When did talking, as if to oneself, become a sign of mental illness?

[Balthazzar]

Ironically, if I didn't talk to myself, I'd probably be more mentally ill!

That's not even ironic.

 

[Spice]

As a loner I know that I live in my head. So when I find myself speaking aloud to myself it's a filtering process. I do this when I'm shopping or I've gone into a room for a specific reason. If I don't verbally remind myself my attention will drift away. As I've gotten older, I've also found that I work safer if I making a verbal contribution to my focus. This is one reason I listen to music when on the riding mower. It keeps my mind in the moment so I don't run off in a ditch. LOL

 

[The Sum of Awe]

I think it is healthy. Like others said, people probably get antsy about the rejection of social customs when someone is doing it in public. People are quick to call anything they don't like a mental illness.

 

[VoidCat]

I'm not practicing conversations, nor am I hallucinating. I aim well, and although it may seem somewhat incoherent in practice, given the thought processes involved, it makes sense to me to do this as opposed to bottling it all up in attempt to contain the expression itself. I practice my logos as it is experienced inside myself, and while I couldn't pull it off at a job, I am at least able to blend in with those who aren't so different than me.

He was speaking to a machine without aim to carry on with an exchange. I found it odd, but then we communicate in many ways and for many reasons. I talk to my planted pineapple plant, the cats around the neighborhood, and I sometimes yell at the wind when it pisses me off.

Agreed. It's a healthy thing most the time.

 

[Wherenextcolumbus]

I experience maladaptive daydreaming and vocal stimming - it might be mental illness, I don’t know

 

[stvdv]

I don't recall a point in the history of the world where living organisms didn't communicate expression even when alone, nor can I remember the concept of talking to oneself as being viewed as anything short of a mental disorder in the last 5 decades.

"Judge a fish by how well it is able to climb a tree, and the fish will go his entire life feeling as if it is stupid." Uncertain

When did talking, as if to oneself, become a sign of mental illness?​

My guess:
When a psychiatrist ran out of patients (money), he probably made that one up