Inner monologue

[JackARoe]

Feels like that's actually normal and not due to schizophrenia. Maybe I'm missing something tho

I agree with this. I think it’s totally normal to have voices, thoughts, and even insight come through to a person. As long as a person is a captain of their own ship, in total control of anything entering our consciousness, then it does seem normal to me too. Our minds filter out a lot of stuff. Sifting and sorting through things.

Crazy topic, but I think it’s something we can all relate to without getting too overly dramatic about it. I think when a person starts worrying about it, they’re done!

 

[-=SS=-]

How do you know what you are reading if you don't hear the words in your head??

Up until fairly recently I never spoke the words in my head, my default would just be to scan and it would just click with concepts/memories like a jigsaw. Assuming the writer/writing is not dense or trying to convey multiple meanings like in poetry, it worked - probably why I hated English language and poetry, and preferred more visual things like art and math. When I began trying to write stuff to convey difficult or unsolidified concepts, then I started speaking it in my head, to test how it would be received.

Occasionally my default method would bug out. Like forgetting how to spell ridiculously simple words like 'who'. I guess being an open ended word like that there wasn't any imagery that could be attached.

I recently read that like 50% of people DON'T have a constant inner monologue at all times. That's INSANE to me. Must be so peaceful! And so easy to get to sleep!

I can't imagine having a constant inner monologue - I can fall asleep extremely quickly, and just about anywhere. The last time I ever felt besieged by an inner monologue was when I was falling asleep at about 10 years of age. Back then I used to see crystal clear imagery in my minds eye when falling asleep, like DMT level brightness and saturation. One night that inner monologue was composed of several competing strands and it was really pissing me off, given I could see the visual representations of all of them and it was overwhelming. So, I shouted out internally 'SHUT UP' and willed it to go away, with serious venom. It never came back after that.

 

[paltatomate]

Up until fairly recently I never spoke the words in my head, my default would just be to scan and it would just click with concepts/memories like a jigsaw. Assuming the writer/writing is not dense or trying to convey multiple meanings like in poetry, it worked - probably why I hated English language and poetry, and preferred more visual things like art and math. When I began trying to write stuff to convey difficult or unsolidified concepts, then I started speaking it in my head, to test how it would be received.

Occasionally my default method would bug out. Like forgetting how to spell ridiculously simple words like 'who'. I guess being an open ended word like that there wasn't any imagery that could be attached.

this is a very good explanation. especially the part about poems, because i have never been able to tell why i can't make head or tails out of most.
forgetting to write words like "who" - i do have a mental image for that. but it's implied in a whole concept, not as something that needs to be mentioned separately. so though i don't have spelling problems (i do have typing problems if i do it too fast) i tend to sometimes forget to write words like that.

do you actually read the words, like the single words, or do you just recognize a specific pattern of letters, words, and punctuation?

 

[paltatomate]

I recently read that like 50% of people DON'T have a constant inner monologue at all times. That's INSANE to me. Must be so peaceful! And so easy to get to sleep!

it's quiet, but at least for me it doesn't mean that my brain isn't doing anything.
the difference is that i need to focus more on creating inner (or whatever kind) of dialogue. which is being in beta brainwave mode, like for example driving or doing anything that requires attention. not having to do that lets me stay in alpha brainwave mode. and that's where i can make sense of things, understand how stuff works, come up with creative ideas and solve problems.

even though i don't have that constant inner chatting, i can still be very engaged mentally. but it's on a less stressful level i guess.

 

[-=SS=-]

this is a very good explanation. especially the part about poems, because i have never been able to tell why i can't make head or tails out of most.
forgetting to write words like "who" - i do have a mental image for that. but it's implied in a whole concept, not as something that needs to be mentioned separately. so though i don't have spelling problems (i do have typing problems if i do it too fast) i tend to sometimes forget to write words like that.

Yeah poetry really foxed me until I learned to try allowing a feeling to wash over my mind rather than looking for meaning. The spelling thing is weird though - haven't had it in ages - but sometimes I'll look at a word and I literally just see the geometry of the letters and there is a complete absence of meaning, it's like looking at alien symbols.

do you actually read the words, like the single words, or do you just recognize a specific pattern of letters, words, and punctuation?

Nowadays it's a blend, and I tend to read them in my head especially if it is communication directed at me personally or if I'm checking my own writing; to ensure I'm receiving/sending meaning properly. I try to make more of an effort at doing it the normal way.

But I do still initially scan it quickly and there's a sort of flavour or pattern to it that always sticks out; like chunks of a sentence delineated by punctuation I'll just parse by looking at all the words all at once, without reading left to right. Probably why language stumped me more than other kids, because if there was a word in there I didn't know I wouldn't try parsing left to right in an attempt to understand.. instead I would just remain there, waiting for the overall pattern to emerge for me.

I don't know, my brain is fucking weird. I have Alice in Wonderland syndrome on occasion, I sneeze if I look at bright lights, and other oddities. Definitely some wonky wiring up top

 

[reverse cosmosis]

I have an inner monologue I can consciously or unconsciously split into different voices with different personalities to have silent arguments. I also have a somewhat detailed ability to visualise but despite it having a high level of detail it's very foggy, like I'm viewing it through a steamed up window.

Then there's my snap response thought process which is basically entirely conceptual. A sound, sight, smell elicits a feeling and that feeling can translate into something internally or trigger a verbal response. Pretty much what's happening if I read in my head without hearing the words which I had to teach myself to do, it didn't come naturally.

I just thought it would be useful to read faster.

 

[paltatomate]

I have an inner monologue I can consciously or unconsciously split into different voices with different personalities to have silent arguments.

i have that, too, but it's more of a conscious/subconscious thing. if i don't want it to happen, it doesn't happen.
and when it does, it's the voices of different characters that have developed over time, each representing a different type of thought pattern and personality. they don't talk to me, nor do i even exist for them. it's more like listening to a movie while i'm doing something else.
i was told it's a coping mechanism children use a lot, and then unlearn as they grow up.

 

[reverse cosmosis]

i have that, too, but it's more of a conscious/subconscious thing. if i don't want it to happen, it doesn't happen.
and when it does, it's the voices of different characters that have developed over time, each representing a different type of thought pattern and personality. they don't talk to me, nor do i even exist for them. it's more like listening to a movie while i'm doing something else.
i was told it's a coping mechanism children use a lot, and then unlearn as they grow up.

Interesting... the different characters I hear can be different facets of my personality or I can consciously make them take the form of people I know/knew. It's not something I ever did as a kid though, I developed this as an adult in an attempt to help with my faulty decision making. Mixed results

 

[paltatomate]

I developed this as an adult in an attempt to help with my faulty decision making. Mixed results

interesting.
it never occurred to me to base my decisions on those imaginary people. i take decisions on a very non-verbal level. that's something i don't need dialogue for at all, be it internal or external.

i began making those characters up at around 9 or 10.
they have changed over time, merged together, or one was born out of another. i also think they might be different facets of myself, and only little is based on people i know. at some point i was a bit concerned i might be a bit gaga, but then i was told that idea about it being a coping mechanism for emotional stuff (which i have to rationalize to understand)

 

[reverse cosmosis]

interesting.
it never occurred to me to base my decisions on those imaginary people. i take decisions on a very non-verbal level. that's something i don't need dialogue for at all, be it internal or external.

i began making those characters up at around 9 or 10.
they have changed over time, merged together, or one was born out of another. i also think they might be different facets of myself, and only little is based on people i know. at some point i was a bit concerned i might be a bit gaga, but then i was told that idea about it being a coping mechanism for emotional stuff (which i have to rationalize to understand)

The only reason I started using this for making decisions is because I proved many times over that doing it on an instinctive level was leading me down the wrong path. I am now past this and can make decisions non-verbally without ruining my life but it took a lot of rewiring.

There's a school of thought revolving around "internal family" developing atm that suggests that actually what you're doing is a very useful psychological tool. A counsellor I know put me onto the idea when I mentioned about having arguments in my head making my crazy. Turns out we're not! At least not for that specific reason

 

[neversickanymore]

very well said.. much better stated then I came up with..

 

[neversickanymore]

@Electrum1 we have interacted on a few threads etc, I hope that means something, The thing is.. well the weapon is real and if they perfect it, humanity will be concurred without a shot fired. Thats just the facts, internet bs or not.

 

[jasperkent]

I had a schizophrenic friend who was inconsistent about taking his psych meds and also drank, smoked weed, and dabbled in other drugs. Needless to say, he was often symptomatic.

One day he was telling me about the different voices he hears. I said You know the voices aren't real, right? He said Yeah, I know, but I listen to them anyway. Sometimes they give me good advice.

 

[-=SS=-]

One day he was telling me about the different voices he hears. I said You know the voices aren't real, right? He said Yeah, I know, but I listen to them anyway. Sometimes they give me good advice.

I remember listening to a psychiatrist talking about his schizophrenic patients, how the voices would sometimes tell them quite accurate information about the psychiatrist, stuff they should have no way of knowing - though it always seemed to inevitably tend towards the need for the psychiatrist to be hurt/killed.

Wish I could remember what video it was. He also told some story about how he began perceiving activity in his office, something about how he heard this buzzing noise coming from his waste paper bin that was somehow connected with one of his patients. Like there was a malicious entity there or something. I think he said he left the job immediately, unsurprisingly.

 

[Nas47]

ye......sometimes alone.....sometimes-a lot of (people?) talk to each other-can't understand well what they talk about....not sure they are people

 

[foodcrisis]

I had a schizophrenic friend who was inconsistent about taking his psych meds and also drank, smoked weed, and dabbled in other drugs. Needless to say, he was often symptomatic.

One day he was telling me about the different voices he hears. I said You know the voices aren't real, right? He said Yeah, I know, but I listen to them anyway. Sometimes they give me good advice.

i have schizophrenia, i always take into consideration that schizophrenic voices have made people kill people for all sorts of weird reasons, but my therapist is always like "Schizophrenics are usually non violent" . lol... mostly my schizophrenia is a lot of nonsense.. i've had a lot more inner monologue that isn't even necessarily the brain reacting in the way that i'd consider it schizphrenic that is far less positive, like most people in this thread are claiming to have some inner monologue... like i have way more suicidal thoughts in my head than the schizophrenia that occurs outside my head... i never really get violent urges.

saying they aren't real is probably good to tell schizophrenics, but there is no real proof what the voices are. there are chemical signs in the brain with people that have schizophrenia, but they still don't know what it is... i feel like it could be spirits that are either good or evil. they are diffferent energies... i also think schizophrenics might just be able to channel anything that has been said across the universe. like the unconsious mind is just all clips of images and sounds that other people have done through out the universe. it doesn't make sense, so if voices tell a person somethings, it's often times just best to ignore... then again, it all could just be my imagination, but i've had some experiences where i believe i might be connecting with the universe through synchronicity. it's all non sense and inconsistent though. like a sign could point you in one direction and then in another direction. it's like that rush song with the lyrics "i will choose free will"... i think sometimes though i have dreams of cartoons, and i feel like it's not even my mind creating this, it's a cartoon that has been created in another time period of the universe, and this all gets sent through out history and space through meditation... i got this idea from the song on the hot topic mall store's compilation cds, the band the dwarves does a song "everybodies girl" and a lot of it is about tripping and he's "watching reruns from another dimension." lol

 

[jasperkent]

....saying they aren't real is probably good to tell schizophrenics, but there is no real proof what the voices are....

Well if you think about it, nothing we hear(or see, taste, feel, etc) is actually real. Our brains convert sound waves, light waves, etc into our perception of reality.

What's "real" is outside. Inside is perception, interpretation, conceptualization, etc. It may be accurate and it may not. Either way, it's what we imagine reality to be.

 

[-=SS=-]

Well if you think about it, nothing we hear(or see, taste, feel, etc) is actually real. Our brains convert sound waves, light waves, etc into our perception of reality.

What's "real" is outside. Inside is perception, interpretation, conceptualization, etc. It may be accurate and it may not. Either way, it's what we imagine reality to be.

Until you have an out-of-body experience, then the question becomes which is really outside/inside.. if at all.

But yeah, it's quite fascinating to me just how many people go through life without really stopping to think about their subjective worldview. It's something you look at, experience, it is the most immediate thing about us (besides our recognition of it), and yet it is totally a mental construction. We never really see the physical reality as it is, only our reconstruction of it.

There's evidence that we're not even finished in our ability to reconstruct it. Our colour sense has evolved for example, we couldn't always distinguish the spectrum colours or shades - this is why colour blindness still affects a noticeable percent of the population globally.

 

[jasperkent]

There's evidence that we're not even finished in our ability to reconstruct it. Our colour sense has evolved for example, we couldn't always distinguish the spectrum colours or shades - this is why colour blindness still affects a noticeable percent of the population globally.

And there's more on the spectrum to see than we humans see. Ultraviolet & infrared, for example. Wouldn't it be fucking wild to see a color you've never seen-- nor could even imagine?

 

[-=SS=-]

And there's more on the spectrum to see than we humans see. Ultraviolet & infrared, for example. Wouldn't it be fucking wild to see a color you've never seen-- nor could even imagine?

I swear I saw some new colours while traversing DMT land It's hard to imagine how you could fit more colours into the physical spectrum. Maybe the next step would be stereoscopic colour.. one set of eyes in the physical, another eye on another dimension, and then you can have all the combinations between the two dimensions. That's sort of what DMT colours feel like to me. Reminds me of those red/blue glasses you'd wear as a kid to see the 3D dinosaur pictures.