Pacing back and forth and talking to yourself.

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I pace around and talk to myself but only when at home; I live alone and have privacy to do it. I do it the most when I'm feeling stressed about something. Sometimes it's my "alert" that I'm stressed even when I wasn't aware just how anxious I'm feeling. The talking is never to anyone, just to myself. It's like just talking my thoughts out loud rather than keeping them in my head. It's mostly tortured, agonizing stuff, berating myself over something, rehearsing something I'm either hoping to say or feel I should have said, or it's meaningless rambling -- like, I'm anxious about work but I start pacing around talking about the merits of different methods of coffee making.

I'm thankful nobody is there to see it...

I can also just do the talking to myself without the pacing -- I have let some of that slip out in a public place but I try hard not to let that happen.

I feel like the talking and the pacing are both a soothing practice that seems to act as an outlet for my stress, but at the same time it's also an alert to just how stressed I am. Sometimes it soothes me but sometimes it just makes me feel even more upset because if I talk about what's making me unhappy I can start to cry or get angry at that specific problem itself.

I pace when under stress, bigtime. I also talk to myself and think out loud a lot. My husband gets annoyed because I think out loud around him and hell respond to me and I'll say something like "I know, I wasn't even talking to you, I was just thinking out loud" and then he gets upset and says "when people think out loud it's called talking, and if you do it when you're around someone else then of COURSE they'll assume you're talking to them" to which I reply "we've been together for 24 years, you should know by now that doesn't apply to me".

My mom was fully NT and used to joke that when she wanted an intelligent conversation she often resorted to just talking to herself. I liked that explanation and sometimes use it.

I also get stuck in endless loops inside my head. Like, in the shower I always say my prayers and they're scripted and I say htem the same every day, which means I go into a sort of auto-pilot when doing so, and don't pay full attention to it, so sometimes I will suddenly "come to" almost and hear myself saying the same exact phrase for like the fourth time and will realize I got stuck there like a record player skipping and repeating the same phrase, and I will often have to start over completely because once I'm stuck in repeat, I usually cannot mentally figure out what comes next.

Same thing happens with other things, like yesterday I was filling out a deposit slip which I usually do off-handedly, in auto-pilot form, but for some reason I stopped partway through and really LOOKED at it and that caused me to forget the last four digits of my account number and I had to distract myself and start over in order to successfully write it down because once I was stuck and knew it, my brain refused to go any further.

I'm sorry for bringing up this old topic, but I'm curious if NT's "talk to themselves" as much as Aspie's do?

The reason I ask is that, some information I have read states that AS may be inherited. I am trying to figure out if I may have gotten it from my mother's side of the family or from my father's side. As a kid, I spent much more time with my mother alone, and I remember she was constantly "talking to herself" in the house. It used to make me uncomfortable because this action was stereotypically considered "crazy behavior" and I worried others might think my mom was insane. Well, I'm now "talking to myself" all the time, and I'm often reminded of my mother. By the way, she wasn't insane, and neither am I. Well, not yet, anyway.

I've never personally heard any other NT's talking to themselves. So, I'm curious if this is a trait or symptom of Asperger's and did my mother have it, or do other's here have experience with this occurring with NT's? Thanks for the replies.

I pace sometimes, not always -- have never kept track systematically so don't know how often or long. Ditto talking to myself. It seems to me I've done that more in the latter than the earlier part of my life and that it followed a period of loneliness. I fell into the habit and have never been entirely able to shake it.

Well, speaking from an NT stand point, I pace around and talk to myself. I do this when I am stressed, nervous or scared about something. I will talk out the problem, and try to figure out the answers out loud...

greetings all,

thank you for this post! i am a pacer, and yes, i carry on a very intelligent conversation with myself. i once read a quote...if you see me talking to myself, don't be alarmed, i am getting expert advise!

when i pace, it is almost in a frantic mode, as if i have to get to one side of the house to the other very quickly. i realize when i am doing this and sometimes it frustrates the heck out of me. i usually try to divert and do something like the dishes, laundry or walking outside to help me through it.

with peace,

JanusOne

I never talk to myself, unless I'm preparing for some social situation and "practicing" with myself. I frequently find myself pacing back and forth down the hall humming the same tune over and over again at my house. We have these tile large floors, and I always keep my feet within the tiles. I guess it's one of my many stimming habits.

I do that from time to time. It's my way of sorting things out and preparing myself for situations.

I do this a lot in private but I am able to control myself in public. When I am excited or feel a strong emotion I may pace or jump back-and-forth. I usually am daydreaming when I do this. I may walk a little faster in a public place but I try not to. Sometimes when I'm angry at myself I may call myself names or if I'm worried about something I may talk to myself about it in private a little.

Definitely. I pace around my apartment and speak conversations out loud, often multiple times until I feel like I "nailed" it (said clearly and thoroughly what I had to say). This is with either real people or imaginary people. I also talk about my life, describe any idea that comes to mind, explore ideas about whatever... And it feels soothing and really good. Sometimes out hiking I'll do the same, but quietly so no one hears...

I find I need to be in motion to think freely. I talk to myself because it helps me to think cohesively.

I talk to myself all the time.

I do this all the time. I probably talk to myself more than anyone else.

It really annoys my mother, she doesn't really seem to understand.

I pace back and forth and though I don't talk to myself, I am thinking to myself while doing it.

I don't pace back and forth. I pace by blocks and routes therefore I pace in the public.

That, and while talking to myself.


Yes, I do pace for miles and talk to myself. In broad daylight. In public. With people DO noticing it.
Even while jaywalking across a busy street. Or in an open market where transactions happen. Even if it's the summer's high noon, or dark lightless nights, or during a storm...

Just anywhere I go. I don't care what people think. They have their own business to mind.

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