Thinking in the third person

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I have recently noticed myself thinking in the third person quite a lot. It's not something I ever did before, and I only started a couple of weeks ago, so it's been quite a drastic and sudden shift in thinking style. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas on what might cause such a shift? I don't feel any less myself than usual. Have any of you had this happen? Any thoughts are welcome and appreciated.

I do so sometimes when I think in languages other than my native tongue.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 923AAaxjDQ

I don't do the third person thing, but for a similar reason I think in plural a lot. (As in, "we" instead of "I," "us" instead of "me," and "ours" instead of "mine.")

Sometimes I think about myself with a detached, narrative function. It helps me organize my perceptions, or to deal with a situation that might be overwhelming if I were truly "in" it. Maybe you are using a third-person perspective to remove yourself from something agitating, or to gain a greater sense of control, or a more fitting perspective.

I've been seeing myself in third person, ever since I've learned to read, at the age of 7.

I sometimes talk in the third person. My thoughts are often in singular second person, "you" instead of me/I.

Sometimes I "see" or "feel" in the third person. Like I'm the subject, rather than the object. It's a little unnerving, especially when people pay attention to me. Is that like thinking in the third person?
Ah, well, when I describe something that happens to me, sometimes I find myself saying "you" instead of "me..." Though, that's the second person, I think...

Sometimes I do this. I say to my self: she enjoys drawing..it is so soothing...or something like that. Alot of time, I compliment myself in third person if I did a good job at something.

As far as a sudden shift in thinking...that could be reason for concern. Pay attention to what thoughts you are thinking in third person to give you a clue as to what is going on. More than likely not all your thoughts will be in third person, just some of them. If it is on a certain topic or about a certain event or takes place at a certain setting (like at home or school that you do this more often) then you need to really examine things to see if for some reason you feel the need to detach yourself from that place, event or topic.

Thinking in dual is often a sign of multiple personality disorder which is unlike the media portrays it. Instead it is rather simple, it is caused by a type of traumatic stress coping mechanism (people with AS are more often to have a lower stress threshold in which a situation becomes traumatic to us, thus we are more prone to Mpd) Anyway, if a stress is traumatic enough, the person will begain to create a new idenity outside of the person who is/was traumatized. Some people do this conscously, others not so much. However it is very rare for a person with mpd to be unaware of the "part of them they put behind them" Basicly there is a seperation of the tramatized person and the person who functions outside of that traumatized person. When the person is able to cope with the trauma, the two personalities merge together and become one again. Mpd is basicly a coping mechanism for traumatic stress.
People who are functioning these dual sides of themselves often speak in plural.

As far as psychology behind thinking in third person, there is a need to dinstance ones self from something, someplace or and event or even a part of one's self. If you started thinking in third person all the time then that also raises concerns about a trauma of some sort and a possible transitional period seeking a new identity while putting some distance from you and the traumatized self.
If you cant think of any traumas that may have caused this shift in thinking. For people with AS, you dont have to have been through utter hell...even a severe sensory event could trigger this. Our threshold is much lower to what becomes traumatic than nt's.

But here is your homework if you want to get to the bottom of this:

Get a journal and carry it with you at all times.
As soon as you start thinking in third person...write down the thought verbatim
then ask yourself the who what when where questions

who were you thinking about?

who were you around?

what were you thinking about?

what were you doing at the time of the thought?

What were you feeling at the time of the thought?

where were you when the thought occured?

were you thinking about a certain place?

were you thinking about a certain event?

Do this for a month or so and then go back over it and see if a pattern emerges...if so you will have what triggered this thinking. If your thoughts are at all times in third person, then it may be harder to pin it down, but such a reaction would be caused by a noticable trauma.

Anyway Pm me if you want to talk more about this privately.

Jojo

Thank you all for your responses. It's a lot to consider and is interesting to see that I'm not the only one who often thinks outside of the first person.

jojobean: Wow! That is a fantastic response. I sincerely appreciate you taking the time to type all that out for me. It does occur to me that this could potentially be cause for concern, which is why I brought my question to you fine people. Though, of course, it could also be nothing and may pass as quickly as it began. In any event, I think I will take your advice and try to keep track of the occurrences to see if I can't get to the bottom of the mystery.

no problem, I was a psychology major in college and it is still a strong interest for me, so I do what I can to help people out because the human mind is so facinating to me.

I am glad I could help.

it means you have a diminished sense of self. [not narcissistic]


an example would be.

Stating lots of facts without ever getting to the point.

an example in relation to medicine would be:

The GMC good medical practice guidelines.

Patient first.
Then science [the facts]
then yourself.

GMC good medical practice guidelines say you should be in the third person.

Jojobean, that was a really helpful post.

Kaybee, when I read your OP, I immediately thought about dissociation (related to mbd)- and Jojobean said it way better than I could. I have had issues with it since I was small child including a couple of severe episodes, one involving amnesia (20 years later and I still don't remember what happened). I thought it might be helpful, too, to share some of my experience when I was learning about it with my therapist. After a particular session where we'd talk about it in great depth and about its causes, I was literally in sort of two pieces as I walked down the street. My mind and main awareness was hovering like a balloon above me, maybe by about 15 feet and the rest of me was sort of like an automaton beneath me, walking around normally. So as you're looking into it, maybe be aware of how even learning about it can affect you.

One of my early episodes was when I was 7 years old on a roller coaster where I really freaked out and mentally left myself and my surroundings. I believe that one was triggered by an earlier traumatic experience as a toddler where I fell out of (but was caught by my ankle) a kiddie roller coaster. Later, in therapy, as an adult, i decided to face my fear of roller coasters and I rode the biggest, scariest one I could find and it was amazing. I wasn't afraid anymore, but it did trigger previously inaccessible memories of what happened in my mind as a 7 year old when I mentally retreated. And I didn't ride the roller coaster in an attempt to work out the dissociation - I wasn't even thinking about it.

So, I guess I'm saying that you could have all kinds of triggers from throughout your life that could be influencing your experience.