I have always had an internal voice like a narrator in my head of my own voice

The most shocking thing to me - more shocking than the possibility that there may be alien life out there - is that there are people who do *not* have an internal monologue. I can't wrap my head around that. I spend every day (and most of the night) bickering with myself and over-analysising and ruminating and conjuring the worst and the best case scenarios. Being autistic is exhausting.

So generally are we saying that NT’s don’t self talk or have I misunderstood that? I have had my own voice in my head for as long as I can remember. This is usually re runs of past events and going through a story of what may happen at a social event or get together. As Rainbow said it’s my voice but in my head. I am alone most days when at work and very often talk to myself a lot. I’m just wondering if I’m actually having a conversation with that internal voice now. Think I must look into this and pay a bit more attention. The voice is very repetitive as well which can be annoying and can get stuck on the same thing for quite some time. I do the same with music I like all the time, I will play over and over until I’ve exhausted myself and then I can move on.

So generally are we saying that NT’s don’t self talk or have I misunderstood that? I have had my own voice in my head for as long as I can remember. This is usually re runs of past events and going through a story of what may happen at a social event or get together. As Rainbow said it’s my voice but in my head. I am alone most days when at work and very often talk to myself a lot. I’m just wondering if I’m actually having a conversation with that internal voice now. Think I must look into this and pay a bit more attention. The voice is very repetitive as well which can be annoying and can get stuck on the same thing for quite some time. I do the same with music I like all the time, I will play over and over until I’ve exhausted myself and then I can move on.

I do the same with movies ones I really like I will play over again. 

I still don't see how it can be an auditory hallucination if you know it's just you thinking. The whole point of a hallucination is something you think is real which isn't. My husband has schizophrenia and has had various kinds of hallucinations during psychosis, he also has an inner monologue as how he thinks, even when he has been on higher doses of antipsychotics. Unlike me, he isn't actually thinking all the time, but nonetheless he finds the idea of people not having an inner monologue very strange. (Like how I find that his is not on all the time strange!)

I think the difference is to do with both perception and control, one has no control over auditory hallucinations, so they are perceived to be outside oneself, even if in the mind, but the inner monologue is like when you speak but in your head. Which is not to to say one can necessarily shut up, but one can make a conscious effort to switch the topic, though we maybe tend to revert to an obsession when not paying attention. We can have this problem with speaking out loud too...

It's a bit like an earworm, can't easily shut it up, with some effort can maybe switch tunes (with mixed success!) but even that is not an auditory hallucination. If one is in psychosis though, an earworm might be perceived as actual music coming from outside. It's tricky when the control is limited, maybe it gets to a grey border between the two, but the combo of control and perception does make it possible to draw a line somewhere I think.

AuTriker said:

it is not an auditory hallucination as I am not under the impression I am actually hearing it from outside myself.

They are according to the definition from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/23233-auditory-hallucinations

A person may perceive auditory hallucinations as coming through their ears, on the surface of their body, in their mind or from anywhere in the space around them.

I have the inner voice of me all the time, not just when "reading in my head". I can't shut it off, but it is not an auditory hallucination as I am not under the impression I am actually hearing it from outside myself.

AuTriker said:

As far as we know, between 25% and 50% of all people have some kind of inner monologue.

It depends very much on how you define this inner monologue.

The original post talked about voices that could not be shut off so are not the same as when you read some text and "hear" it as you go.

Only around 10% of people have true auditory hallucinations  at some point in their life (source https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28956518/ )

Take5 said:

So generally are we saying that NT’s don’t self talk or have I misunderstood that?

No, I think you misunderstood. As far as we know, between 25% and 50% of all people have some kind of inner monologue. Also some autistic people (ie Temple Grandin) do not have one (apparently she thinks entirely visually).