Words, sounds and images just appear from nowhere, then dissolve into nothingness like a shooting star; there and then gone. The answer, says Mari-Beffa, is down to the two sides of the brain: one that is chaotic and random and one that is orderly and in control. When people are under extreme stress, or suffering with mental illness, both networks can be active at the same time. Controlled self-talk, however, can have enormous benefits.
In , Mari-Beffa conducted an experiment that asked 28 participants to read a series of instructions either silently or out loud. The group that read out loud showed higher levels of concentration and performance on the tasks they were given.
Another study , from the University of Michigan, found that self-talk can increase self-esteem, improve confidence and help us overcome difficult challenges. The paper, published in , said that those who referred to themselves with second- and third-person pronouns managed their thoughts better than those who spoke in the first person. I feel slightly better about myself, but the kind of self-talk these studies point to — helping people keep on track with assignments, for example — sound like the innocuous words of encouragement I used to say to myself before the pandemic, not the kinds of internal rows I have with myself now.
Chris Gilham not his real name , a year-old IT student from Washington DC, started talking to himself out loud when the pandemic hit. Before lockdown, he used to socialise in coffee shops with his friends from college; now he spends most of his time alone. He says face masks have helped: on the rare occasions he visits his local grocery store, he can talk to himself under his breath and nobody can see his lips moving. In the s , scientists were particularly interested in what people say to themselves, why they talk to themselves, and the purposes of self-talk.
Research defines self-talk as a verbal expression of an internal position or belief, meaning it expresses inner feelings, non-verbal thoughts, and intuitions about a situation through speech. The person only intends to direct their speech at themselves. While children often talk to themselves, it should not be a cause for concern for parents or caregivers. It is a way of developing language, staying stimulated during a task, and improving performance while completing tasks.
Self-talk may have several benefits. It causes no significant health risks unless a person also experiences other symptoms of a mental health condition, such as hallucinations. While performing a task with a set of instructions, self-talk may improve control over the task, concentration, and performance. It may also enhance problem-solving skills. A study examined how self-talk affects visual search tasks. The findings suggest that self-talk while looking for a particular object, such as a lost item of clothing or set of keys, or trying to find products in a grocery store, may help a person find them sooner.
Research also suggests there could be benefits to engaging in self-talk during sport, depending on how the person self-talks and what they say.
For example, self-talking in a motivational or instructional way could improve performance. However, although negative self-talk may increase motivation in sport, it may not improve performance. There are three categories of self-talk that differ depending on the tone of voice. These include:. People may also refer to talking to yourself as overt and covert self-talk. Overt talk is self-directed speech that other people can hear.
Covert talk is speech that occurs internally that no-one else can hear, for example, by mouthing speech rather than speaking out loud. Self-talk may help regulate and process emotions. For example, if a person self-talks about feeling nervous or angry, it could help them by:.
A study suggests that people with anxiety, including social anxiety, could benefit from engaging in self-talk. The researchers found that people referring to themselves in the third-person could distance themselves from their distressing feelings and process, regulate, and analyze these emotions to help reduce anxiety.
Engaging in self-talk may also decrease anxiety after stressful events. Writing down self-talk in a journal may help a person transfer thoughts from their mind, organize thought processes, and manage stress and anxiety. Maintaining a journal can help people identify everyday situations that cause them to self-talk and become more aware of what could trigger these scenarios in the future.
List of Partners vendors. Psychologists refer to the habit of talking to yourself out loud as external self-talk. If you talk to yourself sometimes, then you are not alone. Far from being just an occasional tendency, it is actually quite common.
Some evidence suggests that talking to yourself can actually have a number of psychological benefits. Research suggests that this type of self-talk is connected to a range of different mental functions including problem-solving , reasoning, planning, motivation , and attention. While there are times it might pose problems or be a sign of a mental health condition, in most cases, you can go ahead and talk to yourself without it being a cause for worry.
This article discusses some of the reasons why people talk to themselves and some of the possible benefits of this behavior. It also covers what you can do if you'd like to stop talking to yourself and some of the signs that it might be a cause for concern.
Children begin talking to themselves around the ages of two and three, but it is generally not much different from other social speech at this early age. Around the age of five, kids become more covert about their self-directed talk. They still talk to themselves, but often speak more briefly, quietly, or privately to avoid having others overhear. And while it often becomes less obvious to others, self-talk rarely disappears completely.
Most people talk to themselves at least on occasion, while some do so with much greater frequency. While external self-talk is relatively common, there has not been a great deal of research into why some people talk to themselves out loud and others don't.
A article published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology explored a couple of different explanations that have emerged. One theory suggests that people who spend more time alone may be more likely to talk to themselves. Because they have fewer interactions with others, their self-talk may serve as a form of social communication. There is a fair amount of research supporting this theory. Studies have shown that adults who were an only-child are more likely to engage in external self-talk.
Another study found that people who are lonely and have a strong need to belong are also more likely to talk to themselves. Self-talk, in this case, serves to fill a need that isn't being met by limited or unsatisfactory social relationships. This theory suggests that people may talk to themselves out loud due to cognitively disruptive events that are often brought on by stress or other similar events.
For example, feelings of anxiety or obsessive-compulsive tendencies can create cognitive disruptions linked to increases in self-talk. For example, one study found that people tend to talk to themselves more when preparing to give a speech if they are anxious about public speaking. The study also demonstrated the impact of positive and negative self-talk.
Those who talked to themselves in a negative or self-critical way were more likely to experience increased public speaking anxiety.
There are a few different types of ways that you might talk to yourself. Self-talk tends to be either positive or negative, but it can also differ in terms of its intended purpose. Studies suggest that talking to yourself in a positive, instructional, or motivational way can help improve your performance.
Surprisingly, researchers have found that negative self-talk doesn't always impair performance. On the contrary, sometimes it can provide helpful and realistic feedback that can help you improve how you do in the future. Too much negative self-talk , however, can undermine your confidence in the long run, so it is important to avoid making it a habit.
Talking to yourself can have a number of different benefits. Some of these include:. Talking to yourself can be a useful way to gain some distance from your own experiences. It allows you to reflect on the things that are happening in your life. By providing you some distance, it can be a great way to see things more objectively.
It can minimize the immediate emotion and knee-jerk feelings you might have in the moment so that you can see things in a clearer, more rational way. Talking to yourself can also be motivating. Consider the times you've hyped yourself up to face a challenge by telling yourself "I can do this" or "You've got this. One study found that when basketball players talked to themselves with either instructional or motivational statements, they showed significant improvements over a control group.
Those who used instructional statements showed greater accuracy in performance and those who used motivating statements performed the tasks much more quickly. If you've ever talked to yourself as you roam the aisles of the grocery store, don't fret—research has shown it might actually help you better remember the items on your list.
In one experiment, participants had to search for items in a store without saying anything. During the phase of the experiment, however, the participants were told to repeat the names of the items they were looking for as they searched. The results showed that those who talked to themselves found it easier to find what they were looking for.
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