Talking Alone Can Be A Sign Of Good Psychological Health

Talking alone can help us improve our attention, concentration and complete a task. It can also help us in other cognitive and psychological processes.

Talking alone doesn’t make you crazy, quite the contrary. Internal self-talk aloud  can be extremely useful when we are completing a task or wanting to remember something important.

It is true that people who talk to themselves tend to hide it because it can be stigmatizing and they can quickly become the target of all eyes. Studies tell us, however, that  it can be very beneficial for our mental health.

It is usual for this private speech to be found especially in younger children. When we are little, we continually learn new things. This learning sometimes forces us to give ourselves self-instructions in order  to be able to better consolidate all the information.

On the other hand, if we have to perform a task that we have just learned and for which we are far from being experts,  it is very common that we let ourselves be guided by our own private discourse.

Self-instruction training

In 1969, psychologist Meichembaum  created a cognitive technique called “self-instruction training”. Its objective is to modify the internal dialogue of the person to facilitate the confrontation of a certain task, situation or event.

In general, it is used when what the individual says to himself is inappropriate or interferes with the performance of a specific task, or to act correctly in a situation.

This technique can be used with any type of population, from children to adults. The key is to learn to speak on your own,  whether aloud or quietly to cope well with a task.

The process consists of different phases. During each of them, the person must verbalize a self-instruction which helps him to act better.

• Definition of the problem:  “What should I do?” I have to know what to do exactly ”.
• Approach to the problem:  “What elements do I have to carry out this task? I have to take them all into account when I start working ”.
• Focusing attention:  “I have to pay attention to what I’m doing right now and try not to get distracted by other things.”
• Self-reinforcement:  “I must congratulate myself for the things I do well”.
• Verbalizations for dealing with mistakes:  “If I’m wrong, I can try to correct my mistake and, if I don’t, the next time I try, I’ll try to do it better.”
• Self-assessment:  “I have to pay attention to the way I do things”.
• Self-reinforcement:  “I must congratulate myself when I have done my job well”.

Self-study training has been effective for many psychological disorders such as ADHD, where the patient has difficulty focusing and fixing their attention on a goal. It can also be useful for the general population  because it increases concentration and, therefore, efficiency.

Other processes that talking alone improves

As we have seen,  speaking alone can help us improve our attention, focus, and complete a task. It can also help us in other cognitive and psychological processes.

Memory

We have seen that studying a lesson aloud allows it to be memorized better. This happens because  hearing ourselves out loud  causes this content to be recorded audibly.

When we need to retrieve this information, we’ll likely hear our internal voice verbalizing it as if it were audio tape. Therefore, speaking aloud alone  could be beneficial for students or people preparing for a presentation or a speech in front of an audience.

Talking Alone Improves Decision Making

Speaking alone  can help us make decisions when faced with a complex problem. Putting words to our thoughts out loud allows us to have a different approach.

When we verbalize all of the options we have about a circumstance,  we can better order information,  let go of thoughts that interfere with decision making, and more clearly come to a solution.

Self-reinforcement

Thinking of positive phrases for oneself and verbalizing them  can also be helpful for our psychological health. It is very important, when we are successful in doing something that we set out to do, that we empower ourselves.

It improves our self-esteem and motivates us to take on other challenges. For example, if we have worked a lot for an exam and pass it, it is very beneficial to say to yourself: “You did the right thing, you deserve it! “.

Talking alone improves social skills

Talking alone helps us train our social skills. These skills are important because they  allow us to bond in a healthy way with those around us.

Therefore, speaking alone in front of a mirror practicing tone of voice, what we are going to say, what phrase we are going to choose, etc., is a good test of assertiveness. This allows us to earn points before exposing ourselves to real interpersonal situations.

Pure obsessive-compulsive disorder

In pure obsessive-compulsive disorder, that is to say that which does not integrate compulsions of a mental or motor nature,  we have been able to see that speaking alone supposes a lot of benefits.

Verbalizing the obsessions several times a day allows the patient to get used to their thinking and reduce their anxiety. Thus, talking alone with oneself is not a thing reserved for madmen but  constitutes a precious therapeutic tool.

So now you have several good reasons for allowing yourself to speak alone from time to time, without judging yourself and without fear of judgment from others. Private self-dialogue is psychologically beneficial. Practicing it can help us with everyday cognitive-type processes  or if we are suffering from some type of psychological disorder.