Discussion Does anyone else have imaginary conversations with people they know?

[happy?1270]

Sometimes at night when I'm breaking down I have conversations with friends who support me in my head. (Not a dream or talking to my self out loud) Sometimes I even image it so vividly that there's even a setting to it or I can feel it when they hug me or hold my hand. I talk about random usual friend stuff then when I start talking about the deeper and sadder parts I remember that I'm not actually talking to them and I suddenly feel so hurt and lonely that it feels like being stabbed in the chest. It's really weird how vivid these little things are and was curious if anyone's been through anything similar.

 

[PoisonedJuliet]

Short answer: yes all the time

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I have a compulsion to document and explain and sometimes alone at night I can sub vocalise this with a monalogue in my head. I think it's part of my OCD. I've noticed my brother and sister do it too when they think no one is watching.

 

[happy?1270]

Most of the time this experience is really painful because of the current state of my relationship with whoever I'm talking to it mainly is venting to them about my health and realizing that they aren't really there for me to talk to anymore

 

[PoisonedJuliet]

I've done it for so long. I guess it is just my way of trying to feel less alone when no one will actually listen

 

[happy?1270]

The worst part is being so composed in the conversation knowing you'll never be able to talk to that person like that
Hey @PoisonedJuliet how do you do the posting on profiles and private message stuff I'm really new here and don't know how to do that thanks

 

[ECTatertot]

Yeah. I do that all the time.

 

[k75]

I think it's a form of maladaptive daydreaming, which sounds a lot worse than it is. It's actually very common.

I have a compulsion to document and explain and sometimes alone at night I can sub vocalise this with a monalogue in my head. I think it's part of my OCD. I've noticed my brother and sister do it too when they think no one is watching.

I don't have OCD, but I do this. I've started using a journal app for it, and that helps get it out of my head. I can overexplain and analyze as much as I want, and it annoys nobody.

 

[happy?1270]

I don't have OCD, but I do this. I've started using a journal app for it, and that helps get it out of my head. I can overexplain and analyze as much as I want, and it annoys nobody.

i find that when I have thesse moments I can't break out of them and journal. Plus I feel the need to stay in these moments so I can feel warmth and comfort from my friends even if it's imaginary and temporary.
Also very interesting on maladaptive daydreaming

 

[faust]

I often imagine situations when I am talking to other people.
Sometimes talking to myself, sometimes to others.
And I often talk to animals, not in my dreams but in real life.
There was one post of a doctor, something like: "During lockdown, please, don't call when you talk to your pet - it is normal, call only when they talk to you".

 

[happy?1270]

There was one post of a doctor, something like: "During lockdown, please, don't call when you talk to your pet - it is normal, call only when they talk to you".

lol

 

[MartyByrde]

Sometimes at night when I'm breaking down I have conversations with friends who support me in my head. (Not a dream or talking to my self out loud) Sometimes I even image it so vividly that there's even a setting to it or I can feel it when they hug me or hold my hand. I talk about random usual friend stuff then when I start talking about the deeper and sadder parts I remember that I'm not actually talking to them and I suddenly feel so hurt and lonely that it feels like being stabbed in the chest. It's really weird how vivid these little things are and was curious if anyone's been through anything similar.

Yes, and I notice it's much worse as I become more and more isolated. Sometimes I wish my mind was further gone, so I'd believe they were real. Knowing their not, makes me feel a bit like an idiot.

 

[a.n.kirillov]

Meh to the commenter who called it "maladaptive".

As a general rule of thumb: if some behaviour or trait makes you successful or is common, it is considered normal or good. Think of authors for example, they constantly have conversations of imaginary people in their head; they have conversations with them, they live in their mind etc... Are they considered crazy?

People in ancient times supposedly didn't have the ability to read in silence - everyone read aloud back then, even when they were alone by themselves. If you did this today, people would call you mentally ill.

Or, to paraphrase Thomas Szasz: If you talk to God, you are religious - if God talks to you, you are mentally ill.
.
You would do good to stop looking for pathologies within yourself and start considering whatever you do as a) probably quite common and b) natural, free from moral judgement, neither healthy nor pathological
.

So: if you rehearsing conversations with people you know in real life in your head was a sign of 'mental illness', what would we have to say about grown up people who talk aloud to an imaginary being who lives in the sky, created the earth and who they believe listens to their wishes, and believing he will fulfill them via supernatural intervention?

You guessed it. But it's a collective delusion, thus not considered "maladaptive"; at least you don't believe that your friends will remember the imaginary conversations you had with them when you meet them again in real life.

 

[k75]

i find that when I have thesse moments I can't break out of them and journal. Plus I feel the need to stay in these moments so I can feel warmth and comfort from my friends even if it's imaginary and temporary.
Also very interesting on maladaptive daydreaming

The app I use supports speech to text so I just talk at it. But I also have a lot of times where I just run through the monologues in my head and don't write it down. I usually break out the journal when I noticed I'm going around in circles and dwelling on certain things and endlessly revising the same conversations all day. Then I know I need it out of my head, and that's where the journal helps. I can look back on it and see where my head was at that time.

Maladaptive daydreaming is really interesting. You should look it up. I grew up doing it, and for most of my life it was a dark secret I kept from everyone, because I thought it meant I was crazy. I worried I was schizophrenic or something, and I couldn't risk anyone else knowing. Then one day I decided to Google it and see if anyone else did it. I was amazed to discover it had a name and lots of people described doing similar.

 

[mesohappy]

I used to get up early in the morning with my dad before he left/was getting ready for work..Before he would leave, he would sit on the couch chain smoking,with his eyes closed,mouthing words with no sound..I thought he was a fucking nut.

Years later, estranged from my dad,I was sitting alone on a couch,chain smoking,and having imaginary conversations with people before work..I was shocked when I realized what I was doing..

Maybe we are both nuts..Or maybe the whole world does this in one way or another..In which case we are all nuts...Or would that make us all normal?

 

[Apathy79]

When I go for a walk and no one is around, I have these conversations out loud. It's not just due to being a hermit either - I've done it my whole life. They're interesting to analyse. For example, the "other" person usually starts the conversation by asking questions they would definitely never actually ask, and often "my" first response is teasing "them" for even thinking about that stuff. Freud would love this shit.

 

[Crushed_Innocence]

I was just doing this today with the guy I like...same thing

 

[pole]

definitely yeah.

but instead of other imaginary people, i like "imaginary" talk to myself. its wierd. im very critical and judgmental about myself, so i'll create imaginary situations or further have imaginary conversations with myself; where i reassure my insecurities and why i hate myself, by further telling myself to hate and despise myself.

im wierd lol.

 

[Emily123]

it ca n be schizophrenia. Talk with a psychiatrist

 

[shevawc]

Yeah I do it too.

My problem is not that I do it. I do it but then there is some detail in the conversation that I don't like or feel is perfect , then I replay the whole conversation in my head from scratch. If I make any "mistake" again I replay it again and again and again until I feel its perfect.

To be honest this is so tiring most of the times.

I don't know if it has to do with my mental illnesses though.

 

[a.n.kirillov]

it ca n be schizophrenia. Talk with a psychiatrist

Bullshit. Stop fear mongering. Almost everyone will get diagnosed with schizophrenia if he wants to, look up the rosenhan experiment.

He should be more afraid of psychiatrists than of his own nature and mind.
.

Whatever. OP, I always did it. When going for my daily walk, somewhere I will always start to discuss things in my head (and move my lips/ whisper under my breath). I call it sorting out my thoughts, clearing my mind, processing, as I always understand something clearer and feel better when I'm done with it. Of course I have to be careful, because when people see you moving your lips as though you were talking to yourself, they will think you are insane; I know I am not insane, even though the conversations (trains of thought) can get really involved, so that I forget everything around me.

I haven't snapped yet and it has never affected me negatively in any way. Also, it doesn't last hours and hours, it's just like clearing out a buffer in my brain. When everything is sorted out, I go on hiking looking at nature or thinking about other stuff.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

But it's a collective delusion, thus not considered "maladaptive"

I think you just described 80-90% of the world's population who sit firmly under the middle of the 'normal' curve.

definitely yeah.

but instead of other imaginary people, i like "imaginary" talk to myself. its wierd. im very critical and judgmental about myself, so i'll create imaginary situations or further have imaginary conversations with myself; where i reassure my insecurities and why i hate myself, by further telling myself to hate and despise myself.

im wierd lol.

That's what I do. And I have no problem with it, it's my way of processing. I shut up if anyone is listening though because I would never expect them to understand.

 

[racek]

I have that issue too

 

[Mr2005]

I always wake up having an imaginary conversation on here. They nearly always address my anxieties and concerns

 

[Antibody246]

yes sometimes. it's so annoying because I know the only thing that exist is me. everyone else are zombies.

 

[ArtsyDrawer]

Kind of. Not people I know, though, it's with cops.
It used to be either about why I killed a specific guy or why I tried killing myself.
An observation: after discussing why I want to kill so and so I forget why I wanted to kill them.
The suicide attempt talk gets me pissed.
Israel is a Jewish country first of all, and democratic second, which means Judaism comes before human rights. Well, as much as it can so long as the US doesn't decide it's too religious. Comb a little through the old testament (aka Torah) and you'll find that it supports slavery and incest.
Thanks to Judaism there's no DNR option when it comes to being found in a critical state.

 

[lostangel]

Sometimes at night when I'm breaking down I have conversations with friends who support me in my head. (Not a dream or talking to my self out loud) Sometimes I even image it so vividly that there's even a setting to it or I can feel it when they hug me or hold my hand. I talk about random usual friend stuff then when I start talking about the deeper and sadder parts I remember that I'm not actually talking to them and I suddenly feel so hurt and lonely that it feels like being stabbed in the chest. It's really weird how vivid these little things are and was curious if anyone's been through anything similar.

Yes, I do that regularly. I don't have anyone in real life to talk to so I imagine a situation where I do. At least then I can control how they react whether it be a hug or they just listen to me.

 

[sadgirl2002]

I've been doing this throughout my whole life, every single day. I'm actually doing it right now as I type this! I have all sorts of conversations in my head, happy ones, sad ones, loads of them. I've done nothing but make visions inside my head ever since I started high school, even as a child too but I can't remember those ones. I do the same, imagining I'm being hugged and having my hand held. Most of the time, I like daydreaming and imagining because I can decide how things begin and how things end, I'm controlling everything but it's also so painful at times... I know how you feel, sending you hugs!