What is it like to live with no internal monologue?
It's true, some people don't hear their own voice.
What do you hear as you read this? Probably your own voice reading the words.
Well, if you’re one of the people with an inner monologue that is – which could be less than half the population.
Yes, millions – probably billions – of people around the world do not hear their own voices, or anyone else’s, in their mind. For those with an inner monologue, it can be frankly mind blowing trying to imagine how to formulate thoughts or recall memories without a voice.
And for those without an inner monologue, it’s just as wild to imagine someone constantly nattering in your head.
Whether you live with or without an inner monologue, until the subject comes up, you might not even realise that not everyone is the same.
In fact, the lack of an inner monologue was only given a name – anauralia – in 2021.
So what exactly is it like to live without an inner monologue?
Medical student Kirsten Carlson shared her experience on YouTube, and revealed she never daydreams, sees information like files, and doesn’t endlessly replay conversations that went wrong in her head – dreamy.
However, she also described what it’s like to read without an inner monologue, and admitted she doesn’t particularly enjoy it.
‘When I read I can see this sentence structure in my head – every sentence has a shape so you can see, then also like keywords will pop out and I can file those away into my concept map, so at the end of reading something I can have a concept map of the main topic,’ she said.
‘I tend to move my lips when I read so essentially I’m saying it out loud, but it’s not audible.’
She also said she doesn’t visualise settings, and just sees the words.
People without an inner monologue also often have aphantasia too, an inability to form mental images of objects – essentially the ‘mind’s eye’.
And while those with an active inner monologue and mind’s eye might think having neither could be a blessing, it isn’t always.
Kirsten said she often can’t sleep because she’s seeing lists of things to do, and needs to get up and write them down, and although she doesn’t have that little voice trying to break her confidence, she can still feel anxious.
‘I tend to have really physical symptoms of anxiety,’ she said. ‘It’s less mental and I don’t really feel like I’m anxious until I realise my hands are shaking or I feel nauseated.’
Olivia Rivera, who also has no inner monologue, has the same feelings. Speaking to CBC, she said: ‘I’m not telling myself to panic and I’m not like, “Oh my gosh Olivia!”. I never think like that, that feels weird to say. I would never address myself.’
Just as those with an inner monologue find the idea of living without one hard to imagine, it works both ways.
‘When I hear that other people have a constant kind of dialogue and stream in their head and that when they’re doing a task they’ll just be thinking about things the entire time they’re doing a task, it actually kind of feels a little overwhelming,’ she said. ‘How do you deal with that and what does that feel like?’
Olivia added that she was aware of the idea of an inner voice through TV shows such as Lizzie Maguire, but had no idea that was how most people lived.
‘I always thought it was something that people just manifested and made up for movies and books and characters just to explain your inner thought process,’ she said. ‘I didn’t realise that it was actually that constant for people, that people did actually have a little kind of voice in their head telling them different things and what to do and what to think.’
And while for those without an inner monologue life is completely normal – for them, if hard to comprehend for others – there can be downsides.
‘I can be blunt and I can have no filter,’ said Olivia. ‘Sometimes I say things I shouldn’t say. People often know what I’m thinking because I will say exactly what I’m thinking.’
On the other hand, she said she can easily block out negative memories or thoughts.
Dr Sandra Wheatley, a consultant for potentpsychology.com, cites a lack of negative thinking as one of the potential benefits of anauralia.
‘People without an inner monologue may be no better or worse off than those who do, but they could be less depressed, with no nagging voice of doom and doubt,’ she told Metro.co.uk.
Anauralia could also be beneficial for concentration.
‘When we’re focusing we all try to limit other senses, so having [your inner monologue] permanently switched off could be an advantage,’ said Dr Wheatley.
She added: ‘It’s probably a bit like being colour blind. Those who aren’t, wonder how colour blind people cope, but they see things they know are called certain colours, they just see something different.
‘Perhaps there’s an evolutionary advantage – they may be on the up, and those of us with an inner monologue are on the way down.’
With so little research into anauralia so far it’s hard to say, but Russell Hurlburt, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada who has studied the ‘inner experience’ for four decades, believes perhaps just 30 to 50% of the population have an inner monologue – leaving them in the minority.
So if you’re struggling to wrap your head around the idea that some people reading this aren’t hearing the words as they go, remember – you could be the anomaly.