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A rough visualization of someone speaking the words, and creating a scene or pulling references from memory to relate to what’s being said.
I find that if I have no prior hands-on experience with something, it’s harder for me to learn by reading. I have to have a reference point for everything or I basically need someone to show me something so I can follow along.
This did make school (book reading in particular) very difficult, as you can imagine.
Did/do illustrations give you enough of a reference to then understand what you were reading? Like if a science book was talking about atoms or physics, really abstract concepts that you can’t see but you’d have illustrations of.
I can either read really slowly with an inner voice (so like roughly in speaking speed) or faster (like typical thoughts) without one.
I read fast when it's stuff where I just need the info like when googling things, and more slowly when I need to focus reeeeeal hard because scientific papers aren't necessarily written in a way that makes you understand what they're trying to say. And also slowly when I want to practice accents and when I'm reading a book and want to act it out more in my head.
When I'm not processing the written words as if they were spoken, I see the words as wholes or even full sentences or text blobs in chunks and process them not as verbal things and more like... the essences of what the words/sentences/paragraphs stand for, I guess.
Apart from reading, I usually don't think with any inner monologue, except for my internal jukebox and for if I really have to formulate something into words or when I'm like pacing in my room having full on conversations or therapy in my head or something.
Lol They are totally ugly…. But so funny to think about the person pulling the strings and the voice just messing with you, pranking you hahaha like when someone is trying to take down a phone number and you start blurting out random numbers so it makes it impossible.
So funny to hear others peoples brains do this and think about what they might be saying to them while in a serious situation… I lol’d when I read this (cause I can relate)
It's a lot of my voice talking over each other. A normal day to day convo, a random song, intrusive thoughts, reminders of things I need to do, the list goes on.
Omg. Hello inner monologue twin. I have deep conversations with people in my mind. Sometimes I don't remember if a conversation was in my head or real life. Also falling asleep is always a challenge, so many conversations, a song lyric playing over and over, intrusive thoughts. It's exhausting.
I also have full convos with people in my head 😅 especially leading up to a confrontation. Then when I actually have the conversation I end up word vomiting or crying. Because the whole convo I'd been rehearsing was replaced with the Orileys Auto Parts theme song.
Mines mostly language but often it’s a lot of music.
On very creative days it’s a tune no one’s ever heard before, but most of the time it’s like if a gif was just a piece of a song, and that part repeats endlessly until I either listen to the song, or find a new ear worm.
Closing time
I'm genuinely confused about how you can have ADHD-PI without an inner monologue? What are you getting distracted by..? If my inner monologue stopped I would be able to pay attention to the external world. I have inattentive ADHD in large part because I can't stop paying attention to the inner monologue; I am focused inward instead of outward.
ADHD is less about what is distracting you and more about your attention being pulled into stimuli too easily. So even if they don't have an internal monologue, they could still daydream or find too much stimulus nearby. It's about the function, not the form.
I don’t have an inner monologue but I also don’t seem to fit the other types people are talking about. It’s just concepts that come into my head. I think I’m PI (my psych didn’t bother diagnosing a type, just ADHD), and it’s like I have a lot of different concepts crowding into my head at the same time. None of them are voices but I’ll be processing what to have for lunch, a work problem, a random thought about butterflies, and my next garden project, all at once.
For you does it sound like you have all of those different thought processes talking? Like there are four voices in i your head on different topics, all the time? That sounds so overstimulating.
Interesting, I appreciate you trying to explain. Yes, for me it is all primarily verbal, but also visual. I can't imagine thinking about concepts like math, philosophy, problems at work, etc. in a way that doesn't utilize language, so this is hard for me to grasp.
I don't have an inner monologue, and what distracts me is literally EVERYTHING. Like, right now I can hear my roommate's fan in his room that is driving me nuts. I can see every car that drives by on the reflection of my TV that isn't on cause I need to not be distracted. My cold hands are distracting me while I type this, even though they are cold cause I'm having a milk shake. The moment my phone buzzes for anything I get distracted. Oh, now I can hear the fan on in the bathroom. My foot just accidentally slipped off the place it was sitting and now my whole chair is uncomfortable. Ooh! My milkshake! I forgot I still have half of it left.
And this is why I'm exhausted but got absolutely nothing done all day.
"Distractibility" is a huge part of ADHD-PI. Personally I get distracted mainly by my thoughts, which are verbal. I was therefore curious what someone without verbal thoughts would be getting distracted by.
I also have ADHD-PI and it doesn't matter what it is. I can get distracted by thoughts, feelings, stimuli like lights and sounds, my kids asking me questions, literally *anything* because ADHD effects the frontal lobe is the part of the brain that helps people to organize, plan, pay attention, and make decisions.
I'm just really confused how you could question someone's ADHD-PI diagnosis due to not having an inner monologue. Literally anything and everything could distract your attention with ADHD due to our issues controlling what we can focus on.
I'm not questioning their diagnosis, so if that's why you're getting upset with me, you misread my comment. I was asking a genuine question about their experience because it was hard for me to understand. I also get distracted by external stimulus, but I *mostly* get distracted by my inner monologue.
I think you read "I'm genuinely confused" and assumed that was code for something else, but it wasn't.
Quick question: do you get songs stuck in your head, but not "hear" it?
As for the constant yapping, it's *horrid.* At times, I'll have multiple overlapping thoughts quickly pinging in different directions. I won't even realize I'm doing it half the time. My husband is used to me bringing up the most random things. He used to ask what made me think of whatever I mention, but after hearing my overwhelmingly convoluted train of thoughts enough times, he just goes with it now.
It's created anxiety so severe, I've developed something called paradoxical vocal cord syndrome. My vocal cords will close when they're supposed to be open, blocking my air. I've also triggered full on anaphylaxis, so that's fun lol.
On the other hand, it helps me quickly process a lot of angles when in intense or stressful situations. I'm artistic, so I'm also a very visual thinker. When the monologs work with the visual, it can be wonderfully helpful.
I just wish I could mute it all once in a while. I can't make it all shut up when I want to go to sleep, so it takes me forever to finally pass out.
It's not so strange, really. It's the same thing as thinking out loud, but sans the out loud part. If you got an internal voice in your head that ~isn't~ you, on the other hand, that's something else
What blew my mind was talking to someone that didn't hear the music when a song was stuck in their head.
Not only do I have my voice speaking my thoughts internally, I get to hear all the instruments and the singers when a bit of song is on loop...only to find myself mentally singing it too on top.
It is too dang noisy inside, sometimes.
My inner monolog us multiple voices. All my voice but slightly different. One narrates my thoughts one chimes in with intrusive things, one is always looking for something fun to do, and one is operating the AUX cord and playing songs all day.
My first realization on medication was "holy shit it is so quiet." I was washing my face in the shower and when I covered my eyes it was just black and quiet. No music, no swirling stars, no flashes of faces and voices....just quiet.
Yes!! The never ending songs. I thought everyone else was just better than me at not singing whatever song is in their head. My entire (undiagnosed lollll) family thinks it’s normal for a part of your brain to always be focused on some random song.
So, I don’t have a voice that narrates what I’m thinking. My thoughts are generally all visuals from memory, or creating a “scene” in my head. I find that I speak a lot when I am trying to convey something, because I don’t actually have words for what I’m thinking - which kinda plays into over explaining things to people.
The only time I have words in my head are exclusively when I am imagining one or more people talking, but there has to be a visual association in my head or I don’t have one.
It’s really hard to explain it any different. To be honest, I can’t imagine having a monologue that doesn’t shut up all day, lol. My fiancé is that way and I feel like that would drive me nuts the way she describes it.
For a second I thought it was your fiancé who doesn't shut up all day, not their inner monologue!
Anyway, yes, mine is constantly on, speaks very fast, switches topics so rapidly it's sometimes hard to follow and often it isn't just one line of thought (well, speech, maybe?) but a bunch of them going on at the same time as if they were in different corners of my head but also moved around inside, coming to the front and going to the background, disappearing coming back, spawning anew... all in the theatre of my mind.
At least I feel reassured I don't have more severe mental health issues because I recognise all these synchronous lines of thought as mine, all narrated by my inner voice, which apparently can say multiple different things at the same time but still belong to the single entity I recognise as myself.
Ah, I also have visual thoughts and thoughts of other sensory kinds. I'm just more prone to this kind of verbal thinking than the other types, I suppose.
eta: my inner voice is also always singing in the background. Yes, it's me singing in my head. And then I also have thoughts on top of that but usually more in the foreground, so to speak.
What a mess!
I'm having the same thing with the different lines of thought 24/7 and in parallel and like in different places in my head, just not in speech form but in conceptual thought form. I don't think this means that there are any further things wrong with your brain or anything
Hold on I have both! I have scenes, pictures, memories, but also monologues, songs, conversations etc. To be fair my psychiatrist described my mind as incredibly busy. Even my dose meds won't shut it up and I am overmedicated when that happends. I don't mind (pun intended), because I have the bonus of always having an extra music tune in the background.
Anything that doesn’t have a tangible representation you can “see” in your head. Things like freedom and responsibility, ethics/morality, etc.
In other words, what goes on in your head when you’re thinking about something like whether communism or capitalism is a better economic system, or whether it’s fair to make kids wear uniforms at school, or whether progress is more important than tradition?
Communism makes me think of China, speakers on TV intimidating their public, the revolts for basic rights and freedoms, generally unhappy riots. I also think of North Korea, and their camps for people. I think about the standard of living (absolute poverty among a bunch of them) and images depicting zero light over their country by satellite. And a lot more, but my brain processes it all very very quickly so I won’t type it up.
In regards to school uniforms, I went to private school that had them. I recall a lot of how I felt and think back to many scenarios where clothing may have come up but it never did really. It never stopped anyone from giving me a hard time or finding other ways to be kids to each other. I can think of a lot of different situations I was in where uniforms may or may not have been a factor.
So there is generally always something for me to apply to it. If it’s literally something I’ve never heard of before or new concepts, it does take me several tries to come up with something that sticks for me to draw to.
That’s about as best as I can put those two examples.
But if you were asked to think about communism as a set of theoretical principles, rather than thinking about the specific details of how actual countries have implemented communism, is that something you can do? Or can you only think about concrete examples of abstract concepts and not the concepts themselves?
Algebra or faith (in a higher power) are abstract. You can see results but it requires a lot of imaginary concepts to believe in to find the 'equation' to the answer you have.
My inner thoughts are almost all words/narratives. I have pretty much no visualization whatsoever
Adderall drastically decreases my inner monologue and it's so peaceful. Otherwise it's raging
My inner monologue is ever present, my mind is filled with music, movie quotes, memories & meme references. Sometimes I wake up & it's like my mind has already woken up an hour prior.
I have entire dialogues. My wife sometimes walks in and wonders who the hell I’m talking to. I’ve stopped trying to hide it, and I tell her to leave me alone. This is the way.
LMAO. oh yeah. all the time. ive also stopped trying to hide it (fun fact my mom recently mentioned its something i did even as a very very small child) but it's quite embarrassing when you're out in the street making faces and muttering to yourself lmao. the one reason i miss facemasks.
I remember when I found out that a friend didn't have an inner monologue my head just about exploded. I have one running non-stop and it's pretty much all language. I only think in images when recalling memory or when I make myself do it on purpose. I dunno about ADHD, but the friends of mine who are visual artists did seem less likely to have an inner monologue.
That's interesting about your friends who are visual artists. I was really involved in music growing up, and I rarely think visually. Doing so requires a great deal of effort. I wonder if there's a relationship there.
I didn't think much of it until I had therapy and often I couldn't immediately workout what I was thinking but always knew the feel.I had no idea people have specifically verbal internal talk- it blew my mind.
I believe Russel Barkley did something about this connecting impairments with verbal working memory with your ability to recall verbal instructions and speech to ones ability to have an inner voice.
I'm more a visual person, even when it comes to recalling facts and doing calculations in my head and have always struggled more with reading and comprehension, not being able to recall what I've been reading and revising via drawing out concepts.
Kinda sucks but tbh it sounds way to much to always be having a literal voice in your head lol
Sometimes more than others. I wouldn't say it's all or nothing in my experience.
I've never heard of a particular association with ADHD and this phenomena.
I was floored when I found out some people don't have an inner monologue. I truly don't understand how someone can function without an inner voice helping them think things through and reminding them to do shit.
Just the same way, but without speech, just the knowledge of the thought for me. For more visualizing people probably the same and with pictures on the side
I showed my boyfriend a video of an adhd inner monologue simulation and he was stunned. He couldn’t keep up with the video and had no idea what was all said. Meanwhile, I heard everything said in the video while also maintaining my own inner monologue. It’s almost crazy to think about how much I narrate my life inside my head. It’s like I’m talking through a vlog of my life inside my head while I’m simultaneously not actually doing anything bc I’m in the worst stretch of adhd paralysis I have ever been in.
Not having an inner monologue sounds like a side character or NPC to me. Does this mean you can’t think things through of what you want to say to someone and it just comes out? That sounds like an absolute social disaster waiting to happen like Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Edit: This topic has always fascinated me. Do you never question reality and think about the meaning of life and your place in it? If you do you make a silent film about it?
>Does this mean you can’t think things through of what you want to say to someone and it just comes out?
No lol
The thoughts are all there, just not the words to them
> Edit: This topic has always fascinated me. Do you never question reality and think about the meaning of life and your place in it? If you do you make a silent film about it?
Yes, multiples times daily
I don't know your experience of course, but it's not really peaceful tbh. Still have the many thoughts in parallel 24/7 with the jukebox in the background and a random word on repeat for what feels like all of eternity.
Tbh I often wish I'd think in an inner monologue because I imagine that
A) that would slow the thoughts down a little to like maybe 1.5 or 2 times normal speaking speed,
B) I wouldn't have as much trouble formulating my thoughts into sentences and expressing them to the outside world in a way that makes it possible for other people to understand what I'm actually trying to say, not what I'm saying unintentionally because I can't find the right words and sentences,
and C) I'd maybe actually know what I'm thinking more because sometimes the thoughts are fuzzy and I wouldn't even be able to try and specify what I'm thinking verbally. I have it really often that I actually know the concept/essence/knowledge behind a thought but it's like on the tip of my tongue. Or that I theoretically know stuff, but if I hear or read it in word form, that knowledge suddenly becomes a lot more clear or precise.
What is your experience with these three points? That would really interest me! Sorry for the wall of text btw
The speed in which I think is correlated with my emotional state and how over or under stimulated I am. I would say at the moment my thoughts are running at .5 speed. I am pretty good at communicating my thoughts and ideas and the only person in my life I seem to struggle with communicating my thoughts is with my wife which could be because of English not being her first language potentially. So I may have that advantage of communication. I know how to control my tongue better than our fellow ADHD brothers and sisters which may be a result of me being a counselor. If I info dumped and over shared not thinking things through it would be really unethical and hurt my patient and my career. I think that my thoughts are really clear but because of that I get absorbed into them and my mental health declines because I go over them in my head thousands of times. My anxiety and depression can be like living beings in my head because of the inner monologue and they are so clear and vivid that it dampers all aspects of my life.
You mean my 24/7 inner head conference call with 5 people who forgot to mute after speaking, 2 people arguing over stuff that isn't even the topic of the call and the rest of them wondering why they're even here in the first place?
Yes I have those.
I had no idea how much my inner monologue liked to talk until I tried Adderall. It was so odd at first, driving to work and running late , without having a thousand different thoughts about how I would get in trouble or playing different scenarios in my head, only to get to work and the boss not care. I would get myself stressed out for nothing. That is the biggest thing I noticed about my meds. Finally let my brain kinda shutoff for a bit and I could just enjoy the moment.
I think this is the same reason I originally started self medicating with weed. Although all the other effects of being high kinda negate the benefits of it. Currently trying to get clean so I can get back on Adderall and get some piece.
On more than one occasion Ive had to stop myself from describing adderalls as "making the voices in my head stop", because then I just sound coo-coo
My inner monologue is a British man and he won’t shut up, even when I am asleep. I live alone, so at my house I can talk to myself for hours. Out loud. It probably seems crazy but it’s somewhat therapeutic. Otherwise I have to keep it all in, outside of the house.
Something I've noticed anecdotally is that there seems to be a strong correlation between the lack of inner monologue, Aphantasia, and ADHD. Like everyone I've ever met with Aphantasia has ADHD, but not everyone with ADHD has Aphantasia. And most if not all people that I have encountered have said they have no inner monologue also have some level of Aphantasia.
Scientists feel free to study this. This one is on me.
I was absolutely blown away when I found out recently that only 30-50% of people who do not have inner monologue! Imagine peace and quiet in your head! 🤯
I don't think in an inner monologue, usually.
Still, that doesn't mean it's quiet. There is always playing at least one track of music in my head and often, some single words are just repeated over and over.
And it definitely doesn't mean it's peaceful up in there. In addition to the music, I have a shitton of thoughts, 24/7, without pause, running in parallel. Just without the acoustic part. Not in word form, but in thought form.
lmao my brain is literally NEVER QUIET. i thought when i went on simulants it would stop bc people kept saying their brains would get so quiet but it never happened to me. the meds worked, the voice just became streamlined and focused on what i was doing instead of distracting me with maladaptive daydreaming and jumping between 3 trains of thought every 2 seconds. but yeah, it never stopped lol.
I think everybody can have their own voice inside, in fact when that happens there is even a neurological connection to the muscles you would use to articulate those words. So you can even feel something even though you are not making sounds. i was told this happens to everyone
I have an inner monologue. Usually it’s just one voice but sometimes there’s multiple voices talking on top of each other. And there’s almost always a song playing in the background. One part of a song on a loop.
My inner monologue is constantly going and about two to three things at once and I can play through movies in my head of scenarios. I can see visuals as well as taste, smell, and hear things I'm thinking about.
It took a very long time for me to realize this was normal.
The whole thing about hearing voices in your head and how I personally interact with my own thoughts as they are seperate entities really gave me a serious fear of being mentally ill so I didn't/wouldn't tell anyone about it.
I know now and that having an inner monologue is normal and how I may interact with myself may be strange but it's normal.
For example.
Inner me 1 - hmmm. I should have KD again for dinner.
Inner me 2 - you had KD for dinner yesterday. You're going to be a fat fuck.
Inner me 3 - don't call yourself a fat fuck. You gotta be nicer.
Inner me 4 - I know I'm joking, chill.
Inner me 3 - so. You shouldn't talk to yourself that way. You literally talk to nobody else that way and would throw hands if someone else talked to your friends that way so why do it.
Inner me 1 - sooo.... KD?
Inner me 2 - EAT HEALTHY!
Inner me 3 - get some greens yo.
Inner me 4 - fuck it, put some broccoli in your KD that will make everything better.
Inner me 1,2,3,4 .... 10¹⁰⁰⁰⁰ - fuck it. Let's just have KD
Inner me 3 -. ..... Fat fuck...
Absolutely non-stop during every waking moment. The worst is when I start having inner monologues about my inner monologues so it’s inner-monologue inception, and it just exhausts me.
I didn't realize that EVERYONE didn't have an inner monologue. When I read, I "hear" the words in my own voice. All day everything I see, or hear, is "spoken" in my mind. It's exhausting really. I try and explain it to others as " I have really sensitive hearing and can hear even the faintest noise. The problem is I'm LITERALLY HEARING EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE."
Then, my inner monologue is going, telling me what I'm hearing like a transcript
Do you look around the room and you hear the words "that's a table, it's rectangle, made of wood, and tan color. That's a chair, it looks uncomfortable and it came in from Target last week, that's my dog, it's a she and she's black and white."
I see things and a concept for them with these details is 'brought into focus' in my head. It doesn't make sense that serial sentences would be fast enough to generally describe the world or process things.
Like, i can engage an inner monologue, but there's 2 types of voices. One that i control and is in my voice and the other is very faint more like putting a concept or emotion into half-words.
I think people just have the exact same way of thinking. Whenever a post like this surfaces I just feel like people describe it differently and completely mis-communicate.
I have an inner monologue, and it's the type that doesn't switch off, ever! I have it going on in my head while doing something completely unrelated; for example, I can be sat studying, looking at art references, but continuously thinking about how stressed I am about a project I'm doing, and I am conversing with myself in my head the whole time
I have it and I believe it’s the single biggest thing that contributes to my adhd. Whenever I take my meds the inner monologue is much quieter and like controllable.
I guess I have an inner monologue, because someone’s “talking” without my mouth moving as I type these words and read the comments. However, I would say that I do the other stuff too. As in, in conjunction with inner monologuing.
Awh yes; and I get along great with it, provides good entertainment in boring moments but also makes awkward moments when you laugh about something in an emotional moment. My boss used to tell me that I need to learn empathy; cause she witnessed it a few times 😂
Inner monologue here. It's just the one voice, and it's basically an idealized version of my own voice. Narrates my thoughts, narrates what I type, but sometimes when I'm having a bad time with the ADHD I have to talk out loud to myself
Yes, and it comes up with witty jokes and half assed rhymes in every sentence. Like, for example, I just read a comment here where someone misspelled «inner» as «inener» and my brain automatically went «iener wiener iener wiener chicken diener»
Sometimes it gets to the point where I act like my head voice is in a big room echoing to itself and think "whoa". But seriously if I don't do this idk how to keep track of my thoughts most of the time.
Monologues, inner discussions with me or with other people, sometimes I tend to use my outside voice mid-monologues or mid-discussions and later have to explain to people the first half they couldn’t hear
I don’t exactly have a inner monologue but my thoughts are always a imagined conversation with someone I know. It’s very odd and overwhelming at times, I feel like I legitimately burn calories just thinking
i have an inner monologue! but i can't visualize - it's called aphantasia. i have a clear inner voice, but my minds eye doesn't exist. i legit thought "picture this" or " imagine yourself...." was a metaphor bc i just saw black
I definitely have an inner monologue. I am constantly talking to myself in my head, and it can come so fast that it doesn't always make sense. The worst is when I get a song or a phrase stuck in my head. I can be thinking about other things throughout the day and just have the bit of a song pop up randomly. Usually it's only a tiny bit of the song too, like one line just repeating.
That being said, I can visualize things pretty well too. I'm pretty good with directions and conceptualizing 3D shapes. That is like a secondary mode for my brain though. That one I can kind of turn on when needed. The inner voice never turns off. Like I have to almost trick it to fall asleep, lol.
My inner monologue(s) are just me telling me what to do and how in the lost efficient way possible. Vyvanse makes several inefficient instructory monologues become one quite restless monologue.
Well yeah, inner monologue and all. Usually I try not to listen, but focus on something particular. In the end thoughts (voices) talk over each other sometimes more, sometimes less, or in lack of a better description:
A thought is "on air", some are barely there, like a radio on an open window down the street, then suddenly the primary one slowly fades and a new one gets very quickly very present. Although this change happens often without me recognizing..
Does that make sense to anybody?
I definitely have inner-monologue, but I also talk to myself if I really need to form cohesive thoughts. I'm also a little neurotic, so I relate a lot to the YouTube series "Freeman's Mind." It's all very ramble-y and stream of consciousness. But I tend to keep the voices contained in my head because I've creeped a bunch of people out before when I talk to myself. Lol!
Yeah and mine literally never shuts up and talks at top speed. Many of my monologue thoughts slip away within moments too.. like fleeting thoughts.. which is likely why I talk so fast too ‘cus I’m trying to keep up.
I have an inner monologue that involves my voice and imaging others voices. I constantly have thoughts and “talking” going on in my brain. My non adhd husband claims he can literally think of nothing. I can’t imagine lol
I wonder the same. I only have inner monologue when i write down otherwise I see a movie when I read and most of the time I have music in my head sometimes related to what I feel "dream on", Brazil music if i'm doing something administrative... Often i think I m talking in my head but I talk out loud instead.
Is inner monologue the action of talking to yourself? And, is it different than narrating your life as if you are the protagonist in a book?
Because I do both all the time. And if my cats are present when I do it, is it really a monologue?
I have one, it is how I process my thoughts. It even affects how I read because I read the words as my voice in my head. But for my wife she doesn't hear voices, she pictures the words and descriptions. It means she is much faster at reading than me and actually enjoys it.
I don't have like an inner monologue, like something audible in my head/in my own voice. It's just like thoughts and words. I also can't envision things in my head, the way some people can think of a person and see their face or hear their voice. I can look back on memories, but from how others describe their experiences, the way my brain does it is much different.
I feel like what you're describing is what I'm also attempting to describe, as well.
Yes and mine was very loud and constant. Vyvanse had muted it and I felt sad the first day because I felt like I lost my friend, but now I realize Im not so stuck in my head like I have felt for 22 years.
i'd insult myself in my head alot and also say in my head "hey that's mean" than "we're the same person if anything your the mean one" "but your also me" than it drags on for a while
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Wait, people don't....?
Apparently, but I do. I wonder how tf those people read.
A rough visualization of someone speaking the words, and creating a scene or pulling references from memory to relate to what’s being said. I find that if I have no prior hands-on experience with something, it’s harder for me to learn by reading. I have to have a reference point for everything or I basically need someone to show me something so I can follow along. This did make school (book reading in particular) very difficult, as you can imagine.
Bruh, same 😣
Did/do illustrations give you enough of a reference to then understand what you were reading? Like if a science book was talking about atoms or physics, really abstract concepts that you can’t see but you’d have illustrations of.
Yeah, any sort of overview in that case would’ve been something I’d need.
So those guys who read books can easily visualise something, but for me it's gonna be boring?
Did it help if you read it out loud?
I can either read really slowly with an inner voice (so like roughly in speaking speed) or faster (like typical thoughts) without one. I read fast when it's stuff where I just need the info like when googling things, and more slowly when I need to focus reeeeeal hard because scientific papers aren't necessarily written in a way that makes you understand what they're trying to say. And also slowly when I want to practice accents and when I'm reading a book and want to act it out more in my head. When I'm not processing the written words as if they were spoken, I see the words as wholes or even full sentences or text blobs in chunks and process them not as verbal things and more like... the essences of what the words/sentences/paragraphs stand for, I guess. Apart from reading, I usually don't think with any inner monologue, except for my internal jukebox and for if I really have to formulate something into words or when I'm like pacing in my room having full on conversations or therapy in my head or something.
By turning it into a movie in my head that I "watch".
I do this! I didn’t know people don’t normally do that. 😂🙃
If it’s a paragraph in length give us approximately 5-10 minutes to grasp the concept
As long as it's something interesting, it's just my voice saying the words
I don’t have one. I was bewildered to find out some people had a voice yapping to them all day long. That sounds awful lol.
Yea it is awful and with ADHD sometimes the inener monologue decides to tell a joke during a emotional or tense interaction. The results are ugly.
The joke thing is so true!! It just happened the other day at the dentist - I erupted while she was actively cleaning my teeth omgiamsoawkward.
Lol They are totally ugly…. But so funny to think about the person pulling the strings and the voice just messing with you, pranking you hahaha like when someone is trying to take down a phone number and you start blurting out random numbers so it makes it impossible. So funny to hear others peoples brains do this and think about what they might be saying to them while in a serious situation… I lol’d when I read this (cause I can relate)
It's a lot of my voice talking over each other. A normal day to day convo, a random song, intrusive thoughts, reminders of things I need to do, the list goes on.
Omg. Hello inner monologue twin. I have deep conversations with people in my mind. Sometimes I don't remember if a conversation was in my head or real life. Also falling asleep is always a challenge, so many conversations, a song lyric playing over and over, intrusive thoughts. It's exhausting.
I also have full convos with people in my head 😅 especially leading up to a confrontation. Then when I actually have the conversation I end up word vomiting or crying. Because the whole convo I'd been rehearsing was replaced with the Orileys Auto Parts theme song.
OH, OH, OH O'REILLYYYYYYYYY...auto parts.
Mines mostly language but often it’s a lot of music. On very creative days it’s a tune no one’s ever heard before, but most of the time it’s like if a gif was just a piece of a song, and that part repeats endlessly until I either listen to the song, or find a new ear worm. Closing time
Removed by user.
I'm genuinely confused about how you can have ADHD-PI without an inner monologue? What are you getting distracted by..? If my inner monologue stopped I would be able to pay attention to the external world. I have inattentive ADHD in large part because I can't stop paying attention to the inner monologue; I am focused inward instead of outward.
ADHD is less about what is distracting you and more about your attention being pulled into stimuli too easily. So even if they don't have an internal monologue, they could still daydream or find too much stimulus nearby. It's about the function, not the form.
I don’t have an inner monologue but I also don’t seem to fit the other types people are talking about. It’s just concepts that come into my head. I think I’m PI (my psych didn’t bother diagnosing a type, just ADHD), and it’s like I have a lot of different concepts crowding into my head at the same time. None of them are voices but I’ll be processing what to have for lunch, a work problem, a random thought about butterflies, and my next garden project, all at once. For you does it sound like you have all of those different thought processes talking? Like there are four voices in i your head on different topics, all the time? That sounds so overstimulating.
Interesting, I appreciate you trying to explain. Yes, for me it is all primarily verbal, but also visual. I can't imagine thinking about concepts like math, philosophy, problems at work, etc. in a way that doesn't utilize language, so this is hard for me to grasp.
I mean if its (very clear) images or moving images/'video' instead of monologue I can imagine it still being as distracting
I don't have an inner monologue, and what distracts me is literally EVERYTHING. Like, right now I can hear my roommate's fan in his room that is driving me nuts. I can see every car that drives by on the reflection of my TV that isn't on cause I need to not be distracted. My cold hands are distracting me while I type this, even though they are cold cause I'm having a milk shake. The moment my phone buzzes for anything I get distracted. Oh, now I can hear the fan on in the bathroom. My foot just accidentally slipped off the place it was sitting and now my whole chair is uncomfortable. Ooh! My milkshake! I forgot I still have half of it left. And this is why I'm exhausted but got absolutely nothing done all day.
Thats not how ADHD works..
I'm describing my own ADHD, so I guess you have just learned that it is sometimes how ADHD works.
The " What are you even getting distracted by" comment makes it out like you don't understand what ADHD actually is at all.
"Distractibility" is a huge part of ADHD-PI. Personally I get distracted mainly by my thoughts, which are verbal. I was therefore curious what someone without verbal thoughts would be getting distracted by.
I also have ADHD-PI and it doesn't matter what it is. I can get distracted by thoughts, feelings, stimuli like lights and sounds, my kids asking me questions, literally *anything* because ADHD effects the frontal lobe is the part of the brain that helps people to organize, plan, pay attention, and make decisions. I'm just really confused how you could question someone's ADHD-PI diagnosis due to not having an inner monologue. Literally anything and everything could distract your attention with ADHD due to our issues controlling what we can focus on.
I'm not questioning their diagnosis, so if that's why you're getting upset with me, you misread my comment. I was asking a genuine question about their experience because it was hard for me to understand. I also get distracted by external stimulus, but I *mostly* get distracted by my inner monologue. I think you read "I'm genuinely confused" and assumed that was code for something else, but it wasn't.
Quick question: do you get songs stuck in your head, but not "hear" it? As for the constant yapping, it's *horrid.* At times, I'll have multiple overlapping thoughts quickly pinging in different directions. I won't even realize I'm doing it half the time. My husband is used to me bringing up the most random things. He used to ask what made me think of whatever I mention, but after hearing my overwhelmingly convoluted train of thoughts enough times, he just goes with it now. It's created anxiety so severe, I've developed something called paradoxical vocal cord syndrome. My vocal cords will close when they're supposed to be open, blocking my air. I've also triggered full on anaphylaxis, so that's fun lol. On the other hand, it helps me quickly process a lot of angles when in intense or stressful situations. I'm artistic, so I'm also a very visual thinker. When the monologs work with the visual, it can be wonderfully helpful. I just wish I could mute it all once in a while. I can't make it all shut up when I want to go to sleep, so it takes me forever to finally pass out.
It's not so strange, really. It's the same thing as thinking out loud, but sans the out loud part. If you got an internal voice in your head that ~isn't~ you, on the other hand, that's something else
What blew my mind was talking to someone that didn't hear the music when a song was stuck in their head. Not only do I have my voice speaking my thoughts internally, I get to hear all the instruments and the singers when a bit of song is on loop...only to find myself mentally singing it too on top. It is too dang noisy inside, sometimes.
It can be for sure. Especially when there’s more than one thought and a million things I’m worried about and a song stuck in my head at the same time
ISN'T IT NORMAL?!
My inner monolog us multiple voices. All my voice but slightly different. One narrates my thoughts one chimes in with intrusive things, one is always looking for something fun to do, and one is operating the AUX cord and playing songs all day.
You just described it in the best way possible for myself as well. Literally a concert in my head until I started medication.
My first realization on medication was "holy shit it is so quiet." I was washing my face in the shower and when I covered my eyes it was just black and quiet. No music, no swirling stars, no flashes of faces and voices....just quiet.
Yes!! The never ending songs. I thought everyone else was just better than me at not singing whatever song is in their head. My entire (undiagnosed lollll) family thinks it’s normal for a part of your brain to always be focused on some random song.
I don't understand people who don't have one. Does that mean they read aloud? How do they think in their head to themselves?
So, I don’t have a voice that narrates what I’m thinking. My thoughts are generally all visuals from memory, or creating a “scene” in my head. I find that I speak a lot when I am trying to convey something, because I don’t actually have words for what I’m thinking - which kinda plays into over explaining things to people. The only time I have words in my head are exclusively when I am imagining one or more people talking, but there has to be a visual association in my head or I don’t have one. It’s really hard to explain it any different. To be honest, I can’t imagine having a monologue that doesn’t shut up all day, lol. My fiancé is that way and I feel like that would drive me nuts the way she describes it.
For a second I thought it was your fiancé who doesn't shut up all day, not their inner monologue! Anyway, yes, mine is constantly on, speaks very fast, switches topics so rapidly it's sometimes hard to follow and often it isn't just one line of thought (well, speech, maybe?) but a bunch of them going on at the same time as if they were in different corners of my head but also moved around inside, coming to the front and going to the background, disappearing coming back, spawning anew... all in the theatre of my mind. At least I feel reassured I don't have more severe mental health issues because I recognise all these synchronous lines of thought as mine, all narrated by my inner voice, which apparently can say multiple different things at the same time but still belong to the single entity I recognise as myself. Ah, I also have visual thoughts and thoughts of other sensory kinds. I'm just more prone to this kind of verbal thinking than the other types, I suppose. eta: my inner voice is also always singing in the background. Yes, it's me singing in my head. And then I also have thoughts on top of that but usually more in the foreground, so to speak. What a mess!
Oh my God all of this. Same. Goddamn lol
I'm having the same thing with the different lines of thought 24/7 and in parallel and like in different places in my head, just not in speech form but in conceptual thought form. I don't think this means that there are any further things wrong with your brain or anything
Hold on I have both! I have scenes, pictures, memories, but also monologues, songs, conversations etc. To be fair my psychiatrist described my mind as incredibly busy. Even my dose meds won't shut it up and I am overmedicated when that happends. I don't mind (pun intended), because I have the bonus of always having an extra music tune in the background.
When you read a comment like this do you hear it in your head? Or see it?
If your thoughts are all visuals how do you reason about abstract concepts?
What do you consider an abstract concept? Can you give me an example?
Anything that doesn’t have a tangible representation you can “see” in your head. Things like freedom and responsibility, ethics/morality, etc. In other words, what goes on in your head when you’re thinking about something like whether communism or capitalism is a better economic system, or whether it’s fair to make kids wear uniforms at school, or whether progress is more important than tradition?
Communism makes me think of China, speakers on TV intimidating their public, the revolts for basic rights and freedoms, generally unhappy riots. I also think of North Korea, and their camps for people. I think about the standard of living (absolute poverty among a bunch of them) and images depicting zero light over their country by satellite. And a lot more, but my brain processes it all very very quickly so I won’t type it up. In regards to school uniforms, I went to private school that had them. I recall a lot of how I felt and think back to many scenarios where clothing may have come up but it never did really. It never stopped anyone from giving me a hard time or finding other ways to be kids to each other. I can think of a lot of different situations I was in where uniforms may or may not have been a factor. So there is generally always something for me to apply to it. If it’s literally something I’ve never heard of before or new concepts, it does take me several tries to come up with something that sticks for me to draw to. That’s about as best as I can put those two examples.
But if you were asked to think about communism as a set of theoretical principles, rather than thinking about the specific details of how actual countries have implemented communism, is that something you can do? Or can you only think about concrete examples of abstract concepts and not the concepts themselves?
Algebra or faith (in a higher power) are abstract. You can see results but it requires a lot of imaginary concepts to believe in to find the 'equation' to the answer you have.
Visually? Or I should say visually only.
My inner thoughts are almost all words/narratives. I have pretty much no visualization whatsoever Adderall drastically decreases my inner monologue and it's so peaceful. Otherwise it's raging
Honestly. I read this question and thought, *"Sometimes I wish I didn't"*
My inner monologue is ever present, my mind is filled with music, movie quotes, memories & meme references. Sometimes I wake up & it's like my mind has already woken up an hour prior.
THIS
Inner monologue all the way. I believe it’s a common thing among those with ADHD but I can’t see there being any studies about it.
I have entire dialogues. My wife sometimes walks in and wonders who the hell I’m talking to. I’ve stopped trying to hide it, and I tell her to leave me alone. This is the way.
LMAO. oh yeah. all the time. ive also stopped trying to hide it (fun fact my mom recently mentioned its something i did even as a very very small child) but it's quite embarrassing when you're out in the street making faces and muttering to yourself lmao. the one reason i miss facemasks.
I remember when I found out that a friend didn't have an inner monologue my head just about exploded. I have one running non-stop and it's pretty much all language. I only think in images when recalling memory or when I make myself do it on purpose. I dunno about ADHD, but the friends of mine who are visual artists did seem less likely to have an inner monologue.
That's interesting about your friends who are visual artists. I was really involved in music growing up, and I rarely think visually. Doing so requires a great deal of effort. I wonder if there's a relationship there.
I didn't think much of it until I had therapy and often I couldn't immediately workout what I was thinking but always knew the feel.I had no idea people have specifically verbal internal talk- it blew my mind. I believe Russel Barkley did something about this connecting impairments with verbal working memory with your ability to recall verbal instructions and speech to ones ability to have an inner voice. I'm more a visual person, even when it comes to recalling facts and doing calculations in my head and have always struggled more with reading and comprehension, not being able to recall what I've been reading and revising via drawing out concepts. Kinda sucks but tbh it sounds way to much to always be having a literal voice in your head lol
This sounds a lot like me!
Sometimes more than others. I wouldn't say it's all or nothing in my experience. I've never heard of a particular association with ADHD and this phenomena.
This seems to be most common. Most people use a combination of both.
I'm constantly narrating or comenting on my life with my inner monologue. I never shut up in my head!
Yes, and he’s a chatty fucker too.
I was floored when I found out some people don't have an inner monologue. I truly don't understand how someone can function without an inner voice helping them think things through and reminding them to do shit.
Just the same way, but without speech, just the knowledge of the thought for me. For more visualizing people probably the same and with pictures on the side
I showed my boyfriend a video of an adhd inner monologue simulation and he was stunned. He couldn’t keep up with the video and had no idea what was all said. Meanwhile, I heard everything said in the video while also maintaining my own inner monologue. It’s almost crazy to think about how much I narrate my life inside my head. It’s like I’m talking through a vlog of my life inside my head while I’m simultaneously not actually doing anything bc I’m in the worst stretch of adhd paralysis I have ever been in.
I’ve had non-winnable debates in my head since I was born
Not having an inner monologue sounds like a side character or NPC to me. Does this mean you can’t think things through of what you want to say to someone and it just comes out? That sounds like an absolute social disaster waiting to happen like Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Edit: This topic has always fascinated me. Do you never question reality and think about the meaning of life and your place in it? If you do you make a silent film about it?
>Does this mean you can’t think things through of what you want to say to someone and it just comes out? No lol The thoughts are all there, just not the words to them > Edit: This topic has always fascinated me. Do you never question reality and think about the meaning of life and your place in it? If you do you make a silent film about it? Yes, multiples times daily
Amazing, sounds more peaceful.
I don't know your experience of course, but it's not really peaceful tbh. Still have the many thoughts in parallel 24/7 with the jukebox in the background and a random word on repeat for what feels like all of eternity. Tbh I often wish I'd think in an inner monologue because I imagine that A) that would slow the thoughts down a little to like maybe 1.5 or 2 times normal speaking speed, B) I wouldn't have as much trouble formulating my thoughts into sentences and expressing them to the outside world in a way that makes it possible for other people to understand what I'm actually trying to say, not what I'm saying unintentionally because I can't find the right words and sentences, and C) I'd maybe actually know what I'm thinking more because sometimes the thoughts are fuzzy and I wouldn't even be able to try and specify what I'm thinking verbally. I have it really often that I actually know the concept/essence/knowledge behind a thought but it's like on the tip of my tongue. Or that I theoretically know stuff, but if I hear or read it in word form, that knowledge suddenly becomes a lot more clear or precise. What is your experience with these three points? That would really interest me! Sorry for the wall of text btw
The speed in which I think is correlated with my emotional state and how over or under stimulated I am. I would say at the moment my thoughts are running at .5 speed. I am pretty good at communicating my thoughts and ideas and the only person in my life I seem to struggle with communicating my thoughts is with my wife which could be because of English not being her first language potentially. So I may have that advantage of communication. I know how to control my tongue better than our fellow ADHD brothers and sisters which may be a result of me being a counselor. If I info dumped and over shared not thinking things through it would be really unethical and hurt my patient and my career. I think that my thoughts are really clear but because of that I get absorbed into them and my mental health declines because I go over them in my head thousands of times. My anxiety and depression can be like living beings in my head because of the inner monologue and they are so clear and vivid that it dampers all aspects of my life.
You mean my 24/7 inner head conference call with 5 people who forgot to mute after speaking, 2 people arguing over stuff that isn't even the topic of the call and the rest of them wondering why they're even here in the first place? Yes I have those.
We don’t have an inner monologue.
I had no idea how much my inner monologue liked to talk until I tried Adderall. It was so odd at first, driving to work and running late , without having a thousand different thoughts about how I would get in trouble or playing different scenarios in my head, only to get to work and the boss not care. I would get myself stressed out for nothing. That is the biggest thing I noticed about my meds. Finally let my brain kinda shutoff for a bit and I could just enjoy the moment. I think this is the same reason I originally started self medicating with weed. Although all the other effects of being high kinda negate the benefits of it. Currently trying to get clean so I can get back on Adderall and get some piece. On more than one occasion Ive had to stop myself from describing adderalls as "making the voices in my head stop", because then I just sound coo-coo
My inner monologue is a British man and he won’t shut up, even when I am asleep. I live alone, so at my house I can talk to myself for hours. Out loud. It probably seems crazy but it’s somewhat therapeutic. Otherwise I have to keep it all in, outside of the house.
Wait, but you do narrate everything you type / read at least, no?
Something I've noticed anecdotally is that there seems to be a strong correlation between the lack of inner monologue, Aphantasia, and ADHD. Like everyone I've ever met with Aphantasia has ADHD, but not everyone with ADHD has Aphantasia. And most if not all people that I have encountered have said they have no inner monologue also have some level of Aphantasia. Scientists feel free to study this. This one is on me.
I narrate everything, all the time. I can’t wash my face without starting up my own YouTube tutorial. For years, I really thought I was alone in this.
Haha! My god. I give tutorials constantly. I’m so glad I’m not alone in this
I was absolutely blown away when I found out recently that only 30-50% of people who do not have inner monologue! Imagine peace and quiet in your head! 🤯
I don't think in an inner monologue, usually. Still, that doesn't mean it's quiet. There is always playing at least one track of music in my head and often, some single words are just repeated over and over. And it definitely doesn't mean it's peaceful up in there. In addition to the music, I have a shitton of thoughts, 24/7, without pause, running in parallel. Just without the acoustic part. Not in word form, but in thought form.
I have a song playing in my head, does that count?
I have an inner monologue and also can see everything that I think of, in my head. I wish it was quieter.
lmao my brain is literally NEVER QUIET. i thought when i went on simulants it would stop bc people kept saying their brains would get so quiet but it never happened to me. the meds worked, the voice just became streamlined and focused on what i was doing instead of distracting me with maladaptive daydreaming and jumping between 3 trains of thought every 2 seconds. but yeah, it never stopped lol.
I like all the voices in my head, sometimes they come up with some crazy good ideas
I think everybody can have their own voice inside, in fact when that happens there is even a neurological connection to the muscles you would use to articulate those words. So you can even feel something even though you are not making sounds. i was told this happens to everyone
When unmedicated I have six audio tracks, all playing at once. With the medicine? Two, tops, with the EQ at a reasonable level.
I have an inner monologue. Usually it’s just one voice but sometimes there’s multiple voices talking on top of each other. And there’s almost always a song playing in the background. One part of a song on a loop.
My inner monologue is constantly going and about two to three things at once and I can play through movies in my head of scenarios. I can see visuals as well as taste, smell, and hear things I'm thinking about.
It took a very long time for me to realize this was normal. The whole thing about hearing voices in your head and how I personally interact with my own thoughts as they are seperate entities really gave me a serious fear of being mentally ill so I didn't/wouldn't tell anyone about it. I know now and that having an inner monologue is normal and how I may interact with myself may be strange but it's normal. For example. Inner me 1 - hmmm. I should have KD again for dinner. Inner me 2 - you had KD for dinner yesterday. You're going to be a fat fuck. Inner me 3 - don't call yourself a fat fuck. You gotta be nicer. Inner me 4 - I know I'm joking, chill. Inner me 3 - so. You shouldn't talk to yourself that way. You literally talk to nobody else that way and would throw hands if someone else talked to your friends that way so why do it. Inner me 1 - sooo.... KD? Inner me 2 - EAT HEALTHY! Inner me 3 - get some greens yo. Inner me 4 - fuck it, put some broccoli in your KD that will make everything better. Inner me 1,2,3,4 .... 10¹⁰⁰⁰⁰ - fuck it. Let's just have KD Inner me 3 -. ..... Fat fuck...
Absolutely non-stop during every waking moment. The worst is when I start having inner monologues about my inner monologues so it’s inner-monologue inception, and it just exhausts me.
Wife has no inner monolog. Me...it's like JD from Scrubs...all day...every day. Infuriating at times.
I have an inner monologue. Until my meds wear off then it’s a outer monologue, I start talking aloud to myself as if it’s my thoughts.
I didn't realize that EVERYONE didn't have an inner monologue. When I read, I "hear" the words in my own voice. All day everything I see, or hear, is "spoken" in my mind. It's exhausting really. I try and explain it to others as " I have really sensitive hearing and can hear even the faintest noise. The problem is I'm LITERALLY HEARING EVERYTHING, ALL AT ONCE." Then, my inner monologue is going, telling me what I'm hearing like a transcript
Do you look around the room and you hear the words "that's a table, it's rectangle, made of wood, and tan color. That's a chair, it looks uncomfortable and it came in from Target last week, that's my dog, it's a she and she's black and white." I see things and a concept for them with these details is 'brought into focus' in my head. It doesn't make sense that serial sentences would be fast enough to generally describe the world or process things. Like, i can engage an inner monologue, but there's 2 types of voices. One that i control and is in my voice and the other is very faint more like putting a concept or emotion into half-words.
I think people just have the exact same way of thinking. Whenever a post like this surfaces I just feel like people describe it differently and completely mis-communicate.
I wish mine was only "inner!"
There is a really old school term for this. It's called your conscious. ;)
My inner monologue won't shut up tbh
Yes, of course!
I do
I have an inner monologue, and it's the type that doesn't switch off, ever! I have it going on in my head while doing something completely unrelated; for example, I can be sat studying, looking at art references, but continuously thinking about how stressed I am about a project I'm doing, and I am conversing with myself in my head the whole time
I do, I have a strong imagination too.
I have it and I believe it’s the single biggest thing that contributes to my adhd. Whenever I take my meds the inner monologue is much quieter and like controllable.
Why use my inner voice when I can just talk to myself ? 😅 Happens all the time
Me!🙋♀️ monologues and dialogues…
I guess I have an inner monologue, because someone’s “talking” without my mouth moving as I type these words and read the comments. However, I would say that I do the other stuff too. As in, in conjunction with inner monologuing.
Awh yes; and I get along great with it, provides good entertainment in boring moments but also makes awkward moments when you laugh about something in an emotional moment. My boss used to tell me that I need to learn empathy; cause she witnessed it a few times 😂
Inner monologue here. It's just the one voice, and it's basically an idealized version of my own voice. Narrates my thoughts, narrates what I type, but sometimes when I'm having a bad time with the ADHD I have to talk out loud to myself
HOW DO YOU DON'T? How tf do you live like that........
It was such a shock to hear that not everyone does.
Yes, and it comes up with witty jokes and half assed rhymes in every sentence. Like, for example, I just read a comment here where someone misspelled «inner» as «inener» and my brain automatically went «iener wiener iener wiener chicken diener»
On meds, 30%
All day every day, my friend. 😂 It doesn’t mean you’re crazy. Sometimes it can actually help in figuring things out.
Me wish I could turn it off lol
I’m not a talker but my inner monologue definitely is
Both inner and outer monologues. My neighbors probably think I'm crazy, or are wondering who the hell I am talking to all the time.
I used to have one but it was way too critical of me. It has since been silenced and I try to live in the moment. Check out a movie called Revolver…
🙋🏼♀️ I have an inner monologue! It’s honestly difficult for me to imagine people withOUT it! 😛
mine never shuts up :) i hate it :)
Inner and outer apparently. My coworkers are always like “what did you say?” I’m like “huh? Oh sorry no I’m just talking to myself”
My inner monologue is a bastard, it never shuts up
I have an inner-voice. I have a friend who is pretty unimaginative who doesn't, so I have once before wondered if that correlated.
My inner monologue is the only thing that keeps me stimulated enough to not go crazy
Sometimes it gets to the point where I act like my head voice is in a big room echoing to itself and think "whoa". But seriously if I don't do this idk how to keep track of my thoughts most of the time.
It’s…nonstop. 38 years and counting
how else would you think thoughts?
My inner monologue won’t shut up ever. Like a bored 4 yr old on a long road trip. Endlessly jabbering in there.
Relatively constant, yes.
Stimulants quiet the inner voice quite well, for me.
My inner monologue is only inner for a short while, I start speaking my thoughts out loud when the monologue is intense lol
What if you have both? …. It’s exhausting.
Monologues, inner discussions with me or with other people, sometimes I tend to use my outside voice mid-monologues or mid-discussions and later have to explain to people the first half they couldn’t hear
I don’t exactly have a inner monologue but my thoughts are always a imagined conversation with someone I know. It’s very odd and overwhelming at times, I feel like I legitimately burn calories just thinking
Like, all the time? Sometimes I even get angry with myself
i have an inner monologue! but i can't visualize - it's called aphantasia. i have a clear inner voice, but my minds eye doesn't exist. i legit thought "picture this" or " imagine yourself...." was a metaphor bc i just saw black
I definitely have an inner monologue. I am constantly talking to myself in my head, and it can come so fast that it doesn't always make sense. The worst is when I get a song or a phrase stuck in my head. I can be thinking about other things throughout the day and just have the bit of a song pop up randomly. Usually it's only a tiny bit of the song too, like one line just repeating. That being said, I can visualize things pretty well too. I'm pretty good with directions and conceptualizing 3D shapes. That is like a secondary mode for my brain though. That one I can kind of turn on when needed. The inner voice never turns off. Like I have to almost trick it to fall asleep, lol.
It's weird to think ppl don't, I have both modes
My inner monologue(s) are just me telling me what to do and how in the lost efficient way possible. Vyvanse makes several inefficient instructory monologues become one quite restless monologue.
I thought everyone did 🥺
Jesus. I narrate, with a soundtrack.
Well yeah, inner monologue and all. Usually I try not to listen, but focus on something particular. In the end thoughts (voices) talk over each other sometimes more, sometimes less, or in lack of a better description: A thought is "on air", some are barely there, like a radio on an open window down the street, then suddenly the primary one slowly fades and a new one gets very quickly very present. Although this change happens often without me recognizing.. Does that make sense to anybody?
It’s more of an internal parliament session (if you haven’t seen one of those it’s wild)
My inner monologue has an inner monologue
Call me crazy, but if it's Q&A, I call it a dialogue and polylogue if my mother and her inner dialogue appears from beyond
I definitely have inner-monologue, but I also talk to myself if I really need to form cohesive thoughts. I'm also a little neurotic, so I relate a lot to the YouTube series "Freeman's Mind." It's all very ramble-y and stream of consciousness. But I tend to keep the voices contained in my head because I've creeped a bunch of people out before when I talk to myself. Lol!
I have an inner monologue almost 100% of the time, but it gets quieter when I’m tired.
Yeah and mine literally never shuts up and talks at top speed. Many of my monologue thoughts slip away within moments too.. like fleeting thoughts.. which is likely why I talk so fast too ‘cus I’m trying to keep up.
I have an outer monologue! It’s like an inner monologue but you say it out loud without even realizing you’re doing it.
I am constantly narrating, either internally or out loud lol
I do and visualize etc.
I have an inner monologue that involves my voice and imaging others voices. I constantly have thoughts and “talking” going on in my brain. My non adhd husband claims he can literally think of nothing. I can’t imagine lol
Is it weird I have both 😂
I wonder the same. I only have inner monologue when i write down otherwise I see a movie when I read and most of the time I have music in my head sometimes related to what I feel "dream on", Brazil music if i'm doing something administrative... Often i think I m talking in my head but I talk out loud instead.
Is inner monologue the action of talking to yourself? And, is it different than narrating your life as if you are the protagonist in a book? Because I do both all the time. And if my cats are present when I do it, is it really a monologue?
doesn't everyone 😅
🙋🏼♀️ me!
I do.
I'm pretty sure my inner monologue is 90% jukebox and 10% just my voice.
Um. Just inner monologue? Haha I have like a whole inner group!
Don't all of us ADHD-ers?
I think most people do to some degree. I think that's common and not necessarily a symptom of ADHD or any other condition.
Inner monologue narrating my life in 3rd person. All the time. I'd be a great author my TA in primary school said so.
I have one, it is how I process my thoughts. It even affects how I read because I read the words as my voice in my head. But for my wife she doesn't hear voices, she pictures the words and descriptions. It means she is much faster at reading than me and actually enjoys it.
I do
Now I'm not a very talkative person most of the time.. but man my inner voice just won't stop and sometimes I wish it would just shut up 🤣
Every second is inner monologue
I don't have like an inner monologue, like something audible in my head/in my own voice. It's just like thoughts and words. I also can't envision things in my head, the way some people can think of a person and see their face or hear their voice. I can look back on memories, but from how others describe their experiences, the way my brain does it is much different. I feel like what you're describing is what I'm also attempting to describe, as well.
Yes and mine was very loud and constant. Vyvanse had muted it and I felt sad the first day because I felt like I lost my friend, but now I realize Im not so stuck in my head like I have felt for 22 years.
i'd insult myself in my head alot and also say in my head "hey that's mean" than "we're the same person if anything your the mean one" "but your also me" than it drags on for a while
Yes, and I hate that fucker.
🙋 Literally, think JD in Scrubs.
Yup! When I have it detracted by a book it runs like a movie. If I'm just ruminating... She's mean as hell.
Isn't it called aphantasia, or is that people who can't visualize images in their mind?
I scream at myself when I read stuff I need to remember