Talking to imaginary people and avpd

Silentknight

Well-known member
I talk to imaginary people. They are not imaginary people that I actually see or hear. They are just imaginary people that I visualize intuitively. Sometimes it is people that I actually know in real life other times it's celebrities that I'm attracted too. If you saw me talking to myself you would think I was having a conversation with some voice in my head. I don't hear voices though. I tend to see myself as "doing the other voices" for these imagined people. I don't know why this is or if it has anything to do with my AVPD. It's not like I plan it out Maybe some people will talk in front of a mirror to practice for an interview but this is nothing like that. The way it happens is in the normal course of my thoughts like say I'm sitting down alone and some person pops into my head and I began to wish that I had the courage to talk to this person but I know I can't so I make up this conversation and I really immerse myself in it I'll start moving my hands and start walking and talking. I can partialy visualize the setting that we are talking in and even see this person. A big problem I have with this though is after when I start to lose the immersivness I feel stupid for doing this like I'll never be able to have these types of conversations in life also I'm worried as to what, what I do means does it mean I have some form of schizophrenia or something else as severe or is this something not worry about?
 
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Ignace

Well-known member
I don't think it's a problem if you just do it for 'fun'. If you can't stop it, I don't know.:confused:
 
I do this on a daily basis :D


I have some fabulous arguments with people !


I think its normal


it is isnt it ?


surely



really



:eek:
 
I have a friend who talks to plants when shes bored.


she claims shes not crazy tho.


I have a few people with whom I text occasionally but If they didn't exist I'd probably be talking to myself eventually also.
 
I recall reading somewhere that Nikolai Tesla the inventor of DC (or was it AC?) current didn't have just a few imaginary people... He had a whole world (!!!!) inside his head and a persistent one at that. It's like playing an MMORPG with perfect graphics and lucid dreaming all in one. I would almost, very, very nearly kill to have that ability and I'm not in the least bit joking.
 

Anthem of the Angels

Well-known member
It's not unusual at all, I do it too :). For example: I'm walking around at home and my mind wanders off to some event that I expect to happen. So I start playing all the possible scenarios in my head and eventually start talking myself and doing hand gestures as if I was talking to a real person. However I only do this at home.
It's become sort of a habit for me, since I think in an actual situation I'd just freeze up and it's kinda useful if I already have the script.
(and I have no idea if what I just said makes any sense :D)

So don't worry about it. If you're still concerned about it go talk to a psychotherapist (is that the correct term?). I just tried that yesterday for the first time and I must say, I'm impressed. She seems like a nice person. Looking forward to my next session :)
 

Richey

Well-known member
who really wants to be normal and the person everyone expects ..obviously if you do it and believe the person is real or that a cabinet is talking back to you thats different but i believe its just a craving to talk! so talking at an object and even answering yourself like you would inside your head but out allowed is what's happening. pretty normal but crazy if other people see you do it.
 

coyote

Well-known member
I do this quite a bit myself - always have.

I don't know if that makes it normal, or if that makes me abnormal... sorry.
 

bigrob

Well-known member
My wife talks to herself while working on the computer.

Usually I tune her out. It just bothers me when she gets mad because I don't answer. How am I supposed to know when she's speaking to me or herself? :confused:
 
It's kind of funny, I was just reading about this (or something very similar) in relation to AvPD- "utilizes fantasy as a form of escapism and to interrupt painful thoughts"- quite normal for AvPD. I think the distinction between this "fantasy" and that of schizophrenia is that we know that it is a fantasy, and can distinguish between our imaginings and real life. I wouldn't worry about it, unless you start believing that you've actually talked to these people.

Edit: I'd like to add that I sort of do this myself- only I don't create imaginary conversations so much as I "live" in the books that I read, imagining myself as one of the characters and "casting" other people that I know in the other roles (usually people I don't even know that well, but perhaps would like to), and imagining the story playing out in real life. It's always frustrated me that I either don't know how or am too afraid to make "interesting" things happen in the real world with real people. This is one reason I'm certain I have AvPD, my indulgence in these fantasies does increase when I get more depressed or things get too overwhelming in the real world and I just want to "escape" from my problems for a while, if only in my head.
 
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dooby-duck

Well-known member
I don't talk out loud but I do spend quite a lot of time absorbed in my fantasy world. It does help to block negative thoughts.
 

jaypee06

Well-known member
i play out a lot of scenarios in my head and imagine the dialogue as if i'm actuall there... i usually come back to earth when i make a sudden or ridiculous movement... it happens a lot when im just looking in the mirror

sometimes its fun other times its triggered by something i see, hear or think
 

lyricalliaisons

Well-known member
I don't think it has anything to do with AvPD, but I do do something similar myself. I've always had an imaginary world in my head, but when I was in about the tenth grade, it got even stronger. I have "imaginary friends" & an entire imaginary life in my head which is why I daydream so much. Often, when I am alone, I talk out loud to those people. They talk to me inside my head & I talk out loud to them. Usually, everything takes place inside my head, but when I'm alone, my side of the conversation ends up being out loud. I think it's because I talk so little in real life. I used to be worried about this, but got over it maybe a year ago because I realize that it's just a coping mechanism. But I still haven't told my psychiatrist, therapist, or anyone because I'm afraid they'll try to diagnose me with something else or try to make me stop & I don't want to stop. I hope I'll someday have real friends & real people to talk to, but until then, I'm glad I have the ones in my head. As long as I know they're not real, I don't think there's a problem.
 

Emily_G

Well-known member
I used to do this all the time, I still do it sometimes...but I make myself stop because I feel like an idiot when I do it.....
 

arkane

Member
Wow, I thought I was alone in doing this. When I'm alone and bored I play out fantasies in my head and then I have to start talking really quietly and playing the parts. It's become quite a habit :/
 

Illusions

Well-known member
"utilizes fantasy as a form of escapism and to interrupt painful thoughts"

Yep, that describes me very accurately. I don't actually talk out loud and move about as if there's someone there, I sometimes imagine myself comfortably talking to certain people in all sorts of scenarios.
 

PhantomPod

Well-known member
I do this too! All the time. Imaginary conversations with people I know in real life and with celebrities I like. What's weird is that I do it a lot in the car lol. I'm going to get in a wreck or something and I'll be like, "oh, sorry, I got distracted by my imaginary conversation!"

Yeah, I don't know if it's "normal" or considered "abnormal" (prob), but all I know is that you're certainly not alone! I do it very often.
 
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