I've just discovered I have Aphantasia - who knew !

[VictoriaBun]

You might have it also.

Close your eyes and imagine a happy place, a wood , a beach anywhere that floats your boat . See the image in your mind, feel yourself there etc etc.
Now can you actually see the image in your head ? No. Well then you also have it ! !
It's blown my mind that I've got to this age and realise that when people say something like count sheep to help you sleep that can actually see the sheep in their head. Wow. Apparently 2 -3 % of the population also have Aphantasia. Who's in the club ?

I'm close to having this too, I can see flashes of images but they quickly disappear and I can't visualise my husband or my children:-(.

My memory of events is not always very good because of this I think. I can struggle to recognise people especially if they look similar to someone else.

It was a revelation for me when I realised this about myself and it is a relief to understand it and know my own limitations. It can also be quite helpful for forgetting or lessening the impact of traumatic events or people I don't want to think about.

@TruthOnTrial I'm so jealous! That sounds amazing.

Scarily I've just tried to picture the faces of some of my nearest and dearest and I absolutely can't - I kind of "know" their faces and could make them nearly flash into vision with my eyes shut but can't picture them properly or in any detail at all.

This feels like when I first wore glasses and realised that for 12 years I hadn't seen anything clearly - I thought what I saw was what everyone could see. I cried my eyes out when I saw leaves on a tree that day as I worried what else I'd missed out on or not understood for years 😂

You don't know til you know I guess!

I can easily visualize things, so as I've read the thread, I've seen the waterfall, the beach the back doorstep etc.
It is not the same as seeing in real life, more transitory and at times harder to pin down.
But yes I actually do 'see' things, including sheep and a gate!

I also have vivid dreams sometimes, which can mean I wake up wondernig if it actually happened and it takes me a minute to realise it didn't. But in those dreams it is usually the emotion that lingers, eg the grief/fear etc generated by the dream.

But I have never visualised to masterbate, and I find it interesting that some people need to do that. But then I am not very driven by sight when it comes to sexual attraction.

Me too. There a life a few threads about this. I'm sure there was someone doing a study on it somewhere

When i was at primary the teacher used to make us close our eyes and tell us what we see when music played. I once said nothing because i actually can't and she told me stop messing about and being rediciolous. So of course i thought something was wrong with me. I then just made some crap up to keep her happy

I know I started this thread and think it's gone to some interesting thoughts/ opinions but I'm beginning to doubt that as stated in research I've seen that only 2-3% of the population have it. Reason being I asked my dh if he can see/ imagine images in his minds eye, same as me- he can't. But, was at a friends house tonight and asked them to close their eyes and try to see an image , they can't either . So how can 4 people i.e 100% of people not see actual images in their minds eye when on average it's 2 -3% ?. I'm confused !

Yes I’ve been wondering about the stats too. And it’s very difficult to describe what one means by ‘seeing’ when it’s so abstract. I’m going to keep asking people about their experiences of this though.

I have no problem picturing 'scenes' in my head, but I cannot picture faces. I also have to meet someone multiple times before I will recognise them, and if I see them somewhere unexpected then all bets are off.

For example, we have just had a new manager start in my workplace. I saw her in the office multiple times in her first week, and we had a half hour chat one day about househunting and the nightmare of packing and moving. So when I go in to the office tomorrow I will no doubt (hopefully!) recognise her straight away. However if you asked me to picture her, or describe what she looks like, I couldn't do it. I genuinely couldn't even tell you her hair colour or if she wears glasses, which just makes me sound really unobservant, but it only seems to be with people.

And more to the point, although I would 'recognise' her in the office, I would honestly walk straight past her in the supermarket. It's more like situational recognition than genuine recognition if that makes sense?

As pp have said, I have no clue how anyone can remember a face clearly enough to do those e-fit drawings, and the fact that someone could recognise a person from an e-fit is just as mind boggling to me. I would be a dreadful witness. Also a dreadful passport control officer, because unless you had your passport photo taken that same day and therefore are the same age/weight and have the same hairstyle/glasses/beard as your picture I wouldn't be able to tell that it was the same person, so no one would be going on their holidays!

On the other hand, I was at the cinema a while back and a trailer came on for a new film. There was one scene that they showed in the trailer that I knew I had seen before, and I actually turned to my friend and said "I've already seen that film", even though it wasn't out yet. It wasn't even the dialogue that was familiar, it was the actual room that the characters were in, and how they were situated. It turned out to be a film based on a book, but I had so clearly visualised it while I was reading the book that I swear it was like rewatching something I'd already seen.

I'm beginning to doubt that as stated in research I've seen that only 2-3% of the population have it.

My understanding of the stats is that, like face blindness, it's a spectrum rather than a switch 2-3% have complete aphantasia, no 'mind's eye' at all, but lots more people have poor visual imagery to varying degrees all the way through to people at the other end of the spectrum with hyperphantasia. For example, some people cannot 'picture a scene' voluntarily when asked, but do dream with images; some people have a visual memory without being able to recall it - e.g. they can walk into their bedroom and notice that someone has moved the bed, without being able to 'see' how the bedroom was previously.

Hyperphantasia, where people can voluntarily picture things very vividly, is also pretty rare.

This is really interesting I definitely don't have it and have always relied heavily on my visual memory also. I don't SEE pictures but I do make a picture in my mind of sorts. And I do it mostly with my eyes open, so for instance if someone asks for directions I would tell them the directions as I conjure them up in my mind and I see myself passing along that route myself.

I rely heavily on visual learning so learned to read so easily as a child (without being taught phonics) and found spelling very easy also.

I also was a very day dreamy child and remember making up lots of detailed daydreams as I went around my daily life, with my eyes open. So I would be playing by myself in the playground and having these very elaborate daydreams that I would continue for several days or weeks!

Less time to do so as an adult but I do sometimes start if I can't sleep or a plane or train for a few hours. Also as an adult instead of creating an imaginary world I often recall holidays I had in the past and try to recreate them and see how many details I can remember.

I think people who have this condition must compensate in others ways and must use other senses more somehow. Something I cannot understand is how people listen to music when studying! I never could and when I am really concentrating on something I really need quiet.

“Can you not imagine a sheep?”

In short, no.

Zombie thread
Zombie thread
Zombie thread
Zombie thread
Zombie thread

Whether you can see it or not

Wow, I have that. Thought I just struggled to concentrate. Maybe why meditation is okay for some to imagine being in their happy place or whatever and I'm bored shitless after 30s because all I see is black and cant concentrate on the image and the feeling.

I know this is a zombie thread but is it still anphatasia if you can clearly picture a place, but can’t picture a face?

I can remember places from years ago. But ask me to remember someone’s face and I’m stumped.

I was once asked to describe someone during a robbery.
It wasn’t scary, so shock didn’t muddle it, but I could not tell the police anything apart from it was a young male...taller than me.

I couldn’t remember his hair colour or anything

The police was like