Please remember, this column is designed to help the consumer seeking behavioral-health information, and not intended to be any form of psychotherapy or a replacement for professional, individualized services. Opinions expressed in the column are those of the columnist and do not represent the position of other SelfhelpMagazine.com staff.

Question

I talk to myself a lot to the point that my family complains about it. My father did the same thing. At one point is this a problem?

Answer

Most people talk to themselves at one time or another, so it may not be a problem in and of itself. But let's look at reasons why people might talk to themselves. If you fall into any of these categories, there may be reason to take some action:

1. Loneliness. Obviously many people who live alone talk to themselves. If loneliness is involved, are there social options which you are not exploring?

2. Withdrawal. Some persons have had a sufficient amount of hurt in their lives that they withdraw from others into their own world. This may be a matter which could be resolved by exploration with a therapist.

3. Self-stimulation. Certain types of learning disabilities involve efforts to adjust by self-stimulation. For instance, some readers will move their lips while reading. These persons are often strong auditory learners trying to stimulate their strongest learning center. Thus, talking to yourself may be a reflection that you are a very strong auditory learner who does much better with processing anything when it is spoken. You might want to get with a learning diagnostic specialist to check this out.

09/04/98

Richard B. Patterson is a clinical psychologist in private practice in El Paso, TX. He is the author of three books on psychology and spirituality.