Self talk: brainstorm with myself
It looks completely normal. I walk around the Outer Alster or in the evening around the block, wearing in-ear headphones with a line to the iPhone in my jacket pocket and phone calls - at least people who see me doing so. The trick I have come up with, to avoid oblique eyes or even an unwanted medical Inobhutnahme. Because in fact I'm doing camouflaged soliloquy in public: I hear if a sentence sounds very good, verbalise feelings, analyze problems, formulate objections - or ideas that suddenly appear in the livestream of my thoughts - and talk to them as a message on my own WhatsApp -Account. So I can immediately forget everything again, listen later at home and write down.
Self-talk is not only normal, but helpful
The soliloquy is virtually brainstorming in the tiniest round. This saves time, space and lots of bad coffee. And now the best: crazy, that's completely normal! According to US research, 96 percent of people say aloud what's going on or off their nerves; preferably in the car or bathroom, so it just does not catch the others. For, quite wrongly, the soliloquy has no good reputation. It is generally associated with lonely old people conversing with their cat or imaginary friends because they have no one else.
Talking to oneself helps to clarify the mind, to organize emotions and to find creative solutions
But audible self-talk does not indicate a confused mind. On the contrary, they help unravel him. They facilitate, clarify and enable decisions. And bring you to very creative ideas: "It is one of my greatest pleasure, often and long to talk to me," said poet and dandy Oscar Wilde.
Even small children between the ages of two and four talk freely or let their dolls and cuddly animals speak for themselves while playing. They talk in the evening in bed, how the day was and what they have been annoyed about - so they process impressions and experiences. Even an evening prayer is a psychic facilitating conversation with the Higher Self.
Why we should not fall silent, but should rather think aloud
From elementary school age, one's own voice shifts more and more inward, becoming unconscious, silenced. And with that, a self-management psychological tool is available that is always available and powerful: Commenting on thinking is a way to detoxify anger, sadness, and frustration. It saves you the therapist, and you can lay on the couch as well. If you think aloud what you want to tell your loved one or boss uncensored, you have the best preparation for a productive discussion.
The soliloquy also provides first aid when the brain falls prey to an important task or crisis. It's the flashlight that can be used to light a mental blackout. To verbalize a problem, one must first of all clearly and loudly state the facts. In a psychological attempt, students had to solve 60 questions under time pressure and were recorded on video. The most successful were those who read the tasks aloud and then analyzed just as loudly as they should proceed further: "So, just the rest ... How do I fix it there? What do I have for that?" Negative effects, however, had desperate and sweeping self-insults like "Oh man, typical, I'm so stupid!" It sounds crazy, but motivating self-talk works best in the third person. So instead of saying, "I'm so scared," and raising that feeling to panic, a psychological distancing is more effective: "Hey, (your own name), you're feeling nervous now, but you're well prepared and you're concentrating. Stay calm, tomorrow is all over. "
If you say something loud, you immediately hear whether it sounds good or stupid
Athletes also increase their performance. And older people are advised by scientists to have regular self-talk to strengthen their short-term memory. Who has never had a brilliant idea that he could not remember soon after? Thoughts and ideas rush through the head and subconsciously over again, because the self-satisfied brain thinks it's smart to know what you mean by yourself.
Your own voice helps to remember things better
But the "memo effect" is much better when you think things through loudly instead of rolling them over in your thoughts, confirms also psychiatrist Dirk Wedekind from the University of Göttingen.The navigation system in the head works better if the driving directions are spoken aloud and it mentally creates a backup copy: "At the second traffic light left, then at the gas station on the right where the big linden tree stands ..." That's why people still remember after decades of lyrics of songs they sang loudly in their youth - all the verses. In memory games, it is a plus to name the motifs loudly when you cover and cover the cards. And if you want to build or install something, you should read the operating instructions aloud: What you hear is more effective than what you have thought of.
"You should really listen to yourself while talking!", One says stunned, if someone self-righteous carries the biggest nonsense. And that is exactly what you do in soliloquy: When you say something, you immediately hear whether that sounds good, stupid or self-defeating. In the morning in front of the mirror automatically "I'm so fat and old!" to think, undermines the mindfulness radar. On the other hand, hearing such vulgar self-insults aloud can be a salutary shock.
In the first place you should be satisfied with yourself
Note: What you do not get over your lips, you should neither think nor write. The soliloquy thus has more to do with self-love and mindfulness than with loneliness. Finally, to finish in peace! Oh - and what the others think of one, does not matter. The only person you have to get along with until the end of your life is you. One should get to know and love early. So then: tell me how I am! Well, of course, good.
