If you talk to yourself...?

Question

If you talk to yourself in your head do you talk to yourself as 'you' or 'I'? For example, say you've just remembered something you have to do, do you say to yourself, 'Oh, I need to do that' or 'Oh, you need to do that'?

It's quite hard to work out, don't you think? If I start talking out loud to myself (sometimes I do) I'll use 'you' but maybe I don't always use 'you' in my head.

I lean towards the schizophrenic side of personality types and I've been wondering for a while if more 'normal' personalities tended to use 'I' in their interior monologues.

Answer 1

"I". If you use the word "you", it's not really talking to yourself, it's talking to your alter-ego.

PS: If you talk to yourself, you get the answers you want to hear.

Answer 2

It is best to use I. If you use the term "you" then you are referring to yourself in the third person, that is usually a sign of a problem. Using the term "I" is like a reminder. It is also important that you never answer yourself either. That is a sign of Multiple Personalities.

Answer 3

I talk to myself in the supermarket! Usually it's something like "beans....beans....Ah, Beans!,,,,what else....fairy liquid....fairy liquid" and if it's just in my head, then I think I say I. This question reminded me, when the news says "They found his body" or "her body was found", this is implying that a dead person's body belongs to the dead person, i.e. that the person and the body aren't in the same place. So, here I am, alive (at the time of writing) and wondering if me and my body occupy the same space, or if I am my body.

Answer 4

When I talk to myself, I refer to myself in the first person unless I'm under a great amount of stress and it would benefit me from having someone else's opinion.

Answer 5

I use both. I use "you" when I have to yell at myself (in my head, of course) when I do something wrong or forget to do something, like: "Why did you buy that stupid program for?" I use "I" for a lot of other things, especially when I tell myself what I need to do, like: "I need to go and return that book to the library today."

And I talk to myself a LOT. But I hadn't noticed how I talk to myself (whether I use "you" or "I") until you asked. *shrugs* Thanks for asking then! ^_^

Answer 6

All of the above, plus names, nicknames, even more colorful names...

It bothers me when my answers use a name that sounds like it came from some outsourced telemarketer in Bombay ... !!!

Answer 7

I always say I. I don't see my mind as some seperate thing that has to address me as "you". My mind IS me, so I say "I". "Oh no, *I* need to stop eating this carrot cake!" "*I* need to get my hair cut today." "Now that I think about it, *I* really am short!" See? It sounds so much better than saying all those things with "you" in there.

Answer 8

it depends on the circumstances - if it's just a passing thought it's I, eg 'I must remember to get petrol' or if I spill the sugar or whatever I'll say something like 'you silly mare'. Note ''I' never call 'myself' names!

Answer 9

Hmm Never thought of that. Now, that you mention it. I talk to my self in the first person, using "I." What difference does it make in the grand scheme of things?

Answer 10

i talk to myself all the time and i say 'you need to do that mate' usually out loud!

Answer 11

i usually call myself by my name, i go by my middle name jean , when i talk to myself i say jean, unless i am mad at myself then i use my first name just like my mother use to do how werid is that?