To not be able to picture things in my head?

[FedoraTheExplora]

I know I'm not BU, but shamelessly posting here for traffic as I've wondered all my life if there was anyone else like me out there!

So, I can't form images in my head. It's kind of hard to explain, but my memory and thoughts are entirely words - I can't picture anything, not even my daughters face it doesn't cause me any problems really, but I have a horrible memory I.e. I don't know what colour car my dads been driving for 10 years, or what colour the walls are in my mums home, that I lived in for 10 years up until about a year ago. I've tried to google it, but I can't find anything, and I'm tempted to ask one of my psychology lecturers, but I'm a bit too shy and it's a bit too weird.

So MN, do any of you have this? Have you ever heard of it? Even a name for this condition (?) would be interesting to me..

[PageStillNotFound404]

And I don't like this trend for videos! Don't show me, tell me.

Yes! So much this! I hate video tutorials or clicking on a link to a news article only to find it's a video. Give me some words to read!

I'm another fast reading, rubbish-at-directions (I've never been able to picture how places link together or visualise routes), useless-at-names, description-skipping hopeless witness. I'm dyspraxic so wonder if there's a link there.

The only exception to being able to visualise things is if I listen to certain songs with headphones on, I can make up "videos" to go with them, a bit like how Sansa describes her daydreams. I can't do it with every song though, and sometimes I get stuck at a particular point and can't "see" past it.

[SingingMyOwnSpecialSong]

Sansa, I have just realised I have this, never knew other people literally visualise images. Oddly I have always been known as a daydreamer, but I think I 'hear' my stories and describe them in words rather than seeing them. I write fan fiction and (when I had the time) had folders of magazine clippings for visual references of characters and places, including many house plans I drew. I love looking at a room and thinking how I would change it and am good at knowing what would fit where, but I think that is more from drawing plans so much and knowing the average dimensions of
various furniture in my head.

I love reading and am a fast reader and very good at comprehension exercises. I have a good memory for words, songs and poems and remember things like directions partly by landmarks and partly by talking my way through the journey after studying it on a map.

[DiseasesOfTheSheep]

I daydream a lot. Mostly it's literary - I hear the words of how my dream would be described if it were a book, often in the tone of whatever I'm reading at the time. I rarely picture people or things, although I will make meticulous plans of layouts of yards / fields (horses), houses, or time plans as part of my daydreams. They're super-specific. I also daydream by feel - I can feel what I'm dreaming about happening - I don't see it clearly though. I often put myself in the protagonist role to avoid having to visualise their response to things - I find it easier to feel their response than see it.

[OvO]

I'm the complete opposite. . I too see a movie in my head as I read.

I have entire worlds in my head - so many stories and daydreams, all rich vibrant worlds that I can see in detail. Can't imagine thinking any other way, but this thread has been so interesting!

[TippyTappyLappyToppy]

I have the opposite problem of the OP, I am a very visual thinker, a very descriptive talker and a very sensory person generally. My dreams are highly visual too. I have excellent, detailed recall of things I have seen. I can remember the exact shade of blue something is, for example, when it's not in front of me, and if asked to pick from a hundred similar blues I'd probably get it down to the closest three. My DH will often look at something and say 'that's the same as such and such' and I will say 'No it's not. It's very very similar, but it isn't exactly the same.' and I'll be able to say why.

I never forget a face or a story and if I have met a person once and they've told me something about themselves (such as what they do for a living) and I meet them again five years later I will remember what they told me. This makes me very popular at parties where small talk is required. I am very observant about small details so I would be an excellent witness to a crime.

But I am terrible at maths and physics and all things technical, especially IT and I think that is why. I just can't grasp concepts that involves random numbers or symbols or theories or invisible things, such as electricity, force, gravity, etc. If I am given information to remember about something that I cannot either visualise as a group of objects, or relate to as an emotional response I cannot make the information 'stick' in my head iykwim. I also very muddled at organising my diary and I will forget dates and get days and times muddled up. I have to write EVERYTHING down.

At school I could never remember the method to solve a mathematical problem even after it has been explained to me for the tenth time. As soon as I was left alone the method would get all jumbled up in my head.

I think this is because I couldn't create any meaningful picture in my head using the numbers. When they were combined or manipulated they didn't create a lasting visual image that would 'stick' for me to recall for later use. The just created a different but equally random bunch of numbers that meant nothing to me. I might watch the teacher solve one maths problem and then try to do one of my own and would find that I couldn't transfer the mental memory of what I had just been shown/told and use it to solve the problem in front of me, because there was no mental memory - it had already gone! Yes weirdly, I can spell really well and I can recall the 'look' of a word with ease.

[Lanark2]

You can train it, and also I found going out in nature in all weathers really boosts visual memory. Also if I take one of those SSRIs (or have a proper holiday/ rest!). I get massive visual memories that I had forgotten, in dreams especially, but because my job is quite non-ideas/visual I have lost that skill a bit.

Also I found those lights that come on auto in the mornings make some memories come back visually...I just wonder if really trying visual stuff could get some visual memories? Also my childhood visual memories 'sort of got turned off during/after some bad emotional life events, and came back when I had no stress and a sort of 'use' for them.. Ie when a friend adopted, I remembered lots of my young childhood.. As a 'need' to understand, and my sister did similarly when she had children..


So, I wonder if you can train it a bit.

I'll stop rambling now !

[crispiecrunchie]

I have lots of the traits described on this thread. - fast reader but hate long descriptive passages about what scenes or people look, don't recognise people even in context.

I also can't imagine how rooms would look decorated differently or painted a specific colour. And can't follow some films as I mix up characters.

[Leslieknope45]

I can't see things in my head either. I just assumed no one could! I mentioned it to DH and he was surprised!

[MimsyBorogroves]

I have this too. I find I can only visualise things/people by imagining photographs of them I've taken. If I read a novel, I don't imagine pictures in my head. DH finds it weird as he casts roles with actors.

[MimsyBorogroves]

And yep, I read very fast - but don't retain the stories. I know I've loved a book, but couldn't explain much about it to anyone. And I'll read the same things again and again.

[Bambalina]

Yes, I have this too. I have tried describing it to DP, who just replies with something like "of course you can picture things" when I try and describe it. But I know what I can't see.

I LOVE words and reading and get totally immersed in books - another fast reader - but the descriptive language doesn't give me a picture in my head at all. The only way I can think to describe my mind's eye is like a routeplanning or procedural/logical visualisation - for example I know that the tree is 'behind' the character, and they're wearing a black cardigan that their nan knitted, and they're holding a raspberry ripple icecream, so I can imagine there's icecream melting on their jumper or something, but not actually 'see' it. And a month later, I couldn't tell you what the book was about, what the main character's name was, etc.

I'm actually really good at finding my way round, reading maps and finding my way back to places - its like a birds eye view in my head (hence the routeplanning comment earlier). Its harder for me to give directions.
I'm shit at maths and formulae and being concise though, and shit at remembering faces and names (unless I spell it out loud and 'see' the word). I never recognise people's voices on the phone (unless its DP or someone REALLY close). No good with fashion, but I love colours and combinations.

I spent 4 years at art school before I gave up as imagining my own paintings was just never going to happen. I can render relatively representational painting from strong visual references but its a bit like those overlaid griddy picture things you used to try and copy as a kid. Short term memory is crap. I am a classic people-watcher, and pick up on quite subtle things in the environment - air, acoustics, smalls, but at a glance would probably recall very little.

I learnt to read music when I was small, so can sightread, or just look at a bit of score and roughly have an idea of what it will sound like. I remember notes and their order, but not rhythm easily. I don't often know lyrics to songs, but hook into the tune.

Dreams can be really vivid and stay with me, but I couldn't really draw them in detail (one of my art assignments was to draw a recent dream) - the most upsetting dreams are ALWAYS involving strong feelings not necessarily what's actually happening in the dream. Lots of daydreaming, as Diseases of the Sheep describes. I've always been told I had a fantastic imagination but looking back, it was all words and possibilities, never pictures

[EBearhug]

I think I am hyperphantasic. I have a very clear idea of how things look, and that's why film adaptations of books I enjoy can be upsetting, if it doesn't match the pictures in my head.

I have a good memory, and can remember lots of things and places from my life - when an elderly relative's house was being cleared, and I was asked if I wanted any of the books, I was able to tell them which room, which bookcase, and roughly which shelf each of the books I requested was on, despite not having been there for years. It was quite liberating to realise many people don't remember things like I do, and things I had worried about for years - I'm probably the only one remembering it. Mostly. But maybe there's a genetic element to it...

I can read fast, but still have the pictures in my head (I think this is down to a TV-less childhood.) I can remember where I read something, in that I know it was about 2/3 down on the right hand side in the middle of the 5th chapter - this has been useful in exams. Also, if I've forgotten a shopping list, I can usually get most things on it, because I can remember how it looked, so know there were 7 items, and I'very only got 6 -if I think back to writing it, I can often work out what I've missed - like the post upthread, where someone mentally rolls back the film of what they have done to where they last saw their keys. I can do that, too. This ability reduces when I'm stressed, and it's a sign I need to adjust things in my life.

I can read maps, I was good at maths (some things there I understood visually more than in words.) I work in a highly technical job. So for me, there's no correlation between not having a visual memory and being good at STEM subjects. Also, when I'm working with a foreign language, I "see" the words written across the inside of my head. They still build up to a picture, but it's slower. Maybe I get the text showing in English, but because I'm so fluent, it's that much faster and I don't realise it. Not sure about that. (I am thinking text at the moment, but then I am typing.) I do prefer to see written text rather than videos. I'm working on a documentation project at work, with someone who isn't so keen on text, but I take it in better without so many images - some can enhance it, but I want some words there, too. I'm good at remembering things like dates (can remember the birthdays of people I was at school with 30 years ago,) phone numbers, car number plates (except when I have to fill my own in for a form at work...) I get very vivid, active dreams and occasionally have had trouble working out if I'm remembering something which actually happened or I dreamt about.

Can't imagine what life would be like without the pictures in my head.

[TealLove]

I'm hyperphantastic too. I can meet someone once, say, 10 years ago and if I see them in the street in passing I will recollect exactly in what context I met and knew them.
I've also recognised people from photos -also years old- and I haven't even met them!

[Leslieknope45]

I can see words in my head but no pictures. When I'm speaking I see words as they come up and I like the way they're spelled (freak)
I speak a number of languages and I teach MFL, I wonder if my wordiness is connected!
I am crap with imagining pictures though. I can think in words what is meant to be there but the most of a picture I can get is a hazy outline

[SingingMyOwnSpecialSong]

This also explains why hypnotherapy didn't work well for me, I couldn't visualise a safe place, steps going down, pain as a colour, etc. Although I thought I was doing what the therapist asked because I didn't know other people literally can. I was busy describing it to myself in my head, so not switching off and relaxing (I do find 'walking' myself through a description of a forest and fields helpful at the dentist though, just get irritated when they interrupt to tell me what they are doing.)

[OohMavis]

Haven't RTFT, but DH has this too! He won't read fiction as descriptions of places and people are just words on a page. He's terrible with faces too.

He's being referred to an adult specialist (finally) because he has lots of traits associated with being on the spectrum and would like to be diagnosed, to help him understand himself a bit better.

Gonna read the thread now and show DH later

[DiseasesOfTheSheep]

You can train it, and also I found going out in nature in all weathers really boosts visual memory

Nope, not for me. I spend my life working horses, looking after them and walking dogs (not professionally, all around work) so I'm out in all weathers, all year round and have been since I was a child. Still got a rubbish visual memory.

Never tried taking SSRIs though.

[FlyHighLittleBee]

I know this is a zombie thread, but I wanted to resurrect it:

1: to say thank you to every mumsnetter that replied, I'm actually working with a researcher at the moment and it's one of the most fascinating things I've ever done.

2: in case anyone else is suffering from it, and thinks they're the only one - as its literally only been discovered in the past couple of years, its common to feel so very alone. Any other Aphantasia sufferers - you're not alone

[FlyHighLittleBee]

Oh - I'm the op by the way. Name change

[brambly]

This is really interesting.

I can picture things in my mind's eye but not very vividly. Was excellent academically as a child (took GCSEs several years early etc, very good at maths) but long term memory is diabolically shit and it takes me months of living somewhere before I stop getting lost at the end of the street.

I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child and I think dyspraxia was also suggested, but never explored.

Off to take test!

[brambly]

Oh, just spotted hypnotherapy comments! I am also impossible, apparently, to hypnotise.

Fascinated by all of this!

[Anonymouses]

My FH has this. He didn't realise it wasn't normal until he read about it.

[junebirthdaygirl]

Fascinating stuff. I come across this in school with children who are dyslexic. I never presume now that they are making images.Its an area they can be trained in and really improves comprehension. I know it's an old thread but l Ebearhug, hyperphantastic. Hate film adaptions of books as l get stressed when they change details and funny enough had a TV free childhood. I would be terrible interested in any people who are hyperphantastic and had a TV free childhood. Just out of curiosity as it's an area l work a lot in teaching dyslexic children.

[kungfupannda]

I suspect things like this are a spectrum, with everyone falling in different places on the different spectrums.

I have mild face-blindness and I can't picture faces very well. I am a writer and I have a very good verbal memory - I can remember very large chunks of books/films/conversations verbatim - but I can't picture my own characters. Oddly, when I'm writing the scene tends to play out visually in my head, like a screenplay, but with almost completely faceless characters. I can picture how the characters move, and the scenery around them - but no features.

I seem to be able to imagine things on a large scale, but not with the detail required for picturing faces. Years ago I used to play an online multi-player adventure game that was entirely text-based because it let me imagine the scenery myself. I had a very clear image in my head of the various locations, and the way they all connected. But I never got into playing more sophisticated games with graphics.

[justpeachy74]

This thread has been fascinating. My ability to visualise is very weak. I thought it was just me! My dad died when I was 18 and I immediately found it very difficult to picture him in my mind. It was quite distressing at the time.
A couple of years ago I found out that I am dyspraxic. I suspected for a long time that something wasn't quite right. My memory and processing skills are quite poor. My thoughts are often quite jumbled.
I had no idea that the inability to visualise has a name. It's a bit of a relief. I also get lost easily and have mild face blindness. The opportunities for embarrassing myself are endless!
Learning to drive took a very long time and finding my way around in the car is an endless struggle unless I'm in very familiar surroundings and use a particular route regularly. If I have a break from it and then go back to that route it's like starting all over again.
I can vaguely picture things in my mind if I have my eyes open but really struggle when I close my eyes. Everything just goes black really. Does visualisation count if you have your eyes open?! I guess it must if most people do it whilst reading!
Do you think that it's something that could improve with effort and practice? A bit like learning to meditate or using a particular muscle.
I just had no idea that other people could really visualise things in any way other than my brain does. I'm quite envious!
It's nice to know that i'm not alone. It does feel quite isolating sometimes as I don't know anyone else with similar issues. It's just not something I share with people (except for DH) in RL.