No, you’re not crazy! So you talk to yourself- there’s nothing wrong with that! In fact, it might actually be a very smart and helpful thing to do. Talking to yourself is always portrayed as a sign of madness, but that’s really inaccurate and unfair. Keep in mind that it can be a symptom of schizophrenia, so if you talk to voices you hear inside your head, it might be a good idea to check that out with a mental health professional. But if you are only speaking out loud to yourself, don’t worry- it’s very normal and even productive. We talk to ourselves for a variety of reasons. I know that if I’m trying to work out a problem, I often find myself talking out loud. I only realize it when people around me ask me to repeat myself and then I realize that articulating what’s going on and hearing myself speak really helps me figure things out. When you talk to yourself you are really just thinking out loud. Here are some other good things about talking to yourself:

• Voicing positive affirmations can be a very effective way to boost self-confidence and achieve goals.
• Studies show that talking to yourself while working at a complicated task keeps you focused and helps accomplish the task more efficiently.
• Talking out loud is a great way to improve memory.
• It’s a good tool to help manage anxiety and if you’re nervous or worried about something specific, talking to yourself can help you to calm yourself down.

Basically, what it comes down to is more sensory input to help the brain process what what’s going on. Want a fancy word for talking to yourself? Say that you’re soliloquizing and you’ll make it sound like it’s a thing. Which it is, really, anyway. You might want to keep your voice down in certain settings, but otherwise, soliloquize away and see how far it takes you.