# I met a woman who verbalizes her every thought as she thinks it. What's she got? OCD? Tourette's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 15, 2013, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963 "2013-03-15T00:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/21 "2013-03-15T05:03:10Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > So far you’ve only described a trait. > > It rises to the level of a disorder if it causes significant dysfunction for _her_. Doc - If I did not know you you be a rational, educated person… Did someone grab your keyboard while your were interrupted by an emergency? If I am a hog farmer and have the animals to spare, would I be normal if I began each day by bathing in the carcass of a freshly slaughtered pig - in my driveway, then leaving the carcass for the vultures which have learned to drop by for fresh pork each morning? Surely the definition of “disorder” does not require the affected to be dysfunctional? Substitute “child” for “pig” and “polygamous male with 400 fertile wives” for “hog farmer” (yes, I’m a frustrated wanna-be lawyer). I’m now a criminal - but I am not disordered? If I want to plead insanity, please excuse yourself from my jury, 'K? ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/22 "2013-03-15T05:41:35Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Substitute “child” for “pig” and “polygamous male with 400 fertile wives” for “hog farmer” I’m now a criminal - but I am not disordered? No, just living the dream, bro! Or in the FLDS. And see my comment about sociopaths. They only cause dysfunction and chaos for others, unless they get brought to justice, but most of them are wily enough to never get caught. Or they do it legit and go into auto sales or become Realtors or politicians. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/23 "2013-03-15T05:56:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I know a woman like that. I call her Mom. Which of my brothers are you and when did you move to Rhode Island? My mother can stop the wordstream, when she sees a greater benefit to doing so than to inform the world of her all-important thought processes. As far as we can tell and in combination with other traits, she’s just completely self-centered: the notion that her voiced-over thought processes may be disturbing someone who’s trying to read, watch TV or do any kind of work is incomprehensible. She is the most important person in her world, therefore she is the most important person in the world. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/24 "2013-03-15T06:20:49Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > but most of them are wily enough to never get caught. No, most of them are caught. Because they don’t really empathise with people, they invariably screw up. They over estimate their own abilities, and psychopathy does not automatically confer genius. They dont plan for the future very well. What they are very good at is pushing people around, and some of them manage to keep their mouths shut, but they tend to be braggarts and dismissive of others intellects and abilities. So if Psycho Sam brags to his neighbour Joe that he killed an old man, he’ll also say “And I’ll kill you too if you tell anyone!”. That solves that. And it was fun. Joe is scared of him now. He wont talk. If the cops do show up, Sam thinks he will escape out the back, and the stupid cops will never catch him. Joe must have told them. There is no way they could have known otherwise. He wont consider that maybe someone else heard him through a wall, or the police tracked him down through forensics, or that they were already watching him. He is not really good at thinking about things out of his sight because he cannot imagine himself in other peoples shoes. Unless he stole them. It was easy. They were stupid. They all are. I should go back and see what else is there. They wont catch me. And the better they do, the more they risk. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/25 "2013-03-15T06:37:44Z")
self deleted ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/26 "2013-03-15T06:44:58Z")
I favor the obvious explanation: though I haven’t encountered anyone like this, if I did I’d put them in the same category as folks who cannot read even a menu without having their lips move involuntarily, or those who cannot count higher than ten without removing their shoes. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/27 "2013-03-15T06:45:39Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > ADA. They could be sued for not hiring her. Why? It’s making the library harder to use, isn’t it? It’s like a waiter with a chronic body odor problem. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/28 "2013-03-15T07:30:15Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > No, just living the dream, bro! Or in the FLDS. > > And see my comment about sociopaths. They only cause dysfunction and chaos for others, unless they get brought to justice, but most of them are wily enough to never get caught. Or they do it legit and go into auto sales or become Realtors or politicians. More likely [they get recruited as investment bankers](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/brian-basham-beware-corporate-psychopaths--they-are-still-occupying-positions-of-power-6282502.html). ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/29 "2013-03-15T08:26:30Z")
Not recognizing inner sounded dialogue as, well, inner–there is a term for this, but I can’t remember it–is indeed a pathology, most commonly of some form of schizophrenia. About whether it is a cause, or indicative, of dysfunction. Years ago, after a particularly bad brush with madness, I was talking with a psych in the post-hospitalization “transition” program, about states of normative sanity. He mentioned a beggar who he saw everyday, as he drove to work, sitting under a bridge ramp holding a non-stop conversation with himself. Obviously mentally ill–the most obvious sign his voicing of two interlocutors, the psych added. I asked the psych wasn’t he he moved to intervene, as a physician dedicated to help illness. He said something like, “no, he never bothered anybody, and always seemed perfectly at ease and happy with himself.” ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/30 "2013-03-15T08:38:52Z")
Five-minute moat add: the psych was not exhibiting, nor am I ignoring, anything to do with the responsibilities of the health-care profession, or about how the man’s mental illness may have been a cause of him becoming a beggar or a stumbling block to changing his status. It was a precise surprise comment for a purpose at a specific time and place in therapy. Nonetheless, it still comes to mind when I think about mental dysfunctionality. ---
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/31 "2013-03-15T10:41:25Z")
> [@FuzzyOgre](#): > > No, most of them are caught. Because they don’t really empathise with people, they invariably screw up. They over estimate their own abilities, and psychopathy does not automatically confer genius. They dont plan for the future very well. > > What they are very good at is pushing people around, and some of them manage to keep their mouths shut, but they tend to be braggarts and dismissive of others intellects and abilities. > > So if Psycho Sam brags to his neighbour Joe that he killed an old man, he’ll also say “And I’ll kill you too if you tell anyone!”. That solves that. And it was fun. Joe is scared of him now. He wont talk. > > If the cops do show up, Sam thinks he will escape out the back, and the stupid cops will never catch him. Joe must have told them. There is no way they could have known otherwise. > > He wont consider that maybe someone else heard him through a wall, or the police tracked him down through forensics, or that they were already watching him. He is not really good at thinking about things out of his sight because he cannot imagine himself in other peoples shoes. > > Unless he stole them. It was easy. They were stupid. They all are. I should go back and see what else is there. They wont catch me. > > And the better they do, the more they risk. Are you aware the vast majority of sociopaths/psychopaths never kill anyone? And most of them are never even diagnosed? You just made up your entire post, it’s not even remotely factual. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/32 "2013-03-15T10:49:13Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > More likely [they get recruited as investment bankers](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/brian-basham-beware-corporate-psychopaths--they-are-still-occupying-positions-of-power-6282502.html). That article is astonishing. Thanks for linking to it. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/33 "2013-03-15T11:26:40Z")
> [@rogerbox](#): > > Are you aware the vast majority of sociopaths/psychopaths never kill anyone? And most of them are never even diagnosed? You just made up your entire post, it’s not even remotely factual. I never said the bulk of them kill anyone. Thanks for reading that in though. Nor do they have to be diagnosed before or after getting in trouble with the law. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/34 "2013-03-15T13:12:05Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Which of my brothers are you and when did you move to Rhode Island? > > My mother can stop the wordstream, when she sees a greater benefit to doing so than to inform the world **of her all-important thought processes**. As far as we can tell and in combination with other traits, she’s just **completely self-centered** : the notion that her voiced-over thought processes **may be disturbing someone who’s trying to read, watch TV or do any kind of work is incomprehensible. She is the most important person in her world, therefore she is the most important person in the world.** We must be siblings. There’s no other explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/35 "2013-03-15T13:40:10Z")
[Interesting article on Psychology Today](http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-couch/201204/what-makes-people-talk-too-much). Although the article deals more with people monopolizing a conversation then the audible internal monologue **stuyguy** describes. But I think the two are related. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/36 "2013-03-15T14:29:13Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Which of my brothers are you and when did you move to Rhode Island? > > My mother can stop the wordstream, when she sees a greater benefit to doing so than to inform the world of her all-important thought processes. As far as we can tell and in combination with other traits, she’s just completely self-centered: the notion that her voiced-over thought processes may be disturbing someone who’s trying to read, watch TV or do any kind of work is incomprehensible. She is the most important person in her world, therefore she is the most important person in the world. My grandmother fits the description to a T. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/37 "2013-03-15T14:47:38Z")
My mom does this. I think there’s two things going on in her case. 1. She lives alone and has done so for far too long. 2. She’s bipolar. For years, when visiting each other, I’d drive myself crazy trying to address every single thing that came out of her mouth. “Now, where did I put my sunglasses? :mumble mumble:” I’d drop what I was doing and try to help her find her sunglasses, while getting really frustrated with her because it seemed like she expected me to do exactly that – drop what I’m doing and rush to her aid. She’d look up, startled, and ask me why I was looking for her sunglasses. She didn’t even realize that I was reacting to her constantly running commentary because I thought _she was talking to me_. One visit, I decided to completely ignore all that patter unless she specifically said my name to alert me that she had an actual question for me that she wanted answered. Boy, did my stress levels drop significantly, and I was so much better able to enjoy visits with mom. She didn’t really want or expect any help finding her sunglasses; she’s just so accustomed to being alone all day, every thought in her head comes out verbally. It’s worse when she’s in a manic phase – then she never shuts up. I stopped trying to solve every little problem for her and would say things like, “I’m sure you’ll find your sunglasses soon. I’m going to go [do something else].” I shared office space with a coworker who also did this. Running commentary, every single day, “Oh, I hate this! Why do people have to be so stupid? This is stupid! Why are we doing this? Wait-- what is this? I hate this! I hate doing this! I hate these people, they are idiots!” And on and on and on and on and on. Most days, I contemplated the many ways I would kill her with my bare hands just for a few minutes of sweet, sweet silence before the cops took me away. 😃 Finally, another coworker left, so she decided she wanted the bigger office, and moved out, giving me an office roommate who only makes a tolerable and non-disturbing level of noise. I think it’s just self-involvement, in general. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/38 "2013-03-15T14:52:31Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > That article is astonishing. Thanks for linking to it. It explains a lot, doesn’t it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/39 "2013-03-15T15:22:03Z")
> [@usedtobe](#): > > Surely the definition of “disorder” does not require the affected to be dysfunctional? Histrionics aside, here’s the psychiatric definition of a disorder: > [@](#): > > Any pattern of psychological or behavioral symptoms that causes an individual significant distress, impairs their ability to function in life, and/or significantly increases their risk of death, pain, disability, or loss of freedom. In addition, to be considered a psychiatric disorder, the symptoms must be more than an expected response to a particular event (e.g., normal grief after the loss of a loved one). Acting in manners as many describe here will put said person at increased risk of dysfunction like a beat-down from their neighbors, or incarceration. So I stand by my definition. If said person’s behavior consistently causes them no significant negative consequences, it’s not dysfunctional. And people whose completely unempathic practices don’t result in negative consequences likewise don’t have a disorder, either. Just psychopathic traits. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2013, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963/40 "2013-03-15T20:34:03Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > ADA. They could be sued for not hiring her. That’s a pretty gross oversimplification of the ADA. An employer does not have to hire every single person with a disability who applies for a job, regardless of whether that person is a good fit for that job. Also, once an employer has hired a worker with a disability, they don’t have to keep that person on regardless of performance, just because that person has a disability. It’s only discrimination if it can be shown the the person with the disability was the most qualified candidate for the job and was not selected on the basis of their disability, or was let go for no other reason than that he or she had a disability. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-met-a-woman-who-verbalizes-her-every-thought-as-she-thinks-it-whats-she-got-ocd-tourettes/652963.md?page=3)