Is Talking to Yourself a Sign of Your Madness?

It is not a secret that many people talk to themselves. Usually, it happens in the form of an internal monologue, but sometimes people talk to themselves out loud.

Many people have noticed that they are talking to themselves out loud think that they have some mental problem. But do not rush to visit the doctor. The scientists who study this phenomenon say that conversations with yourself in most cases are not a deviation from the norm but in many ways, they even can be useful.

It helps you to improve your intelligence

Experts from Bangor University found that talking to yourself may be useful for our intelligence. They examined 28 volunteers who were offered to do some tests. It turned out that people who were allowed to consult with themselves while doing the tasks did them faster and gave more right answers in comparison with those who had to be silent. The scientists say that talking to yourself allows having better concentration because in this situation you stop your internal dialog which may interrupt your thoughts.

It helps you to cope with your emotions

The undeniable benefit of such monologues lies in the fact that they help a person to streamline their thoughts, coordinate their actions, and analyze the problems they have in detail. A conversation with yourself improves an emotional state of a person. The opportunity to express out loud all the accumulated emotions, anxiety, or anger brings relief. Moreover, having discussed an unpleasant or annoying situation with yourself you will be able to talk about it with other people in a more reasonable way.

It helps you to reach your goals

Talking to yourself is an effective way to find a solution to a difficult problem. In order to overcome difficulties and get desirable things, psychologists offer to use a special method. You have to make a list of your goals and read it out loud from time to time and gradually you will understand what you should do and how to overcome all the obstacles.

It helps you to remember things

An American psychologist Gary Lupyan conducted an interesting experiment. 20 volunteers were divided in two groups. The first group had to remember the list of things by ear, the second had to repeat the words aloud. Then all the people were asked to go to a supermarket and show the things they remembered. The results showed that people, who repeated the list of objects out loud, find them faster than those who had to keep silent.

When you say a word out loud your conscious immediately gets the image of the object from your memory and thus helps you to remember it. But it works only with the things the image of those you know from your personal experience. (The research of Gary Lupian can be found here.)

It helps you to be confident

Many psychologists recommend rehearsing your speech in front of a mirror while preparing to an interview, a date with the one you like, or just before an important conversation. It helps you to remember the things you want to say, be ready for different questions, and also it may help you to control your mimics, to understand what facial expressions are appropriate for the situation.

As you can see, if you talk to yourself it does not mean that you go mad. It only means that you are able to cope with different tasks and difficult emotions in your life better in comparison with those who prefer to keep silent.