Talking to yourself

[youngblooded]

Do you ever talk to yourself? Most people find it weird but personally, I think it's a good way of preparing you to speak to others. I mean I speak to myself alot but I do it mainly because I feel that I'm the only one who will be able to understand what I say.

[INTJewel]

All the time. That's how I get my best answers and advice.

It's perfectly normal to talk to yourself... even to argue with yourself. The problem is when you INTERRUPT yourself.

~Jewel

[Kotetsu]

Very often. Usually in whispers to clarify what I'm thinking. It has the same effect for me as writing down your ideas is supposed to have.

[Ace1337]

Out loud? I have conversations in my head, but thats with some imaginary people, not with my self. I never talk to my self out loud.

[Paul V]

Quite often, but just for random comments here and there, or when I'm pacing around lost in thought.

[youngblooded]

I hate it when people catch me when I'm talking to myself. Most people think I'm nuts.

[snoogit]

Only in the car when I'm alone. I've had my best speeches there.

[Uytuun]

Quite often.

[Vaden Koch]

I talk to myself all the time. Jokes, arguments, special moments... I share all these with myself. I'm an extreme introvert, and don't usually have contact with the outside world aside from work. Part of my self directed conversations are due to loneliness, part just trying to clarify my thoughts.

[JTG]

I think out loud sometimes. I think it's just so i can hear what the stuff i'm saying sounds like, or when practicing a conversation (like is discussed in the other thread) to hear what my tonal inflections are like when saying something, so i give the right impression when i actually say it to somebody else.

[Blacklustre King]

I often used to get off on tangents by myself...

[drek996]

I think that talking to myself out loud (not really loud though like a soft conversation voice), it really centers or helps me focus (my thoughts can be all over the place), and I tend to do this when people are around too and I see the your F_ucking crazy looks that I get, whatever though I do it for me not them and if I amuse some random people I could careless.

[Pinkie]

I talk to myself in my head most of the time, but I usually talk (whisper) out loud to myself just before I drop off to sleep. It helps me clear my mind before crashing out. I've never understood why people think it's a sign of insanity, though.

[lancelot]

Thought I was the only one

[Brutananadilewski]

I constantly prattle on to myself as if I were talking to someone else in a normal conversation. Usually it happens when I'm trying to figure out some interpersonal details. It's pretty loud chatter too, and I'm never usually aware of it until I notice the crackpot looks from others.

[FLBareBear]

Sure do...it discourages unwelcomed intrusion into my little world. :p

Actually it does help me to sort things out, or test how something sounds before saying it. :undecided:

[BlackHawk]

You bet. Me, myself, and I - best buds!

[Windmill]

I do it regularly.

It so doesn't feel weird to me. I just talk to myself. I prep myself up, or just tell myself things I'm feeling. Sometimes I'll just (if I'm alone, of course) say something random on my mind.

I don't get why others view it as "weird" to be honest.

I got caught the other day. I was doing this thing where you follow a rope through the woods blindfolded and have to go over a bunch of obstacles, and I got rather hurt so was so sick of it. So I said aloud to myself "I am SO over this." The person at the end who stops you happened to be right there. "Well since you're so over this, you can take your blindfold off now." It completely freaked me out and embarrassed me- since people seem to think its weird or something if one talks to oneself -_-

[Wolfie]

Yeah. I do it very often. Tom Waits said it very well. "Me and Myself get along so well! I don't even believe it!"

[Valentyne]

When I am walking somewhere I often do, or when I am browsing for a book in the library...but only when I think there is nobody around, but then there is that person who walks by and gives me a funny look...bloody eavesdroppers.

[Antares]

I don't talk to myself, but I used to as a child. The only time I would ever talk to myself is when I was muttering something under my breath that I otherwise wouldn't want to be acknowledged. I do have mental battles with myself as well, but I never say it out loud.

That's just stupid. Get over it already! What's the big deal?

Do you hear yourself? Have you turned into a hypocrite? It wasn't exactly cake walk for you to get over such injustice either!

Giving advice is one thing, because you gave the right one and you can give nothing better. Being able to do it is another.

Now you're just being a hypocrite all over again.

[quest ion]

I speak to myself when I'm alone, like when I'm looking out of the window.
And most of the time I surprise myself about the thoughts I can come up with.

I think better when I talk to myself, as in, I'm not so 'crappy' as compared to when I'm with my usual friends.

[guardian789]

All of the time. Most often in my head, with my imaginary people but I also talk aloud to myself as well. People already think I'm a little crazy so it doesn’t bother me any more.

[RoyalINTJ]

Yeah well i am talking to myself in my head... sometimes some comments about something happening come out loud...
But when i am thinking about its like conversation... and it works very well for me...

[punkyplatypus]

Constantly. A thought pops into my mind and I start questioning it or I have a discussion in my head to prepare myself for a discussion I'm going to have with someone else. It doesn't really ever stop and that makes it hard for me to relax. By the way, that's all in my mind. I rarely talk to myself out loud. When I do talk to myself out loud, it's to focus on what I'm doing by drowning out the voices in my head.
That sounds a little crazy. :thinking:

[catd]

Uh yeah, all the time. I am doing it right now as I type this ;D

[rwyatt365]

...as I say to my wife, "I have to talk to myself because I'm the only one that listens to me!"

[vaguely dissatisfied]

You think that's weird.............I talk FOR my animals. I've even had conversations with them where I am supplying both ends of the conversation. I do it mostly in front of people (it's entertaining in a wierd...shake-your-head kinda way), but I've done it alone too. It always makes me chuckle. Strange???????

[Double Victory]

I'm glad someone made this thread! I talk to myself to the point that I thought for a while that I might actually have something wrong with me. Since I'm so socially awkward I mess up things all the time, and then I end up thinking about them and I'll start saying things out loud without realizing it.... like, "I can't believe.... *trails off*" "I'm so stupid!" "Oh no...." "No, I'm not going to.... *trails off*" I say those things all of the time.

That's my weird talking to myself. My.... normal.... talking to myself is more of where I'll be watching tv or something, and I'll be like, "Ahaa, that's so funny!" Or "He is so cute!"

I also tend to talk to inanimate objects around me quite frequently. I'll knock into one of them and I'll be like, "Sorry! Are you okay?" Or I'll be cleaning up my room, and I'll pick up a pile of dirty clothes, and I'll be like, "Okay guys! Time to for you to go take a bath!"

I'm not even going to get into my talking to plants and animals....

I probably talk to myself more often than I talk to other people.

[Dreamer]

I do consciously in my mind. I also whisper to myself when I talk to myself mentally but on an unconscious level(I know it primarly because other people point it out to me).

[Wapiti]

I argue with myself outloud sometimes without realizing it. "Just do it and shutup" is a common phrase that gets blurted out from time to time. It sure draws some strange looks from others.

[mkay]

Only rarely, to entertain myself, like when I was visiting Texas and taking a long drive. I would read signs in my "Texas" accent, make cracks and say things like "daggumit."

[EsoteriEccentri]

In my head, but then doesn't everyone?
I don't do it out loud though.

[Terian]

I only speak to myself when I'm stressed. "For the love of God!" "F#@!."

Otherwise, I am quite content to listen to the dozens of voices in my head, constantly free-associating one idea to another. I've actually had a moment where I realized I was literally thinking of two things at once (not alternating- simultaneously). I haven't been able to replicate it though.

[vaguely dissatisfied]

I argue with myself outloud sometimes without realizing it. "Just do it and shutup" is a common phrase that gets blurted out from time to time. It sure draws some strange looks from others.
Sounds like you give yourself some crappy advice.

[notoppings]

I hate it when people catch me when I'm talking to myself. Most people think I'm nuts.

No need to worry anymore thanks to Blue tooth just put an ear piece in all the time so if you get caught just point to you're ear and carry on.

I am like most of the posters here I feel comfortable talking to my self and see nothing wrong with it. I can't tell you how many times that I have had to give myself an encouraging remark and have been the better for it, I don't think it would be the same just talking inside my head.

My favorite example of a person who talks with himself is from the movie Gallipoli at the end where young Archie is facing certain death. The talk he gives himself about how fast can you run was just to moving if you see this speech I don't think you could ever be worried about be caught again.

[Sean Hy]

all the time

[fonmaneal]

I create models of people in my mind, in an attempt to figure out how to deal with them.
My biggest problem is that I am still the engine that drives these models.
But all in all, it dose seem to help.
And at least I allways have someone worth talking with.:)

[foroneonly]

All the time. It helps me to process ideas especially if I'm studying.

[cRyPT]

I do it all the time whilst introspecting when I am alone. Since I have absolutely no social skills whatsoever I often speak my own points or arguments aloud just to hear how they would sound like to others.

I hate it when people catch me when I'm talking to myself. Most people think I'm nuts.
Ugh. I've been caught talking aloud to myself by random pedestrians walking around corners or doing activities in their driveways.

[Wapiti]

Sounds like you give yourself some crappy advice.

But it sounded so good at the time.

[sriv]

I almost never talk to myself, but sometimes I marquee sentences in my mind. :blank:

[Thucydides]

I talk to myself all the time. What's interesting is that I often imagine that I'm having a conversation with someone I know, usually a very close friend.

[Karamazov]

I pace around feverishly at home, whenever I listen to music or If I'm reading a book that really stirred up a storm with the orchestra in my head. (Some have voices constantly talking amongst one another about various ideas and what not, but for me it's always been musicians trying to get a certain lucidity in their performance, performing different tunes, notes, etc.)

As a result I've always been caught, more than once, humming to myself. No songs, just humming in different tones.

[Genuine]

I thought I was crazy for doing that. Glad I'm not alone.

I usually have interesting debates with myself. There's this immature me, and a more reserved, mature me. We are a good match. It's like INTJ and ESFP.

My immature side tries to convince me to live a little, and not to take things way too seriously. If I did, I wouldn't be living right now.
Of course, in public I try to avoid accidentally talking out loud (I tend to do that sometimes :embarassed:)

[jimmywallaby]

I catch myself doing it when I'm trying to figure something out that has gone wrong, usually at work which is quite often (gotta love the IT field). Like a couple of others posted, it helps me figure stuff out sometimes or keeps me from getting but so frustrated with something.

[hongi]

All the time . . . have not found a better conversationalist yet!

[Freak]

Every moment !

[vaguely dissatisfied]

But it sounded so good at the time.
Perhaps there's a little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other. What if, all this time you thought you were listening to the little angel when it was really the little devil?

[Wapiti]

Perhaps there's a little devil on one shoulder and a little angel on the other. What if, all this time you thought you were listening to the little angel when it was really the little devil?

Other people can see them too, I thought they were invisible. Maybe I don't look so stupid talking to them afterall. You're right, that tricky little devil, he's got some splainin' to do.

[Snowdragon]

I do it all the time (when no one's around, of course hehe).

[PRBori]

I talk to myself all the time, mainly when there is nobody around. I also like to read out loud when I'm working on specific documents.

When I'm mad about something or somebody I talk to myself... basically curse out or speak my mind out loud as if I was talking to the person I was mad with or talking to a friend (which as an INTJ are hardly any outside of work).... but then when the person is in front of me I tend to have hardly any words...

Is ODD, as guess we as INTJs are ODD in this department..

[Beery Swine]

Non-stop. Even when someone's around and you can't do it aloud you still have an internal dialogue, or I do, anyway. But I'm probably at least a little schizoid, so idk if that makes a difference. I'm usually the best conversation I can find anyway. I agree with everything I say, if I ever interupt myself I know there's a good reason for it, I never get into fights with myself, and we can always work out the things we don't understand......wait, did I just type "we?" :embarassed: Avert your eyes from my Freudian slip, I am but one personality, I assure you. :undecided:

[Elfrun]

*embraces thread* I love that there are so many people like me around here, it makes my weirdness normal!

[Hdier]

I talk to myself a lot at school; I don't really have anyone else to talk to. Usually I'm debating (everybody I know dislikes the fact that I try to debate everything), and sometimes I've gotten really mad at myself for being unreasonable...it gets really odd when both 'sides' get mad at the other.

Other than that, I have found talking to myself (normally thinking in my head at playing my own devil's advocate) to be very useful, however unless I think about it I generally end up saying everything out loud; some kids in my school think that I have MPD because they can't comprehend somebody doing this. Pretty much all of them are very immature-in many different ways.

[Zerpantine]

Not outloud. I live with my parents...
But I always have some kind of internal dialogues going on. Atleast when my mind isnt occupied with other things.

[Antares]

I don't have a devil vs. angel issue.

I have a rational vs. irrational issue. I hate the other side. It threatens to consume me sometimes.

[Mafiaangel180]

Wow...so I'm not crazy. (Well maybe I am. But at least I'm in good company hehe.)

If I'm alone...chances are I'm talking to myself. Hehe. I'm pretty introspective, and I need to just get it all out there and make sense of crap.


Oh man...reminds me of a story...this one time I was riding in the car with my sister, she was yappin' on about something. But I had something pissing me off, so I had this lil conversation going on in my head. Then suddenly I just bursted out answering myself. LMAO!! She stopped and just gave me this "WTF" look. Talk about embarassing. However, I can sometimes talk my way out of things so I managed to recover nicely.

[Erika Redmark]

Never out loud, but I often have a dialogue going on in my head in which I'm explaining something (usually to a generic listener, but sometimes someone specific) and sometimes they ask me questions. It's usually introspective stuff about myself, or about stuff I've done. But I also sometimes write papers in my head–when I'm just walking around normally, I'll be thinking about the material and often I'll think of a good way to word something, and I'll end up with paragraphs that I type up when I get home.

[Rowan]

I’m always having imaginary dialogues in my head as I pace up and down a room expressively waving my arms about and occasionally muttering something – it helps me appraise ideas. I don’t often speak aloud, but after writing something I habitually read it out loud (even this message), which allows me to get a sense of how a piece of text sounds. As sounds are particularly vital to verse I always audibly read any poetry I write. I think this habit gives some people the impression that I talk to myself. I also, unfortunately, frequently find that during a prolonged discussion on one of my many favourite subjects (aesthetics, philosophy, politics, literature, etc.) I may as well be talking to myself, which annoys me less than it used to.

[Hdier]

I also tend to talk to inanimate objects around me quite frequently. I'll knock into one of them and I'll be like, "Sorry! Are you okay?" Or I'll be cleaning up my room, and I'll pick up a pile of dirty clothes, and I'll be like, "Okay guys! Time to for you to go take a bath!"

I'm not even going to get into my talking to plants and animals....

I do this to, but I would consider this to be more talking to plants, animals and inanimate objects (IA) then anything else.

[jadefalcon]

Nearly every single day I catch myself talking to myself, and I did it in high school. People would laugh at me and say "who are you talking to?" and usually I would answer myself. I learned to ignore these people because they fail to understand the person they are talking to- so in my eyes they fail at life.

I don't know why I talk to myself- I just do and I consider it normal. When I see other people doing it, I think it is normal. In my mind, there is absoloutely nothing wrong with talking to yourself- I don't see it as unusual or strange. If someone was acting weird or making goofy sounds to themselves, then I would scratch my head.

[The Real Eagle]

All the time. I sometimes reenact situations out loud to prepare myself mentally should the same situation ever arise.

But always on my own.

[Motor Jax]

oh yeah, i talk to myself... alot

usually with my head down, lost in thought or fantasy, and just peering up every now and then to see where i'm going

i've actually wondered into traffic this way (it was freaky)

[lordrrr]

I don't talk to myself out loud that much, though sometimes I will. I don't really need to- the voices all come to me in my head. I manage conversations that way.

[ssrprotege]

Mostly, in spite of myself, to the point some people wonder to whom I am talking. Hmm, I was not the only one. Perhaps I am too engaged in my own world so much that I don't even recognize it...

[Arcani]

Wow, I'm actually kinda surprised by the number of people who do this. I wonder if it's an Introvert thing...

Anyway, yeah I do it too. Mostly I talk to myself to help me focus. I find that I often have a lot of voices going in different directions in my head, and when I want/need to stay on one particular topic I talk it out.

I also like to talk to myself when I'm working on a project just to hear something. I like getting all my senses involved when I do something so if I don't have any music handy I use my voice as a substitute. This is what usually gets me the weird looks because what I'm mumbling often as not has nothing to do with what I'm working on.

[murkrow]

I don't really...
sometimes I'll laugh to myself or say something random that I'm thinking like

thought thought thought thought *mumble a word or two* thought thought thought

I sing to myself though.

[zoophilia]

I used to. I think people mostly talk to themselves when they have no one else to talk to who will understand them (for example the homeless). I try not to anymore however, because this led to a near schizophrenic break down and panic attacks.

[HankB]

If I am alone and in deep thought sometimes I will talk to myself at loud. Usually only one half of a conversation that I am contemplating. I believe this is very common and also normal. It is a good method for me to "test" out results of conversations before I use them in the real world.

[Metaphor]

I don't usually talk out loud to myself. However, I do sing to myself when others aren't around.
Rather than talking to myself, I write my thoughts down on a white board thats in my room. It really has come in handy, actually.

[HankB]

Jeez, a white board. Man, I would never by that organized. Plus what if someone walked in the room and saw all the crazy thought on the board? I like to wait until the thoughts are baked before I unveil them.

[Monte314]

Yes, I do speak to myself out loud. Of course, God is listening, too, so I always have an audience.

[Minerva]

I talk to myself in my head and out loud when I am sure that I am alone. I know that God is always there with me, but I sometimes pretend someone else is there with me . Someone I have not met yet. Someone who will one day walk into my life and stop me from being lonely. I guess, I am looking for someone who I can truly love, and who loves me back.

[phantasma]

I always have an internal dialogue in my head, but I don't really feel the need to say it out loud most of the time.

[hauteur]

I talk out loud all the time. As with a lot of you, it helps me to focus. I can end up all over the place if I don't. It's especially true if I'm thinking through something that is sequential.

[Starfrost]

Only when I'm reading something and I can't concentrate -like someone is talking or the T.V's on.

[Mariko]

I do it all the time! I don't even know I'd doing it out loud at times. As if it's not in my control. Heh:scared:

[Antares]

Oh, I sing to myself too... And conduct... And play musical instruments. All in my head. Now I'm currently playing 'Worst Pies in London' to myself. It might reflect my mood or something, since it popped out of nowhere.

[Mercury]

I talk to myself all the time, both in my head and aloud :)

[emanon]

I have never been able to keep my thoughts in my head. They just sort of overflow. That only goes for thinking of course, not for communicating with other people. Makes for torture trying to hold it in when other people are around. When I get caught I either pass it off as a hazard of living alone or say, "I was talking to anybody who was listening. Were you listening?" They don't seem to know how to respond to that.

[LionsPride]

I occasionally talk out loud to myself, but the inner dialog almost never stops. The inner dialog isn't usually me talking to me though. I usually picture one of the voices to be a friend of mine and I develop concepts and perspectives by explaining to the imaginary version of my friend. My friends would be stunned by the number of conversations I have had with them when they weren't around.
To the outside world, this sort of activity has made me a great teacher and my ability to break things down into simple concepts is one of my strengths. Of course I don't tell anyone I'm good at it because I talk to myself...

[quest ion]

I talk to myself sometimes and go, "Damn. Why didn't I put that in the essay?"

[kubrickfan]

I find that talking to myself is the only way for me to get through things. Many times at home i will emulate a spartan speech just to motivate myself.

[ssrprotege]

I theorize that talking to oneself, if not exclusively, particularly happens to INTJ's. Ni is very subconscious; it is quite difficult to translate how it magically worked out. I think it's natural for ones with strong Ni to talk to oneself. Think of yourself as another imaginary friend in your psyche. The imaginary friend will understand everything you think, everything you say. Simply you find it enjoyable. It's some kind of "defense mechanism," I theorize, as people around you will accuse you of being such a weirdo.

I also heard that ones with dominant Ti has also hard time translating their thought processes. Any insight on this?

[Yay]

I talk to myself to.

I owe the person who said "if you talk to yourself your crazy" a punch in the face.:angry:

Basically what happens is yeah I figure things out through inner conversation. When I get intensely into the inner conversation I tend to mutter to myself. Most of the time I don't even notice. I guess not everyone gets that absorbed in their inner conversation.

[azelismia]

yup, I talk to myself regularly. the girl I sit next to at work must think me mad. I work with numbers a lot so I'll repeat sequences over and over while I go back and forth between documents so I don't forget them. :) When I lived in Ak and had a particularly bad case of cabin fever I talked to the cats too. It frightened me when I was actually waiting for Clyde to answer me back...

[Arcani]

In addition to talking to myself, I also have a tendency to read aloud. I mean when you come across an amazing dialog in a book you're reading you just have to talk out one of the roles, right? ... Right?!? :anxious:

[ssrprotege]

Mhm, reading a book aloud is like talking to yourself, in some sense. I frequently do that, too.

[Max]

I talk to myself....quite a bit, but only when I'm sure that no one else watching.

[bricklayer]

I talk to myself all the time (in my head). It's usually the only way I can have a useful conversation. Sometimes I even argue with myself...

[Jughead]

I talk to myself if I'm mad at myself or remember something embarrassing that I did. I usually mutter something like "you're such an idiot, Jughead." It happens fairly regularly. Other people have not caught me at it very often.

Sometimes I'll be arguing with myself, and say things like "Yeah, right!" out loud.

I don't sing to myself.

Also huzzah for Doctor Who avatars.

[Antisocialite]

Yes but I'm an ENTP. It's normal.

[Synamon]

Yes but I'm an ENTP. It's normal.

Hilarious.

I mostly talk to myself in my head, but if I'm alone in the car or wandering aimlessly I'll sometimes say these conversations out loud.

[le Duc]

No, I talk to other people in the room. You just can't see them.

[iMiki]

Yes, whenever I have eureka moments. But usually I talk inside my head.

No, I talk to other people in the room. You just can't see them.

Lol.

[Erika Redmark]

Not out loud, but I often have interior monologues (sometimes even dialogues) that might count as "talking to myself".

[Monte314]

My general rule is to talk to the most easily accessible person in the room. Since I am where I am, that would be me.

[Vastfnup]

Yes, I talk to myself. More specificly, I talk AT myself.

[jikin]

In my head I talk to myslef about 90% of the day. Out loud I talk to myslef only about 20% of the day. It is much more common when I'm working. My boss's office is next to mine and she occasionally yells over to see if talking to her or myself. I don't even realize it half of the time.

[Kisai]

I talk to myself when juggling a lot of facts at once, or solving particularly fiendish problems with time constraints. It helps me focus.

[eastman]

I've always talked to myself. I'm starting to get it under controlled, but I don't think I can completely get rid of it.

[welshlass]

In my head most of the time & a lot of that is in conversation with my Little Head Friends. When im doing something where i have to really concentrate (and being absent-minded it's necessary) then i do talk out loud because im giving myself instructions & reminders. Is this an INT thing, then? My gran used to do it a helluva lot & im pretty sure she was at least an I but even though my mother does it im not at all certain of her type.

[Seppuku Savant]

I do, but it's all internal dialogue.

[Monte314]

There are some theorists who assert that though is entirely liguistic, a dialogue with oneself.

Adherents would say that any system (biological or otherwise) not capable of semantic abstraction (language in its most general form) is not capable of thought.

[Deraj0100]

Only when alone in the car or around people whose opinion doesn't matter to me in the least. They are usually pretty deliberate and extremely abstract. I was walking around today in sandals when it started to rain. An hour or two later I started to form blisters : for some reason i yelled "My feet are on FIRE with Rock 'n Roll!"

Then Blue Oyster Cult emerged from the bushes to jam a bit before leaving.

[ThaiGreenTea]

I don't really talk to myself, as in the "Hello Me!" type of thing, but yeah I have a stream of comments and such running through my mind... If I'm not mistaken, I believe it is called thinking!

More seriously, however, I do not vocalize this "voice inside my head", whatever you want to call it. When I do, it's forced and not natural at all.

Can start the flow or stop it on command.

[ClimberGal]

I talk to myself if I'm mad at myself or remember something embarrassing that I did. I usually mutter something like "you're such an idiot, Jughead." It happens fairly regularly. Other people have not caught me at it very often.

Sometimes I'll be arguing with myself, and say things like "Yeah, right!" out loud.

I don't sing to myself.

Also huzzah for Doctor Who avatars.
I do this too and it drives me crazy that I beat myself up for actions or words that probably no one else gave a second thought to play over in my head. I've recently started to stop myself when I find that this is almost subconciously happening - usually I catch myself when I'm outloud saying what an idiot I am.

I then analyze whatever the situation was and try to truly assess what happened. Next I acknowledge my actions, accept them, decide to raise my own awareness for future situations, and then I really forgive myself for whatever it is that I felt was wrong - no matter how minor it might be.

I have found this to be really helpful. We INTJ's have very high expectations for ourselves and others, but we're all just human and have to respect we are not perfect - and it's really okay.

[kubrickfan]

Of course I talk to myself. Nobody else seems to hear me otherwise.

Well that is a bit of an exageration. Seriously, though its a way of me talking myself through some problem. I bounce ideas off myself.

hmm... how does that work? :thinking:

[Jughead]

I do this too and it drives me crazy that I beat myself up for actions or words that probably no one else gave a second thought to play over in my head. I've recently started to stop myself when I find that this is almost subconciously happening - usually I catch myself when I'm outloud saying what an idiot I am.

I then analyze whatever the situation was and try to truly assess what happened. Next I acknowledge my actions, accept them, decide to raise my own awareness for future situations, and then I really forgive myself for whatever it is that I felt was wrong - no matter how minor it might be.

I have found this to be really helpful. We INTJ's have very high expectations for ourselves and others, but we're all just human and have to respect we are not perfect - and it's really okay.

I always catch myself when I'm saying it out loud, and I haven't made any attempts to stop it. I don't usually need to analyse my actions - I'll have already done that, and that's what made me realise what an idiot I was, and exclaim it, so that's my release, not my starting point. But then, I'm an INTP (sorry), and Ti dominated :).

[True Rune]

Out loud, sometimes. Usually a "Well done, fool." and a knock on my head for doing something foolish.

[jikin]

In my head most of the time & a lot of that is in conversation with my Little Head Friends.

"Little Head Friends"? LOL! I think I smell a new idea for children's programing!

[ScurvyRose]

Like a few others, I find I talk outloud to myself when I am working on a project or assembling something that just isn't going together easily.

Other times it is to call myself a dumb-ass for not seeing something sooner.

I find that I actually sing or humm when I am cleaning. Always rock out singing in the car when a great song comes on!

[Deepdelver]

I usually talk to myself when I am focused on a problem.

[mind_wander]

In my head most of the time & a lot of that is in conversation with my Little Head Friends. When im doing something where i have to really concentrate (and being absent-minded it's necessary) then i do talk out loud because im giving myself instructions & reminders. Is this an INT thing, then? My gran used to do it a helluva lot & im pretty sure she was at least an I but even though my mother does it im not at all certain of her type.
I know what an Intp talking out loud to itself. Actually, everyone is so lost at the end of the day. Just felt like you just went into a horrorible brain surgery experience.

[ScurvyRose]

I was told once "You know you are insane the moment you loose an argument with yourself."

[Jenny Penny]

I don't have ongoing conversations with myself. Usually I'll say something (not really to myself, just kind of into the air) if I'm frustrated while in the car.

I've been told I hum when in contact with [people or situations who make me uncomfortable]. I had no idea I was doing it until someone brought it to my attention. How strange!

My dad is an INTJ and he talks to himself almost constantly. I think it is mostly him imagining what he SHOULD have said. I can't usually make out what he actually saying to himself, but it seems to be negative. He usually just moves his lips. It is actually pretty embarrassing when he does that in public and very maddening when he does it while I am trying to have a conversation with him.

[athiah333]

Always

[Scorne]

I used to talk to an imaginary Sephiroth whilst walking around when I was 9-12. I used to imagine him doing crazy stuff to people, I especially did it while I was in the car being driven somewhere, I'd imagine him jumping on top of cars and destroying them like in the Matrix (The agents jumping on the cars). He was like a twin of myself. Oh old times. :<

Yes, I am insane. But to me it's cool, kept me busy and away from imagination destroying machines (E.g T.V).

[zero31337]

i can't help but talk to myself...my focus rises when i speak aloud...although it must be weird to everyone around me when i'm taking a test....

[rewhu]

I mostly talk to myself in my head, but if I'm alone in the car or wandering aimlessly I'll sometimes say these conversations out loud.


Same for me.

Every once in a while I'll stop and think, "Did I just say that out loud?"

[hypervel]

I are only children, and so is our daughters.

[hongi]

Do you talk to yourself?

"Have not found a better conversationalist yet! ;)

[Caucus]

Yes. I go over my plans for the next day, ideas that are running through my mind, routines and information I've recently learnt. Sometimes I will have a conversation with myself from different perspectives. I figure at least it must improve my communication skills. I will usually never talk to myself if I know others are listening.

[Provoker]

Do you ever talk to yourself?

I don't talk to myself out loud, but I do have some very heated debates inside my head. In fact, reason usually tends to embarass emotion with it's wit and precision but every so often emotion explodes on reason forces it on its knees like the servent that it is.

[absurd]

I talk to myself in my head most of the time, but I usually talk (whisper) out loud to myself just before I drop off to sleep. It helps me clear my mind before crashing out. I've never understood why people think it's a sign of insanity, though.

I always do this. Even sometimes when I'm sleeping with other people ;)

[comfortofeyes]

Yes, I talk to myself. I find it beneficial for me when studying, but hate it when speaking about personal things and experiences.

[Ranie9]

I go through periods when I do a lot of (aloud) talking to myself - seems like it's when I'm stressed and/or tired - it helps me sort through the chaos in my head. But, I also go through longer periods of time when I don't do it. Whatever. If people think it's weird, I don't care.

[Reon]

Do you ever talk to yourself? Most people find it weird but personally, I think it's a good way of preparing you to speak to others. I mean I speak to myself alot but I do it mainly because I feel that I'm the only one who will be able to understand what I say.

Yeah, I think out loud when I'm working on a problem or thinking about something I need to do. I also say things I want to do out loud/write them down, just thinking about them doesn't make it valid but somehow writing it down or saying it means that I'm seriously gonna do it.

[Shaz]

my ESFJ mum does it all the time after she's read the papers. When she gets upset by thing she's read. She talks and talks and gets angry. It's quite funny until a certain point when I just wish she would stop. It's like she has to much to contain, she has to pour it out.


It's interesting that you're wondering whether it's an INT thing. There's an old INTx guy in my school (he's a retired physics teacher, apparently he used to talk to himself while teaching too!) who always talks to himself when something he's doing isn't working out. "damn it Harry, it's just an excercise!". He mumbles to himself a lot but he can get quite loud. I love being next to him, it's just hilarious.

[Aaron Burr]

Ya I talk to myself. Mostly it amounts to muttering under my breath. The only issue is I talk with my hands most of the time. So here I go walking down the street hands flapping all over the place, like a giant chicken. I can imagine it is a funny sight.

[Angellus]

Oh of course, I talk to myself all the time. Usually cause I'm deep in thought. It'll just be a few phrases or sentences, not full out conversations most of the time. And I usually talk very VERY fast, so it might sound like gibberish to others. Also I happen to burst into song at random too. And then I sometimes utter the weird sounds that I have a tendency to mimic... Like the sound of cat, or that scream from the little girl in Memoirs of a Geisha. Just... random. I think I do the sounds, to kind of... make sure I'm really here... Weird and odd to others I guess, isn't it? ._.