Is talking to yourself healthy and normal?
Thursday, January 18, 2024.
Humans sometimes talk to themselves…
Consequently, researchers have been studying self-talk for a very long time.
Scientists have been fascinated by what humans say when they are talking to themselves, going back as early as the Victorian Era.
Why do we undertake talking to ourselves, and what do we hope to accomplish in doing so?
A century later, during the cognitive revolution of the 1970s, researchers and practitioners In sports psychology were keen on exploring ways in which self-talk shapes athletic performance outcomes.
I want to make a distinction between how self-talk is being defined in this blog post, as opposed to my earlier post on positive self-talk.
For the sake of this discussion, we’re defining self-talk as a verbal expression of an internal position or belief.
In other words, we’re not trying to manufacture new, more positive positive positions or beliefs…we’re simply taking stock of the inner feelings, non-verbal thoughts, and intuitions we notice having about about a situation through speaking to ourselves aloud.
In other words, what does it mean when a human only intends to direct their spoken words toward themselves?
Let’s look at this developmentally first.
I remember often speaking to myself aloud as a small child, and research assures us that it’s normal for children to talk to themselves, and it should not be a cause for concern for parents or caregivers.
But it was my “grandmother,” the old woman who orchestrated my purchase from my biological mother, who made me profoundly uncomfortable when she overheard me.
“You can talk to yourself when you have money in the bank.” She would say with a sneer.
Self-talk expedites the development of language, maintains sufficient stimulation for the brain and nervous system during a task, and even improves performance while completing said tasks.
It’s not unusual for the habit of self-talk to persist into adulthood, and, for the most part, is not generally considered a mental health issue.
Is talking to yourself healthy?
Talking to yourself, while culturally dubious, may have surprising benefits. Despite popular belief, it is indicative of no serious risks, unless you’re also experiencing a constellation of other symptoms of mental health distress, such as hallucinations, delusions, etc.
While performing a task with a set of instructions, self-talk may tend to improve control over the task, concentration, and performance. It may also enhance a human’s problem-solving skills.
A 2012 study examined how self-talk impacted the ability to search visually. The research indicated that self-talk while looking for a particular object, such as a cell phone, a lost set of keys, or trying to find products in a grocery store, may help a human find them sooner!
As I mentioned previously, research in sports psychology suggests that humans engaging in self-talk during sports could benefit them, depending on how they engage in self-talk and the message they convey to themselves.
For example, engaging in self-talk in a motivational or instructional mode might improve outcomes.
However, although negative self-talk may increase motivation during a sporting event, but it isn’t correlated with any sort of improved performance.
Be well, stay kind and Godspeed.
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