Do you have an inner monologue?

I have several.

This is why I drink: to get my inner bitch to shut the fuck up.

Seems a bit too deep for DL.

Mine is always telling me how stupid and ugly and worthless i am, it’s quite annoying. . .

"It knows what scares you.It has from the very beginning. Don't give it any help, it knows too much already"

Yes.

Related: most people can create visual images inside their mind with thoughts or stimuli. But some people have Aphantasia, the inability to form mental images in their “mind’s eye” at all.

This amazes me and is kind of depressing to think about.

Although they are far in the minority, it is a large group of the population.

There’s a “scale” to which people can conjure images in their mind. From very vivid, to nothing.

Well, this is odd. The voice in my head is in R4’s head, too. Do in-head voices multi-task? Is R4’s voice particularly loud and I’m just overhearing it? Were R4 and I twins separated at birth and we each got half a voice?

Note: The voice credibly informs me that if I think the above will amuse anyone, I am wrong.

I hate to say this but doesn't everyone. Most of my early decisions& trades on floor of the NYSE were based on what "my multiple personalities" told me were the correct times to buy& sell. My 1st boss Harvey used to ask me "What are your friends telling you now.", "What are they saying about the numbers. & What are the numbers telling you to buy or sell."

He finally believed me 1 day, when his cousin bet me that he could make more than me in a week on the floor, he made 26 million in 1 week, I made 72 million in 30 minutes in 7 trades on a Friday afternoon. He never doubted me after that. I told Harvey, doing complex math in my head tunes out everything else, including all the bad stuff. My inner monologue has always been there.

I am a certified/trained coach and have a certified/trained coach. I talk about this inner dialogue with clients all the time. Part of what (real) coaching is about is developing a new inner dialogue, a voice that believes in you and wants what is best for you, a voice that doesn’t judge you.

Because of how I was raised, it’s taken me a long time to understand how much my inner voice was hurting me because of low self-worth and zero self-esteem. My childhood was traumatic and I carried that into my adulthood, even though I did a ton of therapy, therapy didn’t touch it. Now I am in Somatic Experience Therapy, I have an amazing coach, and I am microdosing ketamine. This trio of tools is helping me heal and grow in ways I never thought possible.

When I coach people, I tell them to remove all judgment, and just notice the inner voice. Don’t judge it, just notice it. Noticing is the first step.

How does anyone NOT have an inner monologue??

How in the fuck do you FUNCTION without one?

How do you read? How do you make decisions? How are you even CONSCIENCE and SENTIENT without one?

To R11...that's what I always said to people. I tell them, it's always been there!

Winona Ryder deciding whether to steal the items or not

Yes, I have one and was shocked to discover that not everyone does. I said something once about "my voice in my head" and the girl I was talking to looked at me like I was the devil. When I explained it to her that it was my thoughts, she said she doesn't have that. Made sense because she's not the brightest bulb in the box.

What's the difference between this and "thinking?" Is this the new thinking about thinking?

That's the point, r15. Not everyone "thinks" the way you and I do. It's weird to think about but some people do not have thoughts in the same way.

Yes,too deep for this toilet-change the subject!

I believe those people are called "stupid."

I don't need science to tell me there's thoughtless people out there. Duh.

My "inner monologue" tells me at times that I would be Happier if I "KILL THE PERSON" I was talking to because they are an idiot. I smile to myself and tell the voice "you're bad"

Yes. And he won’t shut the fuck up once the clock hits about 2 a.m.

No, but I have an inner gyroscope in my inner ear that keeps me from falling over... That's pretty cool

I don't have a constant inner monologue, meaning I can have fully formed and realized chains of thought without ever sounding anything out in my head. But it's not like I don't "hear" in my mind at all. I think thought is really abstract and it's hard for people to describe - how people answer this question may have more to do with how they interpret the word monologue than any real major differences in how they think.

I think you’re right that it’s a matter of describing inner thought patterns more than an actual difference in thinking, R23. Not everyone is going to experience the workings of their mind as an “inner voice”, at least not all the time, but the majority of people, even those with low intellectual function, have the ability to remember things and follow a sequence. (I want to buy an apple > I go to the store > I pick out an apple > unless I am Winona Ryder, I pay for the apple.) This requires some ability to conceive of a thought, break it out into steps, carry out the steps, etc.

I do think it’s possible that some people don’t experience any interrogation of their thoughts and impressions - they may lack the capacity to do so, were never encouraged or educated to do so (religious nuts), etc. Having a particular skill or aptitude (like R9’s ability to do high level mental math in order to make predictions) can allow someone to access higher levels of complexity in internal decision making, and perhaps this feedback can feel like a voice. (Your mind performs a task and provides input.)

How a person describes the workings of their mind is highly subjective, and it seems difficult to ask questions that would draw out meaningful answers across a broad group of study participants. That “hearing voices” is seen as a sign of mental illness (or demon possession) could influence responses.

Mine sounds exactly like Carol Channing.

Mine is a chorus of voices straining to be heard over two or three songs playing simultaneously.

It's not exactly a voice, but more of a feeling. At times, though I ask myself why I've done the shit I've done. The answer always comes back " because you were dumb". I get sick of hearing that shit.

All is hear is circus music.

I SAID THAT ALL I HEAR IS CIRCUS MUSIC.

My inner monologue is voiced by Melissa Beth Miller.

I would like to know who the fuck is “We” when I’m plotting tasks with myself. There is only one person doing all the work and it’s me.

I’d love to be deep enough for a dissociative disorder; “No, Sybil will clean and wipe down the refrigerator; it’s all she’s good for.”

Its very negative.

R24 Yeah, I can't really figure out if this inner monologue thing is about auditory thinking specifically or if it just refers to the ability to introspect in general. I can't imagine how slow you would be if you had to sound out all of your thoughts.

My inner dialogue is one of the few conversations when I feel secure I am not talking to an idiot.