There are many unhelpful pieces of conventional wisdom surrounding psychology, most of which invariably end up being discussed in therapy as common knowledge that sounds like it makes more sense than it does.
A good example of this is the idea that talking to oneself is the first sign of madness when it is often quite the opposite. Self-talk, contrary to this saying, is not only very common, but it is also often a sign of positive mental health, particularly when this internal monologue is positive and motivating.
The reason why this saying originated is that self-talk is often a tangible aspect of a hallucination, a symptom of psychosis or schizophrenia. However, on its own, self-talk is far from an unusual phenomenon and unless connected to another symptom should not be seen as the first sign of everything.
There are a lot of reasons why people self-talk and it often starts in childhood as well to help develop language skills, improve performance during tasks, improve memory and keep themselves mentally stimulated.
Most of these reasons are still true for why people self-talk as adults, with a 2012 study finding that people who self-talk whilst looking for something may find it sooner than people who do not.
It can also help to regulate emotions in the same way that journaling one’s thoughts can as well. By vocalising them, they are processed and transition from an internal thought to an external, albeit self-directed piece of speech or writing.
It helps to organise thoughts and stop them from necessarily weighing on a person’s mind. It can also help to create distance from concerns and worries that may cause distress.
In doing so, they can think about an issue the same way they would if it was happening to someone else and work out a solution to regulate emotions and solve the problem.
It is also sometimes used by people with social anxiety as a way to debrief and reduce anxiety, according to a 2014 study on the subject.
