question about voices

I always thought "voices" is when you hear something outside that you are not sure it's there.

Then people talk here about "voices" such as "the voice in my head telling me this and that". Um... isn't that internal dialogue? I always have convos with myself... about damn everything. I never thought to consider it "voices", although I can put myself down pretty harshly and be irrational.
But I know it's me...

so what is actually considered "voices"? Does "hearing" (well stuck in head) a part of song on loop count too? Clips from movie? Convos you had with people earlier on?

For me they come out of nowhere. They don't have to be triggered by something and it's not in my own voice. It's usually not even the voice of someone I know personally, like someone I've never heard before. Yes, they are inside my head but it's not spawned from an logical train of thought.

I can usually tell the difference. Usually. Sometimes its just chatter that I can't even make out because it's SO many conversations going on at the same time that come from nowhere and I have NO way of shutting it off. If it's a regular thought then I can usually push past it and "shut it down".

The song getting stuck on loop, or replaying conversations is completely normal (I think). But I also think it's just a little worse for us because of a tendency to ruminate about things. But at the same time those things don't usually interfere with daily functioning. If anything... it gives me a soundtrack for the day... which for me personally I kind of enjoy. Unless it's a stupid song that I hate.

Edit: I should also add that 95% of the time they don't bother me all that much. When it wakes me up and keeps me awake at 3am is the only time it legitimately bothers me.

I said "the voice in my head is telling me..." once, and didn't mean it as in hallucinations of any kind, but as an image of the compelling voice, my own voice, that I get in my head, like when you have a loud internal dialogue with yourself. It's an involuntary internal dialogue where the "involuntary part" of me is trying to compel me to commit suicide, but the voluntarily thinking part of me (I) can see the flawed reasoning and is (am) trying to stop the dialogue/monologue. It is very tiresome and it is hard to not feel very suicidal when this happens. It does feel like someone else, or some other me, is trying to influence me. It's a sort of non-stop listing of reasons to kill myself and to hate myself in a deep, monotonous voice that is my own.

Hope this clarifies what I meant if you were thinking about my post.

Other me is internal but her voice is not mine and she has her own personality and her own observations on things, and I know she looks different than me even though I never actually see her, but I know what she looks like. I don't know if she's a voice or not but I'm starting to suspect she's something. I don't care, though, because I still know she's part of me and she's often the only one I have to help me through things.

According to Intervoice:
So, yeah, it could just be something you hear inside and not externally, I guess.

Here's the website.
Intervoice | Essential Facts about Hearing Voices

The voices I here are definitly not internal dialogue, I quite enjoy internal dialogue, because it helps me clarify things and also helps with decision making.

Its "normal"...

The voices on the other hand, can be random conversations eg. Elderly couple arguing, Father scolding his son, or random chitchat about coffee and who knows what, Because I try and drown that shyt out because its annoying as fk and hard to sleep with people talking so loudly!

I also have voices talking directly to me, and I find it disturbing because they NEVER say ANYTHING nice to me. They berate me, belittle me, insult me, swear at me and repeat harmful instructions for hours/days without reprieve...

My external voices never speak to me directly. And often they don't even use words I understand. Sometimes it's just noises, like the phone thing. Or heavy footsteps going on behind me. And, when they are words they are limited. Like "Oh come on!" or "Hey!"

Yes! Yes! That and that! This is exactly how it's like for me too.

i have relationships with my voices, treat them like any other human being, treat them like anybody else i meet in life, they are not divided by groups of any particular emotional output but are individuals i have conversations with everyday. they tend to get hurt if i do silly things... i also slap the ones i dislike and hate... and it feels really good... then they cry... and feel sorry for themselves... then i have to apologize... we can chatter for hours.. and sometimes its really enjoyable... as of right now i'm frequently having conversations with characters in my head... a predominant figure is a transsexual who i'm having relations with... we have sex... in my strange ways... then we argue about things i don't know why we do about...

now things are turning bad... and she's being very promiscuous i don't know why... so i'm depressed and i think i'm going to fail a few subjects this semester... other characters and people in life.... like celebrities... and some occasional real life friend... of which i never make conversations about these things in real life with... i have one good friend who i tell alot of things about in real life... but it never clicks... and the conversation never goes on point of the things i do in my other strange life...

so things are good now... majority of people except me for who i am in my head... but this transsexual is giving me a difficult time... and i feel depressed
but i have a really good time with people in my head now... and we talk a lot... i sometimes i wish they would listen when i give advice... but my advice is too far fetched for them to understand... so things are good... but this woman/transsexual i'm having a relationship with is really difficult... i'm dumbstruck as to how to deal with this... i think she just wants me to not waste time with her... so i think that's what i'll do