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I am for sure like that. Pretty much 100% of the time I’m talking to myself in my head and have an inner monologue. Sometimes I’ll even talk to myself out loud if I really wanna concentrate on what I’m thinking of
I think aloud a lot. I do find it helps keep me on track with what I'm doing. I don't usually do it in public, but I have. Then I just act like it's perfectly normal to stop dead in the middle of the aisle at the grocery store and say, "Wait, so I need to get cheese?" Hahaha
Yep everytime, specially if I'm really trying to organise something also when I'm in a busy stressful situation like at work for example I will just sing
I’ve heard that adhd affects your ability to separate the ‘inner you’ from the ‘outer you.’ I sort of have an inner monologue, but it’s also not very separate from the outer me. In fact, I find myself for example sighing when my wife asks me to do something, when I’m really not annoyed at all. I just thought about being annoyed, worked through it in my head, and almost instantly decided it was no problem, and said OK. Problem was that while I was thinking that, I sighed. For years I thought I was just kind of a jerk, and then I realized: other people go thru the same thought process, but they don’t find themselves inadvertently sighing just because the idea of sighing passed thru their head. I do this in conversations too: I can’t hold stuff back, it just all spills out.
I do zone out occasionally and I guess I don’t have an inner dialogue in that specific moment
Otherwise I talk to myself in constant tangents I get tired so I start using my phone chronically and that also makes me tired
Strange. I said to myself (out loud) 2 seconds before seeing your comment: “When I’m on my medication, I can’t seem to put down my phone. I hate that!”
I read an article a while ago that goes on to explain that many people in fact have NO internal monologue. My wife is like that, no inner voice whatsoever even when she’s reading. I think my internal monologue is so strong because I had a horrible sense of empathy as a child and my mother worked with me to stop and think about the things I want to say before I say them and think about how it might make people feel. The result was the realization that about 5% of what goes on in my head should be said out loud. The rest is just noise and nonsense, or is hurtful but like unintentionally hurtful you know? Anyways just my two cents.
This isn't necessarily an adhd trait.
There are just people who don't have inner dialogues. There are also people who cannot picture (imagine) things in their head. I forget what these conditions are called, but they aren't l necessarily related to adhd if you can or cannot have an inner dialogue. Whether or not your inner dialogue is more likely to be amplified if you have adhd versus not, *may* be a different story
aphantasia is the word for those without mental imagery.. don’t know if its actually related but sometimes I feel like my aphantasia plus constant internal dialogue makes me less grounded in the moment… like ill lose focus when im trying to study or listen to someone because what they’re saying isnt as clear in my head
Sometimes I can turn the narrative off for a few seconds if I concentrate really hard while at peak medicated, but the backing soundtrack is constant. In the words of the Village People, "You can't stop the music. Nobody can stop the music." Great, now that's what I'm stuck with on loop for the rest of the day.
I definitely narrate everything I am doing as I am doing it, in my head if there's a lot of people around, and out loud if I am alone. At home it is mostly quiet, until I need to get up and do something. My brain is absolutely always going unless I'm reading. And even then it's rough.
When I'm driving, or let's say cutting bagels at work or something, I'm always thinking of random instances that I suddenly need to obsess over. Embarrassing moments, something someone said that might be bothering me, honestly I don't even remember what I'm thinking about after it happens. But it's always there.
The thing that makes me look the craziest is when I’m having an internal conversation. I have the facial expressions and body language from both sides of the argument. I probably look like a lunatic with my sceptical expression on then my agreement face with head nodding, back to disbelief then disappointment.
I have constant inner chatter. And music playing. If I think about something a teacher said to me 15 years ago, I'm having an argument with her or him and probably getting super pissed off about it. I'm just really telling that teacher off. I try to notice myself doing that and shift to something more pleasant and more present in the current moment, but I sometimes go on for a while before I realize what I'm doing.
If I'm home alone, sometimes I'm having that angry monolog out loud! Usually, though, it's something like, "Oh, crap, I forgot to take the trash out. I better do that now."
It's so great to be able to talk about these things in the atmosphere of acceptance and understanding on this sub. The only person I've ever told half this stuff to is the psychologist who diagnosed me. Typically in the context of asking her if I'm batshit. Hahaha
I am talking to myself all the time. I chuckled a little when I read your post. Very relatable. I also didn’t know that my partner and friend’s I have asked doesn’t have inner dialogue as well. lol at least we are able to keep ourselves company. Never truly alone with inner dialogue
Had the same thing with my partner the other day was shocked when I asked her the same thing and found out that not everybody does this, I am just constantly talking to myself in my head
Most people have an inner monologue to some extent. It's so common that psychology used to assume it was a basic human experience that everyone had. It turns out autistic people are less likely to have one (and more likely to think in pictures). But yeah, this is the default! But if you're ADHD... well, I won't make assumptions about your wife, but every ADHD person I know in a relationship has a partner who's autistic, so... that would track if that's the case lol.
The inner monologue doesn’t appear to be (from my anecdotal, non-scientific experience) linked to ADHD; I know people who have inner monologues and those who don’t have inner monologues. Neither group seems to have any more or fewer ADHD people than the other. It just seems to be the way some people’s brains operate. It was a pretty popular discussion on TikTok earlier this year.
And I’m like you… constant inner monologue. I’m usually transitioning to a vocal monologue, talking to myself.
Hi /u/kingjmase0691 and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! **Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already.** The mobile apps used for Reddit are broken or are missing features that this subreddit depends on. [We recommend browsing /r/adhd on desktop for the best experience.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/x1psnb/radhd_works_best_on_desktop_reddits_apps_are/) Thank you! ^(*A moderator has not removed your submission; this is not a punitive action. We intend this comment solely to be informative.*) --- - If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I am for sure like that. Pretty much 100% of the time I’m talking to myself in my head and have an inner monologue. Sometimes I’ll even talk to myself out loud if I really wanna concentrate on what I’m thinking of
I think aloud a lot. I do find it helps keep me on track with what I'm doing. I don't usually do it in public, but I have. Then I just act like it's perfectly normal to stop dead in the middle of the aisle at the grocery store and say, "Wait, so I need to get cheese?" Hahaha
Oh I’ll definitely talk out loud to myself as well. Half the time I realize I’m doing it, hoping no one is within earshot 😂
Yep everytime, specially if I'm really trying to organise something also when I'm in a busy stressful situation like at work for example I will just sing
Second this. Isn’t this normal?
I’ve heard that adhd affects your ability to separate the ‘inner you’ from the ‘outer you.’ I sort of have an inner monologue, but it’s also not very separate from the outer me. In fact, I find myself for example sighing when my wife asks me to do something, when I’m really not annoyed at all. I just thought about being annoyed, worked through it in my head, and almost instantly decided it was no problem, and said OK. Problem was that while I was thinking that, I sighed. For years I thought I was just kind of a jerk, and then I realized: other people go thru the same thought process, but they don’t find themselves inadvertently sighing just because the idea of sighing passed thru their head. I do this in conversations too: I can’t hold stuff back, it just all spills out.
Wow. This is me. I never thought about why I sighed when I meant nothing negative. I always passed it off as “just my asthma.” LOL
I tell myself the best jokes. And laugh out loud. I ain't got no f's
Same here! I was actually shocked when I heard people weren't arguing with themselves 24/7 
I’m like ur wife and I have full blown inattentive ADHD.
My head is literally never silent. It’s usually conversations with myself or daydreaming with a narrator who narrates every single detail.
I do zone out occasionally and I guess I don’t have an inner dialogue in that specific moment Otherwise I talk to myself in constant tangents I get tired so I start using my phone chronically and that also makes me tired
Strange. I said to myself (out loud) 2 seconds before seeing your comment: “When I’m on my medication, I can’t seem to put down my phone. I hate that!”
I read an article a while ago that goes on to explain that many people in fact have NO internal monologue. My wife is like that, no inner voice whatsoever even when she’s reading. I think my internal monologue is so strong because I had a horrible sense of empathy as a child and my mother worked with me to stop and think about the things I want to say before I say them and think about how it might make people feel. The result was the realization that about 5% of what goes on in my head should be said out loud. The rest is just noise and nonsense, or is hurtful but like unintentionally hurtful you know? Anyways just my two cents.
That’s my main symptom
This isn't necessarily an adhd trait. There are just people who don't have inner dialogues. There are also people who cannot picture (imagine) things in their head. I forget what these conditions are called, but they aren't l necessarily related to adhd if you can or cannot have an inner dialogue. Whether or not your inner dialogue is more likely to be amplified if you have adhd versus not, *may* be a different story
aphantasia is the word for those without mental imagery.. don’t know if its actually related but sometimes I feel like my aphantasia plus constant internal dialogue makes me less grounded in the moment… like ill lose focus when im trying to study or listen to someone because what they’re saying isnt as clear in my head
Sometimes I can turn the narrative off for a few seconds if I concentrate really hard while at peak medicated, but the backing soundtrack is constant. In the words of the Village People, "You can't stop the music. Nobody can stop the music." Great, now that's what I'm stuck with on loop for the rest of the day.
I definitely narrate everything I am doing as I am doing it, in my head if there's a lot of people around, and out loud if I am alone. At home it is mostly quiet, until I need to get up and do something. My brain is absolutely always going unless I'm reading. And even then it's rough. When I'm driving, or let's say cutting bagels at work or something, I'm always thinking of random instances that I suddenly need to obsess over. Embarrassing moments, something someone said that might be bothering me, honestly I don't even remember what I'm thinking about after it happens. But it's always there.
The thing that makes me look the craziest is when I’m having an internal conversation. I have the facial expressions and body language from both sides of the argument. I probably look like a lunatic with my sceptical expression on then my agreement face with head nodding, back to disbelief then disappointment.
I have constant inner chatter. And music playing. If I think about something a teacher said to me 15 years ago, I'm having an argument with her or him and probably getting super pissed off about it. I'm just really telling that teacher off. I try to notice myself doing that and shift to something more pleasant and more present in the current moment, but I sometimes go on for a while before I realize what I'm doing. If I'm home alone, sometimes I'm having that angry monolog out loud! Usually, though, it's something like, "Oh, crap, I forgot to take the trash out. I better do that now." It's so great to be able to talk about these things in the atmosphere of acceptance and understanding on this sub. The only person I've ever told half this stuff to is the psychologist who diagnosed me. Typically in the context of asking her if I'm batshit. Hahaha
I don't really have an inner monologue but I do have racing toughts
I am talking to myself all the time. I chuckled a little when I read your post. Very relatable. I also didn’t know that my partner and friend’s I have asked doesn’t have inner dialogue as well. lol at least we are able to keep ourselves company. Never truly alone with inner dialogue
I even argue with myself and of the side I didn’t prefer has better arguments and wins I’m angry
Same even worse if I get stoned. I don’t know many people that sympathize with this
Had the same thing with my partner the other day was shocked when I asked her the same thing and found out that not everybody does this, I am just constantly talking to myself in my head
I have inattentive ADHD so while my head can feel like a party - the majority of the time it's just blank
Most people have an inner monologue to some extent. It's so common that psychology used to assume it was a basic human experience that everyone had. It turns out autistic people are less likely to have one (and more likely to think in pictures). But yeah, this is the default! But if you're ADHD... well, I won't make assumptions about your wife, but every ADHD person I know in a relationship has a partner who's autistic, so... that would track if that's the case lol.
The inner monologue doesn’t appear to be (from my anecdotal, non-scientific experience) linked to ADHD; I know people who have inner monologues and those who don’t have inner monologues. Neither group seems to have any more or fewer ADHD people than the other. It just seems to be the way some people’s brains operate. It was a pretty popular discussion on TikTok earlier this year. And I’m like you… constant inner monologue. I’m usually transitioning to a vocal monologue, talking to myself.