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Do You Talk To Yourself Out Loud As A Caregiver?

WIGO23
WIGO23 Member Posts: 128
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I have started talking out loud to myself (Not within DH’s hearing) both to vent about something DH has done or said and to try and calm myself. I say “it is not him, it is the disease” or “I can get through this” or even have back and forth mini-conversation with me, myself and I! Does anyone else do this? Am I losing it?

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  • harshedbuzz
    harshedbuzz Member Posts: 4,550
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    Mom and I vented to each other. Sometimes I'd meet a friend whose mom had Alzheimer's the same time dad did and we'd compare the amusing, ridiculous and tragic over lunch.

    The only talking to myself was rehearsing major fiblets. This is a trick I honed as the parent of a child with special education services— the ability to get what you need in a way that feels collaborative to the other guy.

    HB

  • M1
    M1 Member Posts: 6,788
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    I too tend to rehearse difficult conversations. My father was an attorney and later a judge, and he used to practice his trial arguments while mowing the lawn.

  • mrahope
    mrahope Member Posts: 538
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    Now that DH is in MC, I find myself speaking out loud now and then. Just to remind myself my voice still works!

  • Howaboutnow
    Howaboutnow Member Posts: 133
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    Occasionally I did talk out loud to myself. Like you, it could be a moment to vent, i.e. say something i wouldn’t allow myself to say to DH but needed to release it somehow. Seems pretty healthy to me 🩷

  • wose
    wose Member Posts: 137
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    I talk to myself …all day long…I know I’m losing it, but it’s the only coping mechanism that helps. I try to be careful, but my DH has X-ray hearing. He hears me even when I’m 2 floors away! He’s always asking me who I’m talking to and then proceeds to tell me “it’s not normal” and maybe I need help.(haha) I tell him I’m talking to God.
    I don’t have another human face in my life. So it’s me. It helps when I talk out loud with all the stuff that needs accomplished. The voiced lists helps me remember to prioritize. I also talk to deceased Mom, just because I miss her💜

  • trottingalong
    trottingalong Member Posts: 439
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    I think it’s normal to talk out loud to yourself. I catch myself doing it more. My sister, who lives alone, says she talks to herself all the time. She’s an extremely active, outgoing woman, but says when she’s home alone, she’s always talking.

  • Mint
    Mint Member Posts: 2,788
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    I live alone and yes I talk to myself.

  • Iris L.
    Iris L. Member Posts: 4,455
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    I talk to myself all the time!

    Iris

  • Whyzit2
    Whyzit2 Member Posts: 61
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    During Covid I would make faces and stick my tongue out at DH and it was therapeutic for me. But when we no longer needed masks, that all went away.

  • midge333
    midge333 Member Posts: 337
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    I talk to my dog who has been dead for a year…

  • jfkoc
    jfkoc Member Posts: 3,920
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    not out loud….so far…lol

  • GothicGremlin
    GothicGremlin Member Posts: 869
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    I'd talk to myself all the time in the car, usually giving myself pep talks - You can do this! Five hours in memory care and then you have the evening off! - stuff like that.

    Sometimes I'd rehearse difficult conversations.

    Sometimes if I was having a particularly loopy conversation with Peggy, I'd turn around so that I wasn't facing her, and I'd make the scream face 😱 just for a second, and then face Peggy again with my happy face. Which I guess doesn't technically fall under "talking to yourself" … but I kind of put it in the same box.

  • ButterflyWings
    ButterflyWings Member Posts: 1,755
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    ALL the time! And yes, I answer. Even when other people are around. I think I always have, but definitely more now that my DH is largely non-verbal.

Commonly Used Abbreviations


DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
Read more