Sounds Repeating (play back) in head

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Does anyone have this or know what it's called? This is NOT hearing voices, or actually hearing anything (in the ears). It's a layer of undercurrent in the mind, 'hearing' sounds that have been heard by the ears hours before and are played back.

Mostly it's music but when music hasn't been heard by the ears for several days it tends to be a tv commercial song or one word that sticks (an unusual word) and replays over and over. Or in the case of a recent argument, it is the harsh words heard in the argument that loop.

It is not distracting, it does not sound louder than thoughts or louder than actual sounds heard by the ear. But it is a soundtrack that plays continually.

I believe it has something to do with why we process arguments so slowly. In the moment there are SO many overwhelming things like person, emotion, background noise, etc and we often freeze up (gridlock) and do not respond. NTs tend to believe we don't feel because we don't immediately respond, but after we're alone I think we process each layer of that encounter, thinking through the sights, sounds, smells, emotions, and it runs over and over in our heads for days as we process.

But I digress, does anyone have the replay thing (especially for music) ?

Yes, I know exactly what you're talking about, but I haven't encountered a name for it. I work part-time in a pharmacy and I often find myself mentally repeating drug names that I've seen throughout the day like dulaglutide or aripriprazole.

I do think 'getting a song stuck in your head' is fairly common even amongst NTs, but a word or phrase I'd say would be less so.

I think this is normal. My mind sometimes plays things that I'd heard recently, movie scenes, conversations, and most frequently, music. The only time it completely stops is when I'm very tired.

The things that playback are things that I like, and in the case of music, it's usually the last song I'd heard. Sometimes I get a song stuck in my head for hours, and when I open my music player to listen to it, I find that it was the song last played in my play list. This phenomenon is called an earworm, and it's very common in the population.

As for playing back conversations, I do that if I couldn't process something in the conversation. For example, if someone says something that I don't understand at the time, it leaves me puzzled, so I will repeat the conversation later in my head in order to process and understand it better.

As long as it's not distracting, it's good as it keeps you from getting bored.

I understand the term 'earworm' and it's more than that. All people get songs stuck in their head but this is a constant loop, not just every now and then when I hear "it's a small world"

I've been testing this out by asking people (people close to me who won't think I'm crazy) to stop right now and is there anything playing in their head?

I'll ask everyone reading this the same thing. Provided that there is NOT music in our environment that is playing, if it's quiet, do you have music playing?

Everyone I've asked has stopped to think about it, and reported back "no". I wake up and 'listen' and hear what song is playing. It's different, not just the last one I heard. And it seems to change. So I have wondered if I have a bit of a photographic memory but for sounds. (I do have a bit of that anyway for visuals and text)

I wonder if people sort of memorize sounds like we do words and visual information, and then it just plays back. I can't turn it off entirely.

If this is one that's too weird for even this forum, I'm going to become worried.

I was hoping there was a known reason or condition (or name) for it.

I always have music playing in my head,
not really music that I have heard on the radio or commercial,
but like music I know,
or music I don't know and my head is composing it,
mainly classical music in that case.
It is so severe that it intrudes my ability to speak or think sometimes, the thinking to form sentences,
and my psych wants to treat me with Abilify (antipsychotic) for it and for severe anxiety (related to autism),
but I refuse as side-effects are too damaging and actually I love the music in my head.
Started when I was 4 years old,
that was mainly classical music as I loved it very much,
but I also heard compositions I did not know and they became more and more and I saw colours to it, bright and beautiful colours.

It sounds like you are at peace with your personal concerto, Eloa!

If it interferes with life, that is a problem.

But I'd like to add - sensory issues are the very cornerstone of Autism. Our senses are definitely *different* and to varying degrees. It's our wiring.

The drugs can be scary but if they help you to tone this down a little (so you can function) then they would be quite useful. You should probably give them a try.

Could that be like echolalia but unexpressed? You're repeating things in your mind?
Or maybe it's a different thing.
I have an undercurrent of music running in the back of my head a lot of the time (sometimes non-music but usually music) and it's like it runs parallel to everything else though I can hum from it sometimes or say the things, sometimes for a few minutes before realising it and not even knowing why that thing is playing through in my head, it just seems to be there.

I have always had this a lot too. It gets worse when I'm tired. It can also be words repeated from my inner monologue as opposed to something I've heard. Sometimes I end up mouthing them outloud in that case.

Something that felt similar that I've never heard anyone else talk about before which I got as a child was that I'd imagine the sensation of moving a body part, say swinging my arms around, and I could not get it to stop (in my head) I could sometimes get my arms to change direction, but never stop. (This was all in my head, I wasn't actually moving my arms, it was like when you're asked to imagine performing a physical action without doing it)

YES Santarii - exactly like that.

I did google Echolalia when I was trying to figure this out, because I thought it was similar. I just haven't found anything that describes this exactly. But I believe it must be, just not spoken aloud?

I do also repeat myself, particularly when I'm upset. I repeat the important thing I'm trying to get across or something that I just heard. People have told me about this my whole life. Sometimes they get upset thinking I'm being rude and just "rubbing it in" with the repetition but I'm not. It's not about them, it's my weird thing. I sure that's a shade of Echolalia.

Thank you for thinking along the same lines. I love this site because it helps so much to have validation of some of these things.

I, too, can change my focus inside my head to "see what's playing" just like you would if a radio was running softly in the background, and I can hum along. Sometimes it's a song I like, sometimes not. I don't seem to be able to 'change the channel' very easily though.

Very interesting, aradesh.

Have you also experienced the feeling with your body parts before you get out of bed in the morning? Like in your head you are moving but you're not actually moving at all? I have that when I'm very tired. It goes beyond imagining and actually feels like I'm sitting up, putting my feet on the floor, standing, moving around and getting my routine started but then a jolt and I'm actually still in bed.

That's always disheartening! It's a sad thing to think you're making progress and then to find you have to start over and drag yourself out for real.

These have to be sensory issues. They must be neuro issues. I think all of these mentioned here are related and all very aspie-ish.

The only common thread I'm reading with these replies is that all of these are more pronounced when we're tired. Or when we're Over-Tired. I guess the key then is to try hard to get plenty of rest and minimize these issues?

Oh yes. I call it my mental jukebox. Not an official name, but as words are one of my special interests I have to come up with words for things, and it works. Usually what my jukebox plays is music, sometimes songs at random or songs that go with whatever situation I'm in. For example, right now since I just typed this, it is playing that Alabama song that goes, "In the corner of my mind stands a jukebox." I kid you not, that is what I am hearing. If it's not music then it will be something from a movie I've seen or an audiobook I've listened to or the memory of what someone said. It doesn't have to be recent either. I get treated to stuff I heard as a kid all the time, some good and some bad.

Unfortunately there is a dark side to mine. It happened all the time when I was a kid, usually at night for some stupid reason, but it still happens today occasionally and it freaks me out. I sometimes here voices, mine or people I know, making weird noises. The most common one sounds like the word mama, but only the first or second syllable, not the whole word, and it is said in a singsong, creepy voice that would make a great soundtrack to a Stephen King movie. I also hear the sounds like a record or tape being played backwards, and it's voices of people I know a lot of times, or if a radio or TV is on or I'm hearing someone speaking IRL, my stupid mental jukebox will play back their voice making backwards noises or the other weird noises I described. Oh my gosh, this is so terrifying and I hate it. This is what I imagine hell would sound like.

Yes. I have this. I call it internal Echochalia, but basically it's a constant river flow of images memories things people have said things I've seen, I don't really have an Internal dialogue that involves myself as a person, I don't have a sense of self which is why I forget to shower or brush my teeth but I'm constantly thinking about other people, things ive seen, images, memories, movies, TV shows, clips. It's like a computer - when I think verbally, it's either me describing the image in words OR lyrics and dialogue of characters talking in my head as I eavsedrop. People say I have a brilliant and creative mind when I feel like a stupid idiot

That dark side is frightening

I think I can relate though. The things that get stuck in a loop sometimes ARE frightening, or upsetting and they're very difficult (sometimes impossible) to change.

Right now the song 'Take Me to Church' by Hozier is on inside my jukebox.

All the time!

I'll have sounds that I like repeat over and over in my head. Anything from my friend's voice saying a certain word, to my camera's shutter.

The only way I can describe it is a photographic memory, but for sounds...