Well talking to yourself is just having a conversation with you and you know that that's exactly what you're doing

Hearing voices is psychosis .. I heard voices coming from my bushes once and was really paranoid...If you heard a voice coming from under your bed you'd know you weren't talking to yourself...x

I talk to myself all the time - out loud or in my head - I have ongoing conversations sometimes. "Where did I put my keys? Oh there they are. Did I grab my wallet? Do we need ice cream? Let me check....hmmm yup we need it. Should I go to the store now or later. I might as well go now......" That's a typical conversation I would have with myself.

I also hear voices, whispers behind my ear and in my head. They are distinctly different from my voice and say rotten things most of the time. Knowing it is NOT my voice confirms that's psychosis and Abilify helps but it doesn't wipe out the whispers all the way.

I have heard voices, and I would describe them as startling...when I know it's not just my thought arising, but kind of feeling like it's coming from somewhere else.

I talk to myself sometimes, quite similar to what Spacekat described. And then I have heard reiterated thoughts from things I've heard from other people in the past...like memories resurfacing.

But the voices of psychosis? Startling. At least in my experience.

I don't know, spacekat, I can make characters from a tv show talk in my head, and I can unwillingly hear the soundtrack of a video game play very loudly and endlessly, but those are distinctly different from when I think someone's talking behind me or in the other room.

I heard voices coming from the smoke detector.. I thought someone had a hidden camera in there and they were somehow communicating with me. I have heard voices that were distinctly male sounding coming from the speakers in the hospital.. I knew that wasn't me talking inside my head. But, I knew it wasn't hospital employees because of the terrible things they were saying to me. I've heard Jesus Christ himself talking to me .. telling me to do things that I know God would never tell me to do. All of these were voices that were part of a deep psychosis.

I LOVE to talk to me! Although quite often I say negative things to myself. If i could just work on saying more positive tings that would be good.