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Original poster

Can you picture things in your minds eye?

70 replies

StillMedusa · 22/10/2021 22:14

I can't. Never have been able to . I thought it was just a figure of speech but turns out it really is a thing.. people can visualise something not in front of them!
Aphantasia is the name for not being able to (ie me). Not that it's caused me any problems except for not being able to imagine my dh's latest DIY project but I can't even picture my own kids..I can describe them but I can't 'see' them in my head.
I'm also not very emotional and can move past difficult things/events/sadness in a way that has always slightly worried me (not that I don't care, I do, but it doesn't haunt me) and I wondered if that was conencted, because I can't mentally revisit things.

Just wondered how common it is really?!

OP posts:

Mrsbclinton · 22/10/2021 22:26

Im like this, for example I cant visualise a room in a different layout or colour. I just cant!

Interesting that you say you can move on quickly from things. I cant remember a lot of things (good & bad) soon after they happen its like they fade very quickly & eventually there is nothing left.

I often wondered if the memory thing was a coping mechanism I developed as a child for dealing with a difficult home life.

WhoWants2Know · 22/10/2021 22:27

I can picture things quite well, and sometimes if I'm reading, I sort of stop seeing the words on the page and am IN the book.

But I remember a thread previously about whether people have an internal monologue or not and there was a big divide there. I wonder if it has something to do with what we were exposed to as infants?

Soyouthought · 22/10/2021 22:32

I can close my eyes and see my gran who died 30 years ago and the house I grew up in. I can see wallpaper on a wall before I have bought it and redesign my garden in my head DH can’t and thinks it’s bull that I say I can.

loudbatperson · 22/10/2021 22:33

I can't help but see with my minds eye. Every thought produces a picture. During conversations, reading, trying understand information, all happen in pictures. It's most off putting as I can't control it, so when people say things you would rather not see my head gives me an image.

Even pain will create an image in my head of something that would cause the type of pain I am feeling.

I do have an exceptional memory, which I think is linked to my tendency to think in pictures, as I know using images is a way to improve memory.

Whywonttheyletmeusemyusername · 22/10/2021 22:36

Not sure about my minds eye, but I'm definitely with you on the "not emotional" bit.

Hairyfriend · 22/10/2021 22:36

I wonder what the opposite condition to this is? I have a very good spacial/visual ability and can imagine the view from various points in the room (even the ceiling or floor which I wouldn't normally view from). I always did well at those spacial tests where there is a 3D box or shapes which has been flattened, and you need to work out what shape it would make.

OP- are you good at finding your way when driving/walking without a sat nav? I seem to have an internal homing device/sat nav and very rarely get lost. My DH, however, struggles with directions or remembering routes we have been on multiple times

Do you recognise people you have met before?

TroysMammy · 22/10/2021 22:37

Yes when patients telephone and I've seen them before, maybe just once or twice, I can see them when I'm speaking to them over the phone. I can't imagine things of I haven't seen them but I must have seen things before I can visualise.I

I even recognise patient's voices and know their names and faces even though they now wear masks. I'm a whizz during flu clinic times and there is no need to waste time asking patients for their names. Recently I only had to ask 3 their names out of about 150.

nancybotwinbloom · 22/10/2021 22:38

Yes I can picture anything! I do a lot.

I can control my dreams also.

nancybotwinbloom · 22/10/2021 22:38

I can remember things from years ago and replay it in my head

Lindy2 · 22/10/2021 22:39

I can visualise well. I can picture things that have happened in my past and can also create an image in my head.

I'm good at looking at someone's face and recognising them if I've seen them before but I'm absolutely embarrassingly bad at remembering people's names. I have to know them quite well to be able to put a name to a face which can lead to some awkward conversations where I don't actually know who I'm chatting to but they know me.

BluebellsGreenbells · 22/10/2021 22:40

I also think in pictures and give directions visually. Left at the tree by the roundabout right by the yellow bus stop - DH prefers names to roads! Because he can’t do it

At work of people are looking for something I can picture exactly where it is and which shelf/box it’s in!

From talking to others the very intelligent people can’t visualize these things and think very differently.

nancybotwinbloom · 22/10/2021 22:41

For instance if I have lost something I can picture when i saw it last and usually work through a timeline or when I last saw the item.

I then usually dream about where it is.

Colinthedaxi · 22/10/2021 22:43

I’m the same as the OP, no minds eye at all and agree I think it has been a benefit after my partner died as I don’t relive his last few weeks and death in the same way.

Hairyfriend · 22/10/2021 22:43

@TroysMammy

This sounds like me! Despite people having masks now, I can recall pre-pandemic seeing someones full face, and recall when people have had bucked teeth, a huge gap, a certain facial expression when talking, facial mole or other feature that made me remember them.

I would think that not being able to recall someone in your mind would surely be a disadvantage! If your child went missing-how would you described them to the police? I'm not being critical BTW, just curious to know what you'd do?

Sistedtwister · 22/10/2021 22:43

Yes. Most of my thoughts are with pictures. And when I read it's like watching a film. My DP thinks I'm nuts when we watch watch a film based on a book and I complain that the casting isn't right and that's not how they look.

IShouldBeSoLurky · 22/10/2021 22:46

I’m a writer. I bloody well have to be able to do this if I’ve a hope of my readers being able to. It’s hard though and I know if I’m not able to see and describe something I’ve conjured up in my mind then I’m not doing my job properly.

SadSongsAndWaltzes · 22/10/2021 22:46

No. My dh and I use to have arguments about decorating, him insisting we didn't need to do tester paint or look at endless Pinterest photos, I should just imagine things, until we both realised what the problem was. I have terrible facial recognition too, I can never remember names or where I know people from. I do get emotional though, about things which happened years ago. I don't think in pictures or words I think, but emotions and feelings. When remembering an event I remember how I felt and how conversations made me feel/ made others feel. I can't quite explain it.

firstimemamma · 22/10/2021 22:48

I can picture things in my mind's eye and am definitely emotional! But I'm also useless at recognising faces and have no sense of direction. We are all different.

Original poster

StillMedusa · 22/10/2021 22:51

Interesting isn't it .. and I'm fascinated by the responses so far.
I'm pretty sure my lack of ability to visualise isn't connected to any childhood trauma (my childhood wasn't entirely great.. lousy father..but not dreadful) and my parents were educated professionals who did their best to ensure I had a good upbringing.

I have no internal map.. dh can get lost and go 'we need to head west' and find the route. I can't...I still can't mentally connect the ringroads around our nearest city!
And I find it VERY hard to recognise anyone out of context (eg my dentist in the supermarket.. nope!)

BUT I can memorise text incredibly easily, remember passages from books from 40 years ago, and am now learning to play the piano and am finding that reading music comes easily and I can memorise pieces very quickly. I am good at exams for this reason!

OP posts:

SylvanasWindrunner · 22/10/2021 22:53

The internal monologue thing blew my mind when I read about it. I couldn't wrap my head around some people not having it! Mine is going nuts just writing this post

Gingernaut · 22/10/2021 22:55

No.

Also have prosopagnosia

FranklySonImTheGaffer · 22/10/2021 22:55

I can imagine / remember images of things, often with silly details.
I recently answered a quiz question about an old children's book and when someone asked me how I knew that, I explained I could 'see' the page and the book cover. It made some of them look at me like I was an alien or something.

Something I like to do when I'm somewhere I want to remember - I close my eyes for a few seconds then open them and take a few deep breaths. It sounds weird but means that now I can close my eyes and fully see places I've been.

On the other hand, I often feel like I don't process my feelings properly. I am scarily good at compartmentalising things so I don't cry or get angry in the way a lot of people do

RAOK · 22/10/2021 22:56

If you have no mind’s eye you cannot be hypnotised.

Angerelle · 22/10/2021 22:58

@Hairyfriend the opposite of this is hyperphantasia - the University of Exeter have done research about the mind's eye, I went to a great exhibition which showcased work by artists at both ends of the spectrum.

Mooloolabababy · 22/10/2021 23:00

Nope, I can't picture how things will look once changed. My auntie is amazing at this, she has a real eye for things and they always work out but I just don't get it!

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