Do you have an inner monologue?

[goldenorbspider]

Mine never shuts up. I'm curious those that don't what do you have instead? I'd love just to see images but does that get annoying sometimes as well?

I have dialogues? Like my brain seems to do its thinking largely by providing both sides of a conversation, either by itself (I do a lot of arguing with my own brain) or by constantly providing me with imaginary scenes of discussion with real or imagined people.

God yeah.

Someone once said to me 'you don't have to say everything that comes into your head' (I talk a lot) and I had to tell them I don't even say 5% of what comes into my head!

Yess! Sometimes I'll tell myself to shut up. Wondering though when I tell myself to shut up, who's talking to who and who's listening?

Yes I think in words and have an inner monologue. I don’t really see imagery in my mind. I don’t have a related MH issue it’s just how I am I think.

Yes. Quite a lot. Don't think it's that unusual actually!

I read the header for this thread and my inner voice said "Doesn't everybody?" I have entire conversations with people in my head. What is more disconcerting is that I'll have half-conversations, and then continue them in real life with family and friends who have no knowledge of what they have supposedly said before. I've convinced myself that I do it to save time, as I know what their responses would be, so don't need to actually talk to them.

Yes. For my mental health I don't give it too much credence and remember that I am in control of it. I can get it to say positive things too.

I can see in images and have an inner monologue but would love to just have images. The silence would be lovely

Yes I do most of the time. I have a critical voice in my head.

I find it tortures me because I find it hard to switch it off.

I read the header for this thread and my inner voice said "Doesn't everybody?"

I did exactly the same! Then when I read yours my brain said "how funny, me too." I find mine exhausting to be honest, sometimes I feel like I have so many thoughts bouncing around my head that there's no room for clarity.

Yes. And it's as dull as anything Virginia Woolf ever wrote

And a lot of singing! Music, lyrics, Batman TV theme tune when I'm in an important meeting

I'll go over old conversations, invent new ones, use different voices. I'm never lonely, it's rather nice.

Yes I do and I also see images. I have often wondered what other people see and hear in their head.

Yes! And I find I get annoyed when someone interrupts my "conversation"

To shut the voices off, I find concentrating on something really helps. I sew, I'm currently spending a couple of hours a day sewing things that need focus, and the silence in my head is like a holiday. Swimming also helps me. A friend plays squash as all she can concentrate on is "where's the ball, wheres the ball?" for an hour. She says it's like a holiday.

A holiday would be great

I have tried yoga, but I can't relax enough because I can't stop discussing things with myself in my head for long enough to relax properly.
My friend who I did it with didn't understand what I meant.

I don't have one most of the time. When I do have one it is voices, not images.

Yep. 95% of it obsessive and negative and does.not.fucking.stop. It's exhausting.

I have one but it’s more of a chat to myself/verbal reasoning rather than my primary thought process iyswim. Similar to talking aloud as opposed to thinking. My thought process is primarily images but also sounds/smells/sensations sometimes. It can be a bit unpleasant in that it’s quite intrusive and more intense than words. When someone says dead child to me I see a dead child (a long with a few other things, it’s difficult to explain but I see several things at once) and also the smell of death and smell of children (again at the same time). I don’t know why I just did that to myself but I couldn’t help it, much like you can’t help your internal monologue.

I’m going to try to stop that line of thought now. So yes, it also makes verbal communication difficult because I am effective describing my thoughts (much like you would describe a photograph), I’m also bilingual so sometimes the first word I match to a thought isn’t in English so there’s an element of translation. I’m also a big crap at verbal reasoning, I imagine that it might be because I am not as practiced at verbal thought as others.

That's really interesting I never thought about smells! I definitely don't think in smells/sensations but every now and then I'll smell something and it provokes a memory and I can remember pain/feelings of things

My friend who I did it with didn't understand what I meant

^^ I wonder if some people aren't aware that they have an inner monologue? Or have something else entirely

The smells/sensations aren’t complete (for lack of a better word) in the sense that they aren’t a full hallucination in the same way that those of us can hear voices but not really.

Mine is a right cow and she never shuts up! Keeps me awake at night. I’ve used Headspace in the past and one thing that sticks with me is that it said ‘You are not your thoughts’ - like they don’t define you. I found that really helpful.

Yup. In my own voice as well.

I have conversations with myself, each of 'us' taking different points of view.

I have proper arguments with 'her' as well.

I've sometimes referred to myself as 'we'.

"We got here OK."

‘You are not your thoughts’

I'll be mentioning that to my inner monologue haha