People Are Just Realising That Some Don't Have An Internal Monologue

When you're by yourself, do you have a bunch of sentences that you say inside your head?

If you do, then chances are you have an internal monologue. If you're one of these people, then you probably can't even imagine a world where your thoughts aren't said internally.

But, there are loads of people out there that have no internal monologue.

While this has been news for decades, people are only just realising this shocking fact thanks to a post on social media.

Kyle wrote on Twitter: "Fun fact: some people have an internal narrative and some don't as in, some people's thoughts are like sentences they 'hear', and some people just have abstract non-verbal thoughts, and have to consciously verbalise them and most people aren't aware of the other type of person."

Loads of people who replied to the tweet seemed to be in the former category, with some describing their inner thoughts as a podcast that never ends.

However, others have revealed what it's like to not have that 'voice' inside your head that says the things you're thinking.

One person wrote: "I've always been jealous of people who can hear their thoughts. Verbalising abstract though is so hard and makes me feel dumb. It's a skill you have to learn."

via GIPHY

Another added: "Being a non-verbal thinker it annoys me that I have to almost speak out what I'm writing and reading. But I love the silence and imagining mathematical theorems."

A third said: "I don't have an internal monologue. I think if I had to listen to myself talk in full sentences all day I would stick a whisk up my nose and scramble my brains until there was nothing left."

Personally, I say loads of things to myself, even when I'm around people and sometimes it can be annoying. Picture any TV show or movie that has a constant voiceover, like Netflix's You or Christopher Nolan's Memento, and that's what we mean by an internal monologue.

Netflix

An internal monologue might not necessarily be with words; it can also be done with images, or any other symbols, according to Russell T. Hurlburt, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada.

Of course, sometimes having a internal monologue can be detrimental because the words you say to yourself can be negative.

Thankfully, strategies can be put in place so that if you are having that negative, critical self-talk, you can also turn it around and make it positive.

So if you have an internal monologue then great. If you don't, then also great. There's no right or wrong, just existing.

Topics: News, Interesting

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie