I regularly go about 2 ½ days without making a single audible sound with my voice. Friday through Monday.
I used to talk to myself a bit or sing/hum along while listening to music but I kinda stopped doing that.
The funny thing is, I’ve recently realizied that the last and first thing I say throughout the weekend are usually the same. I say “Goodbye” to my coworkers on a Friday evening, and then I say “Goodbye” to the cashier near the self checkout at the grocery store where I grab my lunch for the day on a Monday morning. It’s sort of ironic that the first thing I say after a long period of time, is something that usually ends a conversation.
I spend decent stretches of time alone but I usually talk to myself or something. I totally get why crazy hermits who live alone in the woods do it, it’s awesome
I can go days without talking to another human but I don’t think a day go by without me making any sounds. After all, I’m constantly talking to my pet and house spiders and when outside I talk to birds, squirrels and food delivery robots.
Does it get lonely sometimes or is it a choice you made?
Well sure, but it still beats being in a bad relationship. Ideally I’d be with someone who I like being with and who likes being with me but you can’t have it all. Relationships aren’t my #1 priority in life.
Ive had a lot of jobs where i worked alone. Ive also had a few stints of prolonged unemployment and other random things that kept me isolated. I started talking to myself, just kinda about whatever i was doing. Sure i look crazy but it helps. Now i have co workers and stuff i bs with so its better.
So I’m not pathologizing you specifically but from my entry level knowledge in psychiatry I feel like that’s gotta do something real weird to a human’s neurotransmitters. Not even necessarily bad even I’d just be fascinated to know.
The longest would probably be something like three months. During CoVID I got tasked with keeping the IT infrastructure running in one of our satellite buildings. I was the only person in my shop assigned to this building and one of two total people in the building on any given day. The other being the janitor who did his rounds at night and then locked up the building.
I also live alone and tend to use the self-checkout at the grocery store. The only person I would have even had any real opportunity to speak to would have been the attendant at the self-checkout and they would have at most gotten the customary head-nod of greeting.
It was the second happiest time of my life, second only to the three weeks immediately following that where I did all the same stuff, but from home.
8 months. I was premature.
I meow to my cat every single day.
Hey fellow human, I get that as I work from home. That being said I put effort into going out / finding people to talk to and it really helped my mental health. If that’s not for you, or if there is something preventing it I get that but please make sure you’re taking care of yourself.
The obvious would probably be when I was 4 years old. Went 4 whole years from birth without speaking, Lol. My parents said I was “selectively mute” and put me in a class with a lotta differently abled kids, which ended after they realized I just didn’t like speaking.
My cats would miss our talks.
Im married and even when I walk my dog I talk to her. I never shutup :) (actually most people consider me rather quiet).
3-4 days straight, every 5ish months.
I used to work 5 week shifts on a ship, and as an introvert, once I arrived back home my social battery was well beyond spent. Since I was offshore, people were used to my phone being “outside of reception”. But the truth was that once I arrived back home it was an important part of my self care ritual:
Upon arriving back home, I sent an SMS to my mom letting immediate family know that I was home and safe. I then turned my phone completely off and left it under my bed, and did whatever I felt like doing. After about three days I felt ready to interact with society again.
I was stuck on an empty cruise ship (as crew) for 9 months at sea during covid. I normally went days at a time without ever seeing anyone. I don’t think i talked once during my 3x2 week quarantine periods.
Dann that’s crazy, never thought about what was going on on cruise ships during Covid.
I can go a week, easily, if I am on staycation.
“Staycation”, I’m so stealing that.
I thought about this, I think its impossible for me. Especially because I’d be talking to my dogs or cat, or I’d be singing. The longest, not including sleeping, is probably like 3 hours.
