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Is is normal to have conversations with people in your mind?

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Do you have conversations with imaginary versions of your friends in your head?
Poll ended at 01 Nov 2014, 6:06 pm
Yes, often. 76%  76%  [ 61 ]
Sometimes. 19%  19%  [ 15 ]
I've done it before, but only once or twice. 3%  3%  [ 2 ]
I've never done this before. 3%  3%  [ 2 ]
Total votes : 80

Cryptex
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28 Oct 2014, 8:12 am

Talking to imaginary friends? Never. But I do talk to people I know in my head.
I don't have long, full conversations. But I think about what I could say in future conversations. Sometimes out loud, sometimes I don't.

Talking to myself about random stuff? Yes, very often.
Although, when I talk to myself (usually in my head, but sometimes very loud), it's a bunch of random things: quotes from a movie or commercial, swearing, things to stay positive like "come on, you can this", or "ahh, that wasn't so bad".

And I almost always do it in English for some reason, while I actually live in Belgium. Still don't know the reason behind it, it just happens.



Campin_Cat
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28 Oct 2014, 9:03 am

Lukecash12 wrote:
More than anything I do this in retrospect. Anyone else here do this a lot in retrospect? I figured other ASD people might have the same hangup, of trying over and over to figure out something that happened, thinking of what you would rather have said.



Yeah, I know what you mean. I replay conversations all-the-time, but I don't talk to the person, I say (in my head): "I wish I would have told her / him this", etc.



anthropic_principle
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29 Oct 2014, 1:28 am

sure, but executing them in reality is another thing entirely.
It boggles my mind how just the presence of someone can turn me from a good conversationalist in my head to a crippled and helpless one.



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29 Oct 2014, 5:45 am

I totally do this. I sometimes do it before I'm about to be in a social situation, but I do it big-time in retrospect after the fact, as someone also mentioned here. Because usually after a social encounter I'm filled with frustrations and embarrassment and I'm going over the conversation in my head, figuring out what I said wrong, what I failed to say, and what I WISH I'd said and want to say "next time."

I'm also usually speaking these thoughts out loud, but I try to only do that when alone in my own home later. I've caught myself already starting to say my thoughts out loud while in a public place, and I stop that because I realize people think you're crazy. But I'm only ever talking to myself and just "thinking out loud."

Hearing my own voice saying "What I should have said to Mary is 'that's not a comfortable situation for me actually....' -- so try to remember that next time....oh crap WHY can't I remember?" helps me order my thoughts and find out what's really going on with me emotionally, much more clearly than just thinking the thoughts in my head.