Better still, Stewart goes on to note that talking to yourself out loud actually comes hand-in-hand with several benefits.

“It can give you greater clarity and awareness of your thoughts at that moment,” he says, “and allow you to challenge these thoughts and explore them in real-time, which helps with decision making and keeps you focused on a task at hand.”

And, if we do it right, Stewart believes that talking to ourselves can do wonders for our self-esteem, offering up Muhammad Ali and his spoken mantras up as an example. “The flipside of this is when your thoughts become negative and self-critical,” he warns.

“They often go unchallenged in your mind, chipping away at how you see yourself in a negative way. We all need to be careful not to give these thoughts a voice in a way that consumes us.”

With that in mind, then, how can we maximise the mental health benefits of talking to ourselves?

Be mindful

“Pay attention to your thoughts, especially if they are more negative than positive,” says Stewart.

Learn to challenge yourself

“If your thoughts aren’t helpful, constructive, positive or resourceful, you need to change them into something that is,” says Stewart. “Reframe them to be something more empowering. Think about what you would say to someone you love if you needed to challenge their negative thoughts to help them feel better, then do this for yourself.”

Why do I keep talking to myself? Here’s what it really means (and when you should worry)