Why people talk to themselves

Findings were presented from a study of a group of patients who were able, by talking to themselves, to create a pleasurable sense of another's presence. These patients talked to themselves when they would otherwise feel shame or loneliness. The "presence" created was in each case a member of the family of origin, a family members whose loss had never been mourned. Because they had failed to mourn, they had not acquired sufficient enriching identifications with their family members. In some instances, the self-directed talks also constituted a resistance in treatment. The patients gave up the behavior as they mourned their previously unaccepted losses and internalized as identifications certain important regulatory interactions with the mourned figures.