Do you have an inner monologue?

[autienotnaughty]

And if you do, do you talk to it or is it more like a voice over in your head?

You'll be amazed that many people don't think. Seriously. Their heads are just empty if they're not actively thinking about something. I can't relate to that at all! I'd love to be able to switch everything off, especially before sleep.

I have full on movie running constantly. There are conversations, extrapolations of ways situations might play out, reruns of embarrassing bits of my life that somehow relate to the current situation. Replays of ways things could have worked out.
Speculation, criticism, observations. Not at all all verbal...its quite distracting.

We’ve had this thread before.. said my inner monologue

Multiple inner voices? Or the same one switching constantly?

Yes. Both. It is never, ever quiet inside my brain.

I think some people have a voice that can start of its own accord and even be chatting when you aren’t listening to it. And others have silence unless they actively think about something

Me too - it drives me mad. My mind is just as active at 3 in the morning if I wake up for a wee as it is right now! It is so bad I struggle to read a paragraph - I haven't read a book since I was at school. I suspect it is ADHD but the waiting list where I live is over 3 years. It has literally ruined my life - I'm in my 50's so all completely missed when I was at school. It is heartbreaking what I could've been.

It's more like different thought lines all going at once. So I suppose it's not really a monologue! Plus usually a song going round and round as well. But there's usually one voice that's more prominent than the rest, which I would consider my monologue. I do the conversation thing with myself, too, sometimes. Your way of describing it, switching between different lines of thought, is a good one. Also a lot of self-talk (often negative but I am working on that!). I often wonder what it would be like to have nothing in your head. I'd find that very peaceful and calming.

When I was a child I used to have what seemed like a cacophony going on in my head every time I tried to go to sleep.

I’ve just googled this as I am a prolific daydreamer but I’m not that extreme. I do go off into my own world and can’t hear what’s around me and i sometimes speak or mouth words.

I do, constantly. A few weeks ago I had a full body massage and fell asleep. When she stopped she woke me up and for a few seconds my brain was completely empty and quiet.
It was the strangest but loveliest feeling.

Maybe it’s the interpretation of it? So some people see it as something seperate from them and others see it as thoughts they create so not a voice just themselves having ideas and planning

What I’m curious to know is are you in control of what the internal monologue says? Or does it surprise you?

I feel like I’m in control of everything I say inside my head, but mostly thinking is more abstract like just concepts and pictures without words. I can switch it off and not really think about anything much or I can practice conversation using words inside my head but I don’t have a constant stream of dialogue going.

Yes I have wondered about that. But there is some data out there (forgotten details of it, mind) to say that no, a lot of people just don't think at all. At least not in words. But how could you think if you weren't thinking in words? It's a fascinating subject.

I don't think it's based on sex, as far as I'm aware.

It makes me wonder how profoundly deaf people think if they don’t have the words to talk to themselves

Well they do know words, don't they? They just don't 'hear' them as we do. But I can't quite get my head around that, it's true.

I remember reading an article years ago about someone who suffered severe brain damage and when he or she woke up there were no words at all in their head. I can't remember the details anymore but I found it fascinating. Imagine not being able to actively think.

For me it’s a mix if my voice is reading what I’m typing then I guess I’m in control. But it will do its own thing and answers questions too.

Yes, it is.

I suppose they know the hand symbols for talking but you can’t talk in your brain using hand signals. Or perhaps you can? 🤷🏼‍♀️

You have to know and understand the words in order to use the hand signals. It's a language just the same as ours. But of course I have no idea what it's actually like to think as a deaf person. Perhaps some people do picture the hand signals. But a lot of people don't think in pictures at all so I guess it's different from person to person.

I do but DH doesn't. Mine is quieter and calmer since I've been on antidepressants for anxiety but it is still the way I organise my thoughts.

I believe this is why DH lacks organisational skills. My inner monologue is constantly, "First, I need to do that, then later I will go there, but oh, hang on, maybe it would work better if I did that first?" etc etc. DH doesn't have this and therefore lives much more in the moment than I do and doesn't plan ahead for things.

I wonder if it’s a woman thing as my DH says he doesn’t?
And yes, I talk to myself a lot, have conversations/arguments with others in my head.

Some people mention ADHD on here, but I wonder if mine has got worse since peri. I don’t think I was this bad before, and anxiety definitely makes it worse.

ADHD is known to get much, much worse in women when hormones become depleted in perimenopause and menopause.

It's not a woman thing. DH has it,worse when he's ill..he spent many years in therapy on antidepressants and sedatives .. when he gets stressed it takes over, he gets more stressed and physically ill, vicious cycle..he puts the TV on loud,noisy war films usually. I've got severe tinnitus, trying to drown out the voice!

I do and I talk to it. I think the majority of people have an inner monologue but not everyone has a conversation with it.