Aphantasia - I have it and have questions for people who don’t!

[Aphantasia]

For anyone who doesn’t know what aphantasia is, it’s not being able to mentally visualise imagery. I only recently found out that 99% of people can actually see things in their minds eye, I can’t, at all! I always thought it was just a figure of speech when people said things like ‘picture this’ or that when people meditated they could actually close their eyes and see beaches and sunsets or whatever. I have never been able to see anything when I close my eyes, just blackness, can’t see my loved ones faces or relive any memories visually. I imagine in concepts and can feel the shape of things and remember details that I can describe in words but not see.

But… here’s my question. I’m an artist, and I can sit down and draw from my imagination pretty much anything I want but why, if you can see things in your minds eye, can’t the 99% of the population that can visualise not sit down and draw things perfectly accurately from memory? My husband is crap at drawing, like if I said, draw a giraffe, he’d draw some god awful looking creature that looks like it should be put out of its misery!

When you imagine imagery in your minds eye, is it complete? Can you see every detail or are there blurry bits to fill in for the details you never quite noticed before?

I can't draw from real life either!

True! I never thought of that 😂

I suppose I just had it in my head that when dh clsies his eyes and ‘sees’ giraffes his he sees what he draws loping about in the Savannah which is a pretty horrifying g thought and reminds of that poor critter that comes out of the machine in the fly 😂😂

I don’t understand- if you can draw something from your imagination then surely you CAN bring an image to mind?

When you imagine imagery in your minds eye, is it complete? Can you see every detail or are there blurry bits to fill in for the details you never quite noticed before?

There’s blurry bits. It’s all blurry maybe. For me I think imagining a room is blurry but then I could zoom in and see e.g. the pattern on the wallpaper very clearly.

Can you see your memories or how does that work?

Urgh, fat fingers sorry, I got excited someone had replied to my post 🥴

@Somebodylikeyew nope, can’t see a bluebell! But I know what I intend something to look like and I know when I start to draw or paint or build if it’s taking the shape I want, and if not I just correct it as I go!

I can see images perfectly in my mind but that doesn't mean I can control my hands to replicate that image.

I’m honestly baffled. Maybe i have it too!

@Mamette no, I can’t see anything, I can remember things but not visually, I remember how things feel or what the space felt like that I was in, I remember the dialogue of conversations with my internal voice but there’s no pictures to go with it

@ofwarren I’m so utterly jealous!!

I can see everything very clearly, but my hands and fingers don't recreate that on paper. I don't know why, it's an interesting question!

I'm fascinated by your being able to draw from memory but not being able to see what your drawing in your mind. How on earth do you know what to draw?

I have it. I'm beyond useless at art. I can't draw at all.
I find it quite a sad condition really. I take millions of photos to compensate for my lack of memory. I also think I've got SDAM.
Isn't it strange how you can manage to draw without visualising. Our brains are weird old things! .

@TulipsGarden I have no idea! I just can’t imagine what it’d be like to see things in my head…. I’d literally never get out of bed! I’d spend my entire life day dreaming! Maybe it’s a good thing 🤣 I’d never get anything done!

I can only see images for a split second like a flash sp not long enough to draw accurately I would think. I'm no artist though anyway!

There's an artist on YouTube who has it and talks a lot about it.

What does seeing mean to people? When I close my eyes, it's all black too. But I can imagine being in a specific place and what it looks like. If you can draw things from memory, you must have a minds eye.

Me too - I can't even visualise my 3 kids eyes. Can only tell you what colour they are from memory. Really makes me sad sometimes. Only really put a name to it recently (I'm 50+)

I have this too, I found out when I read about a study that was/is being done into it in the UK. My mum is the same so maybe it is hereditary, my husband and ds don't have it. I can't draw from my imagination, like you I know what things should look like but in the same way I know what things should sound like - but it doesn't mean I can sing them. Drawing and singing are skills that some people have and some people don't and they are not just down to knowing what something should look like or should sound like.

I can't see a damn thing when I close my eyes, but I can see things in my mind's eye IYSWIM?

Do you dream?

@SendARavenToRiverRun oh I hear you, I was desperately sad when I realised that everyone else could see all their memories, but I’ve just come to accept it’s part of how I’m wired and I seem to function just fine as I am so just choose to not let it bother me any more. I do sometimes fantasise that I’ll get knocked on the head one day and wake up with an incredibly vivid minds eye (but then as per my last post I’d probably get nothing done ever again and live in a dram world!)

Having it doesn't bother me at all as I can't imagine being any other way. Like a pp I always take loads of photos and love taking photos but I'd never put the two together, so maybe that's why.

Thats so interesting. I'm quite a visual person.

Sometimes I don't think with words though. It's hard to explain but it's like what happens before the words are formed but then I never form them. I don't see images when I think without words either though.

@NightmareLoon nope, haven’t a clue what you mean, I can’t see anything at all, is there a difference for you between closing your eyes and seeing something in your minds eye? Where do you see it then?