Why Do People Talk To Themselves?

Posted on Mon, 30 Nov 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 30 Nov 2015 Answered on

Tue, 22 Dec 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : When alone, my father argues and shouts aloud. Sounds like his side of a conversation. He comes home very very cross from work, then takes off on his tractor to the local hillside. His voice bounces back, so mother and I hear him.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
please clarify with more details

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

I am not able to clearly understand his problem.Please describe more details.

- Since when problem is there?

- Does he have any physical illness or taking any medicine?

- Is he speaking alone? Do you feel that he is hearing some voices which cannot be heard by others (hallucination)?

- Is there any work stress?

I will be happy to help further after your response.

Regards,
Dr.Chintan Solanki.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (14 hours later)

Since his early 40's.
No physical illness
Hi is speaking alone. I don't know if he hears someone, but it seems like he is responding to someone. We only hear my father's voice.
He works at a blue collar job in an automotive plant. He does sometimes allude to annoying people at work, no specifics.
We are not fearful for our safety, but fearful of his angry belittling tyrants.
Of course, we are not willing to confront him about any of this.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Chintan Solanki (12 hours later)

Brief Answer:
some psychological problem or personality problem

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thanks for clarification.

He is speaking alone suggests possibility of auditory hallucinations. He may be hearing voices of someone which other persons surrounding him cannot. He is likely responding to those voices. Such auditory hallucinations occur generally in psychotic problem.

Other possibility is that he is speaking alone about his routine and what he should do as part of daily activities and this is a type of personality trait.

He himself only can clarify this issue. There is no objective assessment tool to identify the problem.

At work though some problem is there but his job is continued and his work performance is satisfactory according to employer then there should not be major problem.

Anger outbursts can be part of many problems. His nature, psychotic disorder, frustration, job stress, depression, adjustment problem etc can be responsible for his irritability. We cannot evaluate this part without confronting him.

For improvement of overall family functioning I suggest he should be evaluated by psychiatrist once to identify his problem.

Feel free to discuss further.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad