivity.

I recently started ADs though and the difference has already been noticeable to me. It's all but shushed the negative inner voice, the cluttered thoughts and the emotional pain. Such a relief!

The voices in my head are proper voices, and in my case they speak different languages. They're not overwhelmingly positive or negative, more like a running commentary and conversation.

When I get screaming in my head I know it's time to speak to someone. It's stopped scaring me & I view it as a handy indicator that I need to slow down & get my meds reviewed.

Basically the inside of my head is constantly busy.

Mine is generally very quiet/silent...most of the time I'm looking around, walking about....and there's nothing much a all going on in my head...

I do wonder if it's like being a cat or something...{you see things, recognise what they are, but there's no back-story going on behind it all)

It always catches me out when people say "What are you thinking about?" And the answer, most of the time, is"nothing." (they never believe you: "But you must be thinking about SOMETHING!")

I do notice beauty when I'm walking about though...a nice sky, or the sunlight on a wall...but it's not done via an audio voice in my head...I just take it in.

I must say I like it though...it;s very quiet and relaxing.

Mine is constant, it tells me straight and can force me to do something I’m reluctant to do. It generally looks on the negative side.