do you "speak" inside of your head?

[Nijntje]

Yup, i do. On a couple of different levels. It can be talking to myself i.e. when i feel a panic attack coming on or I'm apprehensive about something I'll talk myself through it in my head to calm down/get a hold on the situation.

Sometimes i also rehearse conversations i think are going to be particularly difficult to have, to make sure i know what i really want to say before i say it.

 

[Tabula]

Yes, there's always a running commentary goin' on in there. The bitch don't know how to shut up.

I wonder about the experience of those who don't do this. Some say visually--it's interesting, but I have absolutely no concept of it. How do you think about, say, an idea, visually? Or is it only reserved for things that were visual in the first place? Fascinating.
Some others say emotionally. This really confuses me. How does one think "formlessly" for lack of a better word, as that's probably not the case for those who use this method. I just can't imagine thinking without something "precise" to think within-- be it language in my case, or images in others'. Emotions seem so...ambiguous. This is more a reflection of my lack of understanding than the reality for those who think this way, probably. It's interesting to say the least.

 

[rav3n]

Verbalisations are the surface layer, especially when reading or formulating written responses. The weird shit happens underneath this layer.

 

[Within]

Only when I'm about to write, read or say something.

 

[cascadeco]

When I'm actively trying to figure something out, or just thinking about a certain concept, yes I do - definitely think in words. Quite a lot. It's hard to turn it off sometimes.

But other times it's much more....floaty. Random impressions, snippets of thoughts/ideas, feelings themselves (not thinking about/analyzing the feelings, just the feelings alone), all swirling around, more than one thing going on at once. When I haven't quite grabbed onto anything in particular yet to really delve into.

 

[Tabula]

The weird shit happens underneath this layer.

May I ask to what degree you're aware of this process, or how best you could describe its "form?" As in, if you know that it's 'weird shit,' surely you'd have to understand it to a certain extent in order to make a judgement about it. How do arrive at an understanding without using words to think about it and put it in terms of "weird" at all?

 

[rav3n]

May I ask to what degree you're aware of this process, or how best you could describe its "form?" As in, if you know that it's 'weird shit,' surely you'd have to understand it to a certain extent in order to make a judgement about it. How do arrive at an understanding without using words to think about it and put it in terms of "weird" at all?

Understood concepts have a feel to them, a sense of completeness. There are also fleeting images, some that feel like questions, others facts or data points of reference.

 

[Zukram.]

I always thought everybody does this...

As far as it goes for me, yeah, I do "speak" inside of my head, but these are usually things that I can't or won't actually say to/about other people. Among most people who know me I have a rep for "meanness", so in order to come off as less of an ass I usually will say something internally first, then change it so it sounds nicer, or at least less offensive.

Then there's the other thing, the annoying little "emo", for lack of a better word, internal voice that won't shut up, always whining about something that's happened to me, or that I did to somebody else. This is probably a product of me being an (emotionally) less-than-well-adjusted teen, though.

So, in general, id say that my "internal voice" is a largely emotional one that keeps my external (and more logical) words and actions in check.

 

[ayoitsStepho]

Mhm, I often speak inside my head. It's like I'm talking out loud except it's all going on in my mind.

I often find my mouth twitching because my tongue and mouth still try to form the words but all the "audible" stuff is in my head.

 

[Sinmara]

I started to say that I talk in my head, but then I realized that I only do this when I'm reading or composing what I'm going to say. The way I think involves talking in my head, but it's more than that. I think in movies. I don't think "I want a sandwich," I see myself in my head eating or making it. I can also hear what it will sound like when I chew, what it would feel like in my mouth and I will literally start to taste it on my tongue after a while. I get all 5 senses going on -- when I was little, my daydreams were so vivid that I would be startled when I'd get budged back into reality. When I'm projecting ahead to anticipate what a person will do, a dozen little movies will flicker by, all completely played out at once. Yes, I can "see" more than one thought at a time. My thought process isn't bogged down by this in the slightest -- I tend to think at light speed, like everything is on super-fast-forward. I like the way I think, when I'm preparing for something I feel as though I've done it already.

 

[Walking Tourist]

I only "speak" in my head when I'm reading a book. Then I have a narrator stuck in there, with different actors playing the roles of the people in the story. The narrator also reads poetry to me. Its voice sounds more melodious than mine.
A lot of the time, the "voice" in my head is singing to me. Sometimes, it is joined by an alto, tenor, and bass (I'm a soprano so the voice in my head is also a soprano), and I hear (in my head) four-part harmony. Usually, it's unaccompanied, but sometimes, I hear instruments. Then I get the urge to sing out loud.
Occasionally, I will perceive instrumental music in my head.
I am an auditory thinker but not really a verbal thinker.

 

[Chaotic Harmony]

I carry on full conversations with myself in my head..... If I said stuff out loud people would think I was nuts...

Mostly it's my way of going over all possible scenarios and outcomes and trying to prepare for whatever could be thrown my way...

 

[ZPowers]

I do sometimes, especially when concentrating. Also, when alone, I talk out loud to myself a lot. Weird as this may be, sometimes when I'm alone I even half-heartedly act out/vocalize day dreams.

 

[ReflecTcelfeR]

Nothing new here. I talk to myself, inside my mind, and outside if my mind is 'too crowded'. It helps me organize and focus on specific things. I am easily distracted by outside noises when I do this.

 

[Aleksei]

Indeed I do.

 

[angelhair45]

I started to say that I talk in my head, but then I realized that I only do this when I'm reading or composing what I'm going to say. The way I think involves talking in my head, but it's more than that. I think in movies. I don't think "I want a sandwich," I see myself in my head eating or making it. I can also hear what it will sound like when I chew, what it would feel like in my mouth and I will literally start to taste it on my tongue after a while. I get all 5 senses going on -- when I was little, my daydreams were so vivid that I would be startled when I'd get budged back into reality. When I'm projecting ahead to anticipate what a person will do, a dozen little movies will flicker by, all completely played out at once. Yes, I can "see" more than one thought at a time. My thought process isn't bogged down by this in the slightest -- I tend to think at light speed, like everything is on super-fast-forward. I like the way I think, when I'm preparing for something I feel as though I've done it already.

I relate to this too. I usually am seeing stuff like a movie and thinking words all at the same time. I guess my mind has a lot going on it.

 

[OrangeAppled]

Yes often but if you would translate head to real world 1:1 it would be more a huge mixture of words, pictures, sounds and numbers in my head for me.

That's why I have difficulties speaking in general and I am always mixing words and things up. Only intense focus on the words I want to say, meaning formulating the sentences in your head in advance, or taking time before you answer does help me to speak clearly.

Nevertheless conveying to others what I think about certain things, never really works 100%. I like to let my work speak for itself.

Same here...I definitely have an inner dialogue, but my thoughts are not fully composed of these words. I also have images and sounds and vague atmospheric qualities going on in my thoughts. Snippets of verbal thought, full phrases, and entire paragraphs can accompany these. If I don't have a time delay to organize these into something comprehensible to others, then my speech can end up a bit jumbled.

I babble in my head, and there are lots of abstract shapes and textures floating around there. I speak in my head when I'm actually trying to focus my thoughts.

I also begin to formulate structure to the inner dialogue when I am focusing my thoughts in preparation to communicate them to someone else.

I also will engage in a sort of devil's advocate thought process where I explain my feelings to myself through a verbal argument - it's a way to begin to convert those pre-verbal feeling images into something that can be compared to an external reality. I just do this for myself - to understand the world around me and that sort of thing. It also prepares me for any future scenario when I may need to explain these feeling-thoughts to someone else.
I usually have some imaginary scenario going on where I need to explain these feeling-thoughts; so I am "talking" to some imaginary character in this scenario or maybe someone I really know is represented in my mind.

 

[ubee0173]

i ALWAYS have a little conversation/narration going inside my head- but it is accompanied by 'pictures' or whatever, too. like a little movie... ive never really thought about what other people 'see' or 'do' inside their heads. very interesting...

 

[nolla]

I do that too! Am I going crazy!? Reminds me, when I was a little kid I kept wondering if I am ok since I saw two pictures instead of one when I took anything really close to my eyes. I asked the grown-ups and they never explained it...

 

[Patches]

I speak to myself out loud sometimes. I don't really 'speak' inside my head though.

Actually, I get made fun of in the lab for the way I speak to myself when I'm concentrating.
"Alright Patches, 2mL of H2SO4 in the test tube....."