I do. All the time. I have conversations with myself, and hear music complete with lyrics. I hear dialogue and make up scenarios. I read out loud in my head. What some people think of as “thinking” others call “voices”.
We all think of things in terms of thought or voice or lyric or dialogue. We all practice confronting some uncomfortable situation in our heads. We rehearse speeches and what we will say to someone when needed. This is normal and healthy.
The voices that are unhealthy, if not normal, are those that tell you to do something, or somehow take control of your actions. This is thankfully rare. David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” killer is an example of someone who claimed to do things because voices told him to do them (1).
Voices are heard regularly during religious moments and considered normal. The point here? I guess when I write something that includes “hearing” things in my head I get a little uncomfortable thinking that whoever reads what I write will think “now there goes a wacko.” But I think this sort of thing is normal, the difference being that I do admit to having some strange thoughts from time to time. Or maybe the strange part is that I submit my thoughts to public consideration, while most people keep their innermost thoughts, well, inner. There is a certain risk to going public and I don’t have a clue what the motivations for doing so are. It just seems right, and as Davy Crockett is quoted as saying “Be always sure you are right, then go ahead” (2). So I go ahead, thinking in my head that I am right.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz
2. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett#Unsourced
Image: http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/2002/crockett.html
We all think of things in terms of thought or voice or lyric or dialogue. We all practice confronting some uncomfortable situation in our heads. We rehearse speeches and what we will say to someone when needed. This is normal and healthy.
The voices that are unhealthy, if not normal, are those that tell you to do something, or somehow take control of your actions. This is thankfully rare. David Berkowitz, the “Son of Sam” killer is an example of someone who claimed to do things because voices told him to do them (1).
Voices are heard regularly during religious moments and considered normal. The point here? I guess when I write something that includes “hearing” things in my head I get a little uncomfortable thinking that whoever reads what I write will think “now there goes a wacko.” But I think this sort of thing is normal, the difference being that I do admit to having some strange thoughts from time to time. Or maybe the strange part is that I submit my thoughts to public consideration, while most people keep their innermost thoughts, well, inner. There is a certain risk to going public and I don’t have a clue what the motivations for doing so are. It just seems right, and as Davy Crockett is quoted as saying “Be always sure you are right, then go ahead” (2). So I go ahead, thinking in my head that I am right.
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Berkowitz
2. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett#Unsourced
Image: http://www.utexas.edu/features/archive/2002/crockett.html
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