How can I tell if I have an internal monologue?

[Barrol]

I learned recently from my teen that ~ 30 to 50% of people don't have an “inner voice.”

I’m sure I do. As I type I hear my voice in my head. But am I just assuming I can? I’m confused. So maybe I am in the minority of people who don’t have an inner monologue. When I read I say it a loud in my head I think.

Please can anyone familiar with this topic elaborate.

Why don't you ask yourself.
Without moving your lips.

The voices in my head are always holding conversations. I’m not schizophrenic and from chatting to others, it’s perfectly normal to have constant and endless conversations going on.

When you're not reading / writing / talking, do you have an inner conversation going on?

i read that in my head and I’m also reading this in my head as a I type so I’m an inner voice person. How odd people type and don’t speak it in their head, well odd to me, not odd in general

Do you narrate things to yourself in your head, in the same way you would chat to someone out loud? For example "Oh no, there's the bus coming. It's early. Going to have to run to make it!". Or "Must remember to put the bins out later".
My internal monologue is extremely dull, but it's there!

This fact always amazes me! I have an inner monologue, very much present. I can't imagine what it would be like not to have one!

Yes! What do others do?

I have an inner monologue. I don't actually hear my voice but it's kind of an ongoing conversation between me and me

It's one of those things that's almost impossible to understand the reverse of it! But yes, I have a constant monologue. Often a number going at the same time; as a PP said, it's often like there's a conversation going on in my head.

So if you don’t think in words how do you think?

I wonder if there is a correlation between internal monologues and mental illness or anxiety. I have a constant inner monologue and often worry or feel anxious or paranoid. My partner doesn't have one and doesn't suffer with any of those and is a lot more chilled than me.

If I’m reading, writing or going over/rehearsing conversations in my head I’ll ‘hear’ the words in my head but apart from that I don’t really think in words or sentences as such. Sometimes I’ll ‘narrate’ what’s going on on purpose as a way of creating a bit of distance, but that’s more of a mindfulness strategy than a natural way of thinking, and quite different to having an internal monologue I’d think.

Not sure if that helps at all!

I have generalised anxiety disorder - you may be onto something

I have also wondered this. And wondered if there was a correlation to people who read a lot (I often feel like I'm narrating a novel about myself).

I think the writing point that OP mentioned is interesting too. We have several people at work who are pretty awful writers and the thing that links them is that they don't 'hear' what's written in their heads so it's full of long sentences that don't sound natural and using overly complex language. Whereas I write as if I'm talking and my academic writing is pretty good (not my writing on MN!!)

I asked a friend about this as she has no internal monologue.
She says she sees things as pictures as opposed to words, I asked what happens when she reads and she says she sees the words in her head rather than hearing them.
As someone with an internal monologue that is always chattering away it was fascinating as she couldn’t imagine having an internal monologue and had no idea that there was such a thing.
I asked her about how she solved a problem as I talk ( and argue ) with myself in my head.
She writes it down 🤷‍♀️

There are some people who are both aphantasic and have no internal monologue.

My friend doesn't have an internal monologue and I really can't wrap my head round it.

She also can't remember faces or what things look like, like she can't describe something with out looking at it, which I also find really hard to imagine

Me too and I have a riotous inner monologue

My inner monologue is essentially a whole personality of her own. We have full blown conversations, such as advising each other on what to wear (usually the same outfit, funnily enough), what to eat, etc.

No, I don't have any mental health issues 😁

I agree with the reading thing. I've always been a prolific reader, and my inner monologue has been around since I was a young child, and it is literally like a book in my head, with both narration and dialogue.

I have an inner backing track too.

I constantly have a song going round and round in the background along with inner monologue. 😁

Not sure about this. I don’t have an internal monologue but I do read an awful lot, for work and pleasure, and writing is a big part of my job. Language is central to my identity but it’s more of an expression of how I think rather than central to the construction of the thought itself if that makes sense.

I worked with a colleague who talked all day, he would sit at his desk and mutter and chat to himself.

We had this very same conversation and it appears as a creative he "thinks" in designs and colours and patterns, he can dream about situations but his words and music have to come out of his mouth to make sense.

No internal monologue and no anxiety here!

recently my brain has been completely empty, due to meditation and cutting out stressors. I have to think to think of things. It’s quite nice

God, there are multiple streams of chat running through my head constantly. I thought everyone had this?