When you see people in the street talking to themselves?

Question

Who are they talking to?

I don't mean when you and I just think out loud but you see folk wandering the streets seeming to be having conversations with no one.

Before someone is tempted to post it I'm not on about people with mobile phone bluetooth headsets on either !!

I'm refering to people who walk along muttering things and even changing their facial features whilest doing so.

Do they think there is somebody pysically there, do they see someone or are they talking with a voice in their heads?

This is in no way meant as disrespectfull to people who suffer with mental illness - I've just always wondered who they think they are talking to.

What do you think?

So far GreyGoul and Sasha are the only people who have read the question properly.

Ozbinladen - I gave you a thumbs up before on one of your answers in another post which I really regret now - why do you have to call me when you obvioulsy HAVENT READ THE QUESTION.

I am not bang out of order for asking this I would just like to know - It has been a curiosity of mine for years.

I am not the sort of person who laughs at people with disabilities - I have worked with children with physical and mental illnesses

Like I said - I'm not refering to when you or I would make a mental note or think out loud I am asking a genuine question that maybe only a psychologist/psychiatrist can answer.

When people who suffer from mental illness speak to who do THEY think they are talking to? Do they "see" a phsyical entety next to them or are they speaking with voices they hear in their heads?

Again this is no way disrespectfull I am just curious - A BIG THANKYOU TO GreyGoul and Sasha for taking the time to read the question fully and understanding what I am asking !

Answer 1

People who are obviously reacting to unseen stimuli such as a delusion (which is a fixed,false belief) and they can come in many forms and usually this person is suffering from psychosis such as schizophrenia.The person who is reacting to this unseen stimuli really believes what they are hearing or seeing and can find it difficult to accept that others cannot experience the same thing.
Depending on the person,the insight they have and the nature of their delusion,the experiences they have can be frightening or comforting to them.

Answer 2

Some people could just be mentally talking to themselves about things that they are having a hard time containing and therefore need to speak out loud. I know some people who do that and they are presidents of companies.

Then again, there are others that I wonder about also. lol. But you can almost see the difference between one who is speaking just to hear a thought out loud and someone who is speaking to someone that only they can see.

Answer 3

they can see things as well as hear voices.
their voice can be anything, sometimes its a messenger, friend, the devil, people they knew who had died (well obviously not, but that's what they are being led to believe) its hard for a schizophrenics to realise the voices or delusions are not real, that's just another part of their illness.

p.s if any person you see talking to their self clearly are suffering from schizophrenia then its best to not stare and keep away from them, they can be very dangerous and can turn on you for no reason, it happens all the time


that's OK, my pleasure : )

Answer 4

My mom has taken to talking to herself a lot. She's all empty nest syndrome, and I'm home from school, and she still talks to herself.
With some people, it's just a loneliness thing. They need to talk, and dammit, they have no one else to talk to other than themselves.
Some people do so with more grace than others. My mom laughs a lot about it, and sometimes even thinks she's a little crazy for doing so, but it's comforting I guess. *Shrug* I personally don't talk to myself when I'm lonely or anything, but sometimes I'll mutter to myself brief things out loud.
People carrying on extended conversations with themselves are probably very extreme cases of my mother, who are so lonely and used to not being paid attention to, they've learned to just think out loud for the minor comfort their own voice provides them.
That's why it always makes me kinda sad to hear people talk to themselves, I think.

That, or they're stark raving mad. Which is a very real possibility.

Answer 5

I spoke aloud walking to the theater on the side walk just reciting my lines out loud, and people would cross the street to avoid me. I also have a boyfriend who talks to ":them" frequently and it drives me nuts. He is seeing a Dr. for Schizophrenia and is laughing in bed right now as I type this. It's 3:36 AM and he is sound asleep, laughing about..........nothing, his weird mind.....

Answer 6

I think a lot of people who are lonely just talk to themselves. They have not got anyone to talk to, I do not think it is necessarily a sign of mental illness. Some may have Dissociative Identity Disorder (split personality) and then one "personality" talks to another and they get integrated this way, so they can function normally. Some may have just lost touch with reality.

Answer 7

I think it is because they genuinely hear voices in their head which would be very real to that person. So real that their state of mind forces them to enter into a dialogue. They would probably not be aware that it wold seem odd to anyone else observing them becasue they are so genuinely preoccupied.

Answer 8

i talk to myself and find myself pulling faces but in all honesty i do not know i'm doing it until i get funny looks and something must me make come out of it. i cant say i'm talking to anyone or a voice in my head for me i think it's more i'm talking to my subconsionce i'm tuned into thinking and going over things. i hope my answer is understandable i'm not good at explaining myself but i've had a good try.

Answer 9

When people have auditory hallucinations, the voices, music or whatever they hear seem real to them. This is why you see them talking or singing like there is someone right with them. What they see or hear is real to them and so they respond accordingly.

Answer 10

i guess the placing and the purpose to it makes the diversities. i'm no longer a large believer in talking in tongues, as maximum christians very truly ignore that if some one speaks in tongues there also must be someone to interpret it. i imagine loopy is loopy regardless.