How to Stop Talking to Yourself in Your Head

Talking to yourself isn’t harmful for you and your mind. It’s perfectly fine and healthy for you. Self-talk, whether it’s loud or in your head, is very helpful for you to make decisions or get rid of any problem by thinking. But sometimes self-talk in your head would be harmful for you if it gets out of control. It will shift your focus towards your work or goals and create difficulty in daily routine tasks and activities. Don’t worry if you face this problem, we will give you some tips and many ways to treat this problem and slow down your self talk. 

1. Stopping Self-Talk at the Moment:

• Talk out loud to work through your thoughts and get over them: It’s okay if you have any thoughts in your mind or you are talking in your head, it’s a natural process for any decision making or problem solving. But if you are facing an issue of self-talk, then you should talk out loud. Talking loud would be silly and look bad but it would reduce your self talk in your head. If you’re nervous, then talking out loud would help to get rid of this nervousness. Talking out loud helps you to remember things and make decisions easily. 

• Try paying attention to your self-talk for a few seconds instead of ignoring it: Everybody talks in their head sometimes. You try this technique with what you’re feeling, your selections when you’re anxious. Ignoring this self-talk likely may not make it leave, however acknowledging it for some seconds can help you to prevent self talk. Close your eyes and observe the self-talk for 5-10 seconds. Then, move back to what you have been doing to see if it is going away or not. Paying attention to self-talk makes you conscious of what you’re doing. Furthermore, it makes you observe what you’re really pronouncing to yourself, makes you think about what you’re wondering and can prevent you from self-talk. 

• Make some meaningless sounds to interrupt your self-talk: If you’re talking to yourself in your head then make random noises and sound for 20 to 30 minutes to calm down your brain and stop self-talk. You can make noises in your mind like clock tick tock or train sounds etc. These noises prevent your thoughts running in your head. This trick would sound silly, but it still works. Internal narration and personal thoughts are often complicated and problematic. Easy stupid sounds have the capability to interrupt your idea technique and clear your head.

• Run through your senses and say what you’re experiencing out loud: Whenever you start self talking in your head then there is another technique to stop talking. To stop self-talk, speak out loud verbally whatever you see, feel or listen. For example, if you see a dog then say “I am seeing a dog” or if you smell something then speak loudly “I’m smelling a flower” etc. Talking out loud about your thoughts will help you to prevent self talk in your head.

• Try doing some meditation or yoga to declutter your thoughts: Meditation and yoga can also prevent self talk in your head. If you do meditation or yoga for 30 minutes when you talk in your head then it will help you to stop self-talk. If you are facing this problem consistently then you should do meditation or yoga regularly. It will calm down and relax your mind.

• Strike up a conversation with someone to get you out of your head: Talking with your friends, family, colleagues or coworkers will prevent your self talk. Interaction with people will distract your thoughts that are running in your mind. If you want to stop your self talk then you should spend time with your friends and family. Involve yourself with others to treat the problem of self-talk.

• Do something you enjoy to calm down negative self-talk: Involve yourself in other activities like games, crossword puzzles or walk etc. If you involve yourself in other activities it will distract you from self talk and focus your mind towards activities. This will prevent you from negative thoughts and focus your mind on positive thinking. 

• Replace negative self-talk with positive thoughts: If self-talk makes you anxious, nervous or depressed then you should replace your negative thoughts to positive thoughts. Keep yourself away from negative things and focus on positive things and activities. It will help you to recover from anxiety and depression. If you get negative thoughts, then stop yourself and start thinking of positive things. It will boost your confidence. For example, if you think that “ you’re a failure” then you should stop thinking this and think that “ you’re not a failure. You fail sometimes but you should keep trying again and again”.

2. Getting Help:

• Talk to a doctor or therapist if your self-talk interferes with your daily life: If your self-talk creates problems in your daily life and work then you should consult a doctor or therapist for the treatment. Suffering from mental health issues may also be a reason for negative thoughts in your mind. However, this problem of self talk can be treated. If your self talk creates difficulty to complete your daily tasks then you may have anxiety disorder. If your self talk is critical and hopeless then you have severe depression.

• Explore medication as an option if therapy isn’t enough: Consult with your doctor or therapist for proper treatment and medication. If you have schizophrenia then medicine is the last treatment. Complete your medicine and therapy course with the doctor or therapist. This will help you treat your condition.

• Talk to your family and be open about what you’re going through: Tell your parents about the condition you are suffering from. Talk about your condition to your friends, family, colleagues or life partner, whom you feel most comfortable with. Tell everything about yourself and you feel. They will help you to recover from this condition easily. 

CONCLUSION:

Self talk in your head is a common problem in the majority of people. When you make a decision or think of a solution to any problem, you face self talk. But an increased self-talk issue would cause anxiety and depression. To stop self-talk in your head you should follow some techniques like talk out louder that you think in your mind, start ignoring your thoughts for sometime, make some sounds or noises to distract your thoughts, do yoga or meditation daily and replace your negative thoughts and focus on positive things to stop self talk in your head. If you face this condition too much then you should consult with the doctor or therapist for proper treatment and medications. You should talk about your self-talk issues with your family or friends to get help and support. They will help to recover you from this condition and prevent you from self talk in your head.