Why is talking to yourself "not normal?"

Post Reply New Topic

I talk to myself when alone in the house, which is why I hate it when my brother takes a week off work. I don't talk to myself out loud when I'm in public, though. I may do in my head, but not out loud. Sometimes I do make facial expressions as I talk to myself in my head when I'm out, and I've got to make myself stop doing that too because it seems to attract unwanted attention. This doesn't happen all the time, just when I am extra stressed or excited about something.

People do make a big fuss about people talking to themselves. Everybody talks to themselves sometimes, but I suppose it depends on the context and everything. Seeing somebody talk out loud in the street is such a problem and goes against the conforming rules. Often if I'm walking along talking to somebody, and suddenly I'm in a position where I could look like I'm on my own (like if the pavement goes narrow in a busy street with lots of people passing so we got to go single file), but I'm still talking to them or answering to what they were saying, I immediately get funny looks and I almost feel like yelling, ''yes, I am not talking to myself, I'm talking to my friend here, just mind your own business!''

I remember a few months ago I was walking along with a friend, and we ran into a big group of youngsters (I don't know if they were all together or if it just happened to be a load of young people passing at once), and I was looking the other way at the shops and I said, ''oh, look, we should go in there....'' and then I looked round to see my friend had gone past the crowd the other side, and nearly every youngster in the crowd all looked at me as if I was mad and I heard them giggle, and I was like, ''oh, great, now I look mad!'' I told my friend when the big crowd passed by, and told her, and we both laughed, but I still felt worried underneath (social phobia kicking in). Hopefully those people won't recognise me any more, but it was a local town.

I think a lot of people repeat the meme that "talking to yourself means you are insane" without ever stopping to consider that they do it themselves all the time. I have heard most people I know talking to themselves at one time or another and most people I know are NT and free of mental illness. Admittedly I do it a lot more than most people I know; I find it useful to organise my thoughts and often verbally run through a mental checklist e.g. when I am leaving the house.

I always said that "the only people that talk to themselves are crazy people and soap opera characters". Over the years I learned to ignore it and that it isn't that weird or uncommon.

I don't talk out loud to myself, not even if I'm alone.

Not all schizophrenics hear voices, but hearing voices usually is a symptom of schizophrenia.

If you 'hear people calling" you then- well- for your sake I hope you're right that you're 'not schizophrenic'. Ive never heard of that in a sane person.

I know everybody talks to themselves at times, but again, like I said earlier, it depends on the context. If somebody is constantly having conversations with thin air or yelling out loud when alone in public places, then that is somewhat unusual and attracts negative attention. It seems to be a strict ''rule'' to not talk to oneself in a supermarket or any other kind of shop for some reason. I see nobody talking to themselves when in a shop. Once my mum said she spoke to herself a little whilst shopping, then said she had to tell herself not to because it was ''embarrassing'', even though she just mumbled no more than just 3 words to herself.

At work I often hear people talking to themselves, but not in a mad sort of way.

It seems that most of these social rules have the clue ''it's not always what you do, it's how you do it''. Not saying that applies to everything, but it can be true to some things.

Funny this should come up.

I've actually started to try and stop talking so much to my self.

I find my self suddenly doing it in the store when im shopping for food and such. Its getting a bit out of hand.

A few times I´ve found myself talking aloud and gesturing, - in the street, having an inner discussion. Man, that was embarrassing.

Last edited by Jensen on 03 May 2013, 2:26 am, edited 1 time in total.

I thought it was just arguing with yourself that was a problem.

Anyway talking to yourself is fine, especially when you want an expert advice!!

Lol, over here in this s**thole country I wondered if I was crazy for being the only one NOT talking loudly to himself all the time whilst being out in public.

Perhaps we should all move to your region

Last edited by Jensen on 03 May 2013, 3:58 am, edited 1 time in total.

Where are you? Obviously you don't have to answer.

It seems that it is more acceptable in some places and less in others. Here in England there is definitely a stigma attached to talking to yourself. The problem here is not whether talking to yourself is right, wrong or a sign of craziness, it is the opinions of others and how to change their minds, again........

Personally I have a issue with people who are too loud but that's a different argument.

Last edited by neilson_wheels on 03 May 2013, 4:15 am, edited 1 time in total.

The majority of British people have a stigma for almost everything. I really don't know why us Brits are so shallow.

You've only got to slip a little bit on some unavoidable ice (not right over), and it attracts everybody's attention in sight and they all look at you and either think it's so hilarious that they show you up, or look at you critically as though you have just broken a social rule. Then people wonder why I have meltdowns when snow is forecasted. Slipping on ice is a social phobe's nightmare.

Very true, when I was younger I decided that if people were going to think I was weird then I would embrace it and really show them what weird was. I really don't care much what other people think any more.

I laugh when I see people trying to walk around in the snow in their office shoes, I still ride my bike in the snow.

Do you have winter boots? You can get mini crampons that clip on to your shoe soles for next winter.

Just wear one of those phone head piece thingies and people will just think you are really busy and efficient at multitasking

After reading some of the posts on here, I have consciously started talking to myself.

So far I find it a rewarding thing to do. Sometimes verbalizing my thoughts can be a help. If my reasoning is off, it seems easier for me to recognize that when I hear the nonsense spoken aloud. It also keeps me from perseverating so much; I soon tire of hearing myself over-think things.

I walk to/from work and want to try talking to myself more during those walks. I find that wearing an earbud makes doing that less socially awkward, as people these days frequently are seen "talking to themselves" when really they are having a mobile phone conversation with someone. That is my accommodation to NT conventions.

To me, everything what doesn´t hurt anyone is normal.