To ask: do you have an inner-monologue?

[allthatgrace]

I don't have an inner-monologue and never realised that some people do. My thoughts are rapid, abstract and conceptual rather than verbal.

For example, if I am thinking that I'm hungry and want to start making dinner it takes the form of something like: concept of hunger+concept of dinner+concept of it being the evening/dinner time. After speaking to my family members they would have an inner-voice that actually says "I'm hungry, I think I'll go start dinner".

I have also always been confused about the idea of having an inner-critic that berates you. I've never heard an inner-voice say, for example, "nobody cares what you have to say, don't bother speaking, everything you say is stupid", instead I would just feel the sensation of shyness and wanting to stay quiet.

I can make myself have an inner-voice and I will use it occasionally, for example if I'm trying to remember a particular phrase or something but my default thinking is not an inner-monologue.

Which kind of thoughts do you have?

I should take a look. It was a coping mechanism at one point but now it's just much nicer to tell those thoughts and the gremlin to F off.

Haha, yep that's your prerogative! But interesting that you intuitively gave that part of you an identity at some point, as a way of handling it rather than letting it overwhelm you. Rowan would say that's a therapeutic tactic.

It's so busy inside my head and I think in words and sentences, in the same way as I would converse. Plus I often get earworms, so my inner monologue has a soundtrack. I'm really good with pictures and can manipulate and rotate things in my mind. I can see colours, and find it odd when I suggest a colour scheme and people can't picture it until I put the colours together for them in real life (I crochet and quilt, it requires a lot of colour chit-chat). I can see numbers by volume and shape, and add numbers together in a sort of tetris way rather than the the way I was taught in school (by carrying the one etc).

I day dream a lot, I've designed houses, whole cities, a post-apocalyptic future and all sorts of complicated things. I night dream too, although that's generally more stressy and less enjoyable. Falling asleep can be quite difficult.

I've always found that reading quiets my mind, I think because I speed read and so it's more of an experience that I can see and feel than a flow of words. Although a miss-spelling or some bad grammar can pull me out of the flow so I'm obviously processing each word in some way. Watching tv or listening to an audio book can seem very slow compared to reading and so I usually do something else at the same time.

I find it really hard to imagine having a quiet mind. I suspect that my DS is a bit like that though, he needs lots of external stimulation and it's possibly because he has very little in the way of internal amusement.

Constant inner monologue here. It's exhausting, I get so sick of myself and my endless witterings. I've said to DH so many times 'I wish I could just switch my brain off for a little while'. But I just can't stop it. I narrate everything I do, have imaginary conversations. I can't even pop on the TV and chill out as my brain keeps saying 'oh, I recognise that actor, they were in something', and then I have to pause whatever I'm watching to try and think of everything I'd ever seen them in. Then look them up online to check. Same with music, I'll hear a snippet of music on a TV show, think 'I know that from somewhere', and won't be able to relax until I find out exactly what the song is, where I've heard it before, and listen to it over and over until I memorise the lyrics. At which point it will get stuck in my head and play over and over like a CD on repeat. Or with TV shows, I'm constantly doing maths to work out the timelines, if that makes sense?

I genuinely get worn out from the endless thinking and processing.

I have OCD and anxiety though, which probably explains a lot of it.

I can't imagine anyone not having an internal monologue. To me it's like not thinking at all.

This will sound stupid, but I really don't know. Possibly a mixture of both. Does talking to myself occasionally mean that I have an inner voice?

@CorianderBee

Yes. A constant stream of consciousness that sometimes causes insomnia. Every thought is in my voice as though I'm speaking to myself with some pictures /videos etc recalled from memory.

I literally cannot stop thinking unless I'm asleep. Always words. Closest thing I have found is saying the words 'blank mind' over and over to drown out the rest.

Critical thoughts are common and I sometimes argue with one me with another me over them. Sometimes I nickname the meaner thoughts as 'the gremlin' to distance it from my innerself. But it's all just me.

I have extremely vivid and bizarre dreams with a lot of impossible situations and often wake up in a cold sweat. I have also lucid dreamt a number of times.

I think you are me!

I struggle to sleep because of my thoughts, hence my 'bedtime stories'. But my dreams are clear and vivid, and stay with me when I wake.

My dreams are weird and random and morph from one scenario into another with no reason. And although there is dialogue, actually my dreams are mainly visual, which is odd given that I have been saying how verbal I am. I can always remember them in detail when I wake, and can have several very vivid dreams each night. I often wake with a racing heartbeat because they were tense or stressful - it's very strange.....

DH says he almost never dreams - as far as he can remember.

Yes I have “bastard voice” in my head that never shuts up especially when I’m on my own. I’ve always had it, it’s utterly exhausting and my world would be liberating without it.

It’s mainly a negative voice but on occasion positive. I’m not depressed but I’ve learned to accept it’s a part of me. To not have this permanent brain drain would be fantastic and I envy those who don’t have this exhausting permanent voice that is loud and unremitting.

I have a constant internal monologue - but it’s not a critical one, or rather not critical of me. But it is me, just my clutter of thoughts.

I'm with you OP. I've never realised that people think in actual sentences. And I thought the kind of narration you get in Peep Show was an 'artistic interpretation' to make thoughts relatable not that people actually narrate their lives day to day.

Like you, I think in abstract thoughts. My mind can wander but it jumps from visualising one thing to another.

My inner voice is similar to yours, op, but I also have one which repeats things my mum and my primary school teacher would say - shouldn't have done that, stupid girl, ought to know better etc..... sometimes I agree! I also have a third which narrates my life as I live it. Hmm, my inner world is quite busy now I come to think of it!

At least one voice, multiple thought strands and there is also always music playing! I do have adhd though

Yes when I'm relaxed before I sleep and it is so determined and organised until the sun rises.
Then it becomes critical before planning greatness again.
I think if I relaxed more in the day I'd be able to tap into it and have a sensible day instead of feeling like a headless chicken.

I'm constantly chatting to myself - luckily I only chat to myself in my head. Sometimes, like posters above, I might mumble part of the conversation out loud or smile or something. I've always assumed that everyone else did this too 🤣

I have the constant inner voice, very elaborate day dreams, and vivid dreams at night that I always remember when I wake up.

One thing I do wonder about, and I hope this isn’t an insensitive question, but for those of you who don’t hear a voice and/or can’t picture things in your mind, what happens when someone you love dies? Can you picture them and hear their voice at all? I lost my dad almost 4 years ago but I can still picture him clearly in my mind and often hear his voice telling me what to do or just having a conversation. It brings me a lot of comfort and I really worry sometimes that I might lose the ability to see and hear him.

Yes I have a constant inner monologue going. Sometimes it gets interesting when I go poke about in my thoughts to see what some of my imaginary friends have been up to since the last time I called in on them. If they're in I find I'll suddenly have inner dialogues going which - if I'm fast enough writing them down - get turned into stories and comic strips. Some of which other people seem to find funny.

I have been learning French for the last couple of years and feel I'm starting to make real progress. Disturbingly when my inner monologue segues into French it does it in someone else's voice.

This guy's: innerfrench.com/

I've listened to so many of his podcasts and youtube videos that my inner monologue sounds like him. Not me.

I have a constant monologue in my head that's only a nuisance when it's time to sleep. Then I distract it by day dreaming. I have vivid dreams and remember some of them.

I don't have true prosopagnosia, but I do have difficulty recognising faces. I can picture things in my mind, but not in great detail - unless I fully concentrate.

If I read a book I can get totally lost in it, picture the scenes and have no monologue. I usually skim read. If I read non fiction then I will have my own thoughts relating to the article.

When I write I'll often "gather my thoughts" first, then the words just appear to flow without me consciously thinking them. Afterwards I'll read it back with my internal voice and edit accordingly.

If I'm doing something that I'm very skilled at I don't actively think about it or have a monologue - that would actually slow me down.

Talk to myself all the time!

I have an inner monologue going all the time.

I find that singing stops it completely, I sing a lot, it's my down time!

Also, before I drop off to sleep I often hear music playing in my head, not anything I have chosen, just something random.

What do people mean by this though? I find it soooo weird. You hear voices in your head? I thought that was a sign of insanity. Is it that somehow you think only in words, rather than conceptually? I can't grasp how it would work, but it sounds exhausting and very distracting from actually being able to think.

It would be so limiting if all of your thoughts could only be expressed in the languages you know, because those can only ever be a crude approximation of feelings or concepts and lack nuance, by their nature.

Also for those who speak multiple languages, which language do these "internal voices" speak?

I can't get my head around how people function in this way and have any clarity of thought. I'd check myself into a hospital if that happened to me. 😂

@MummyInTheNecropolis

I have the constant inner voice, very elaborate day dreams, and vivid dreams at night that I always remember when I wake up.

One thing I do wonder about, and I hope this isn’t an insensitive question, but for those of you who don’t hear a voice and/or can’t picture things in your mind, what happens when someone you love dies? Can you picture them and hear their voice at all? I lost my dad almost 4 years ago but I can still picture him clearly in my mind and often hear his voice telling me what to do or just having a conversation. It brings me a lot of comfort and I really worry sometimes that I might lose the ability to see and hear him.

Not having a voice in your head doesn't mean you can't picture something. My memories are sounds, smells, things I have seen, feelings, sensations. My thoughts and reasoning are concepts or images or emotions. These are only translated into words when it's necessary to communicate them to other people because language is so limiting, hence people miscommunicating or misunderstanding each other etc. It's the best we've got for sharing ideas, but not the best we have in our own minds!!

I also have very vivid dreams and daydreams and lucid dreams sometimes too. Language is a framework but thought itself expands so far beyond its limits.

@HalcyonSea thank you, that’s interesting. My memories are also smells, sounds, feelings etc, it’s not all just words at all. It’s just some people are saying they don’t picture anything in their minds, nor do they hear anything. I see and hear my dad so clearly, I feel like I would miss him so much more if I couldn’t.

@Heartofstrings

I've read the whole thread and so think I'm the first person to say this. I used to have a really active and racing internal monologue but in my mid twenties had a massive breakdown. Took me 12 months to recover. During this time I couldn't handle and external stimulus like tv or radio. I'm not sure when exactly, but the monologue also switched off at the same time. It's never returned. I now get nothing apart from the odd passing thought

This is amazing! Your internal 'voice' just completely transformed! What does that feel like? Is it better to have a quiet mind? Is there a difference in how you work, make decisions, have conversations, choose outfits, etc?

@Disneyblue

I can't imagine anyone not having an internal monologue. To me it's like not thinking at all.

So do you think that before humans developed complex language, they had no consciousness or thoughts? This is so backwards. Language was developed to express thoughts, it is a byproduct of thoughts, not a prerequisite! It's a way of systematically sharing ideas and knowledge, the actual thoughts and knowledge are separate and we "translate" them into shared language to communicate. An easy example is that if I was thinking about mathematics or logic I may think about concepts that can't be expressed in words without writing a whole book to get across my thoughts, but those thoughts are apparent to me just like a diagram or picture. Language is great but if you cannot think or feel anything beyond the bounds of the concepts that can be expressed in the language(s) you happen to know. If you limit your boundaries of thought in this way surely it instantly closes off huge areas of abstract thought that can't be expressed by the "monologue"? Or do you have some ways of thinking without the "monologue" where it is quiet and you can actually think conceptually? I find it very odd that this is how many people think all of the time! Fascinating, but so strange!

Yes, a constant inner monologue, all my life. It's like I'm narrating a story to someone, commenting on my actions . Sometimes I give myself a verbal pat on the back , if I've overcome some challenge, or I'll berate myself if I've failed at something through being inept or unprepared. It never bothers me, I'm used to it.