Tangentially related, but I'm adding this as it may help someone some day.
I never really thought about it until a co-worker, out of the blue, asked me, and I had to give words to the phenomenon.
I was walking in the hall at work one day, and said co-worker came up to me and asked. "Hey, distantaidenn, why do you always seem so happy?" I was a bit taken aback, because I never smile, but I suppose I do have an upbeat, and almost relaxed attitude about me.
Then I told him, "You know that voice in your head?" Assuming, most people have one. "Well, the voice I use is constantly giving me positive feedback. Even when things are going bad, it's supporting me and telling me anything is possible."
Until that coworker had asked me, I didn't even realize it, as it was just something I learned to do. When I was younger, and still trying to "figure people out", the voice was somewhat negative and doubtful. I lived a life of confusion and fear. But since adulthood, the one person that I can always count on to keep me upbeat is that little ever present voice, supporting me and pushing me forward each day.
- Does everyone have internal monologue? Google results aren’t clear about this, it seems everyone does but at varying degrees.
- I’m personally overriding mine with podcasts, because my thoughts are extremely dark. The only place where I can channel my thoughts positively is when interacting with people and at work, since I have tasks to do. Better not let that mind wander ;) (I’m joking but many people know how much past experiences can haunt — I miss when I was 15 and able to dream about an imaginary world where we’d invent AI and how we’d organize society about it).
Therapy can only explain things, not solve them. I’m a man. A man can be dead in a ditch, he won’t get help. A woman or a dog would. Such is life. Can’t change that. I have been to about 200 therapy sessions of 5 different psychologists. Cost me thousands. But people don’t offer their nice side to men. Can’t change that. Not many other ways than silencing your internal monologue to shut up the frustration. We are supposed to take all of them, together, and not ask.
Of course it can solve them. If none of your therapists offered you tools to help you get out of a web of thoughts that you suffer under, that is on them. Of course, if it is your own choice then it is on you :)
For what it's worth, what you're talking about just isn't my experience at all. Perhaps it is your perception, and how that impacts the world around you (both what you see and how people respond to you). It's really no different than reading about a car and seeing that car in traffic a hundred times. You see what you focus on - in this case you're focusing on whatever it is you're seeing here and therefore you see it everywhere. That doesn't make it true.
I don't have an autonomous internal monologue, but I can speak in my mind, meaning just like actual speech but without the physical sound making. But it's not some other entity saying stuff.to be honest, if someone told me they hear voices in their head I would assume they are not 100% alright mentally, which is totally okay of course but I'd suspect perhaps they should seek treatment. Now that I'm seeing so many commenters (probably a biased self selected sample though) saying they hallucinate all the time,see entities and hear voices, I'm less sure and perhaps it's normal?
That sounds exactly like a book[1] I've been reading to my toddler. It hadn't occurred to me while reading you could experience the titular "moon" so viscerally.
I never really thought about it until a co-worker, out of the blue, asked me, and I had to give words to the phenomenon.
I was walking in the hall at work one day, and said co-worker came up to me and asked. "Hey, distantaidenn, why do you always seem so happy?" I was a bit taken aback, because I never smile, but I suppose I do have an upbeat, and almost relaxed attitude about me.
Then I told him, "You know that voice in your head?" Assuming, most people have one. "Well, the voice I use is constantly giving me positive feedback. Even when things are going bad, it's supporting me and telling me anything is possible."
Until that coworker had asked me, I didn't even realize it, as it was just something I learned to do. When I was younger, and still trying to "figure people out", the voice was somewhat negative and doubtful. I lived a life of confusion and fear. But since adulthood, the one person that I can always count on to keep me upbeat is that little ever present voice, supporting me and pushing me forward each day.