Aphantasia

[Newrumpus]

Recently, I discovered that I am aphantasic. I had never heard of this until recently and after hearing about it I have become interested in the experiences of others.

To save anyone googling, aphantasia is mind blindness or lack of visual imagery. When someone says ‘Imagine an elephant’ I think of an elephant but I don’t see one in my mind.

Does anyone else have experience of this and how did you discover it?

This! I didn't realise people actually saw images in their minds eye...

It's dark when I close my eyes. You can see images in your minds eye with your eyes open.

I always wonder whether some people who experience themselves as being aphantastic simply misconstrue or exaggerate what it is like to 'see' things in their mind's eye and, as a result, fail to acknowledge their own inner visual experience.

My reason for thinking this way is that once, when completing a questionnaire about synaesthesia, I saw the question "Do you experience numbers as being spatially located" and my instant reaction was to think 'What? No! Of course I don't,' before realising shortly afterwards that I do, and it is simply so normal, so everyday, so unstriking, that I just hadn't noticed it.

It is like someone asking you 'Do you pass a post box on your journey from the railway station to your house?.' The likelihood is that you do and that you haven't noticed, precisely because it is so very familiar.

I have this.

I really struggle with faces which is awful. I could spend all day with someone (say, in a work setting), and walk past them the next day and not recognise them at all. It’s very embarrassing.

Yes! I have both aphantasia and prosopagnoisa.

Im terrible with faces. I’m better if someone has someone has very distinctive features like tattoos

I find this bonkers and also fascinating. I think it is amazing how we all have such different inner worlds and it makes me wonder how differently we perceive the outer world too. I have ADHD (possibly ASD too, but not diagnosed) and have a vivid mind's eye and constant inner monologue - I think in words more than images, but can instantly conjure a picture on demand. My mind is never quiet - I'm always on the edge of fight or flight, even when sleeping and dreams are vivid, feel real and I remember a lot of them - I wake up with a brain full of ideas (but it is mush after a day in the real world).

I always wonder whether some people who experience themselves as being aphantastic simply misconstrue or exaggerate what it is like to 'see' things in their mind's eye and, as a result, fail to acknowledge their own inner visual experience.

I don't think so. So many people experience it and describe it in the same way that I think it must be as they say.

But I can't understand or conceive of it. You literally can't create a picture of an apple or a horse in your head? But you can draw it or recognise it?

I absolutely believe that they're experiencing that, but I really just can't understand how!

Interesting…but all of that sounds, well, normal? It’s not like the rest of us are entering our four dimensional Sherlock Holmes mind palaces and actually seeing and smelling and feeling anything. So it all just sounds similar to what everyone else experiences? I’m clearly misunderstanding something.

My dd (who has ASD) is able to picture images in her head, but not words - she has struggled with spelling as she has to dredge it up from memory without being able to picture the word in her head. To explain this to people I usually describe a stop sign by the side of a rural road - she can see the sign, the colour, the surroundings, the grass, the trees, the road, she can imagine the smells around her, the feeling of air against her skin, the temperature - all of this is available to her - but she can't visualise the word 'stop'.

ReneBumsWombats. And WhisperingAutistic yes they can literally see the image in front of them. I also asked my other DD and without prompting and saying what the other 2 can see and she said the same. It’s a vivid image in front of here

I have found that visual relaxation techniques are impossible. I dont see anything, so I count in my head. I'd love to be able to see an image.
My ds also seems to have the same problem.
I still can't get my head round the fact that people see actual images in their minds eye.

That's got to be dangerous while driving!

So if I told you to picture an apple...there's just nothing? You can't imagine one?

My DD just said it’s like looking at a hologram shape in front of her. Say for instance she holds out her hand she can visualise a rose on her hand like a hologram

This is wasn’t the research suggests. It is not a difference in description but in experience.

Patient MX had internal visual imagery until he had a stroke. When recovering from the stroke he reported that he had lost this ability. His doctors wrote a paper about it and lots of people who read it realised that they had never had imagery. Patient MX is interesting because he has experienced both living with and without internal imagery. Just like the PP who had no internal imagery until in her 30s when she was able to visualise.

ReneBumsWombats not really as it’s only when they try and visualise that it’s there

Do you mean like a photo? If so, no. I cant even imagine a picture of sheep jumping over a gate while I'm counting.😁

i can’t imagine one visually. I can think about an apple; about its colour, size, sweetness etc but there is no image. It is blank.

So if you were writing a story and you wanted to describe how someone or something looks....how do you do that if there's no mental image?

I had no idea people actually saw pictures in their mind!

I have this too, only realised a few years ago that other people can actually see images like a photo or video. I don't think I miss out, I can still think of things but in words, like a pp I know exactly what an elephant looks like. Also have face blindness to an extent, especially watching films with non famous men in them!

I only found out about this a few years ago. Up until then I believed OH had a superhuman skill in that he could picture in his minds eye relatives who had died etc. I can't picture what my parents looked like. I could describe features as I have almost a narrative in place but have no image. The same with family and friends. I can't visualise my children. I can vaguely describe friends (who I see regularly) but if asked how their hair is styled I would be struggling.
I used not to understand when people saw a film of a book and they would say they didn't think the characters were like they imagined. Of course I couldn't make a picture of anyone so there was nothing there for me to compare to. Listening to the Archers for instance I have no idea what the people look like as I can't create anything. I am also hopeless are recalling sounds eg I couldn't tell my baby's cry from others, which apparently people can do. There is no way I can recall smells of things...that definitely is superhuman!
I have spoken to my children and DD is the same as me but the boys laughed and said of course they could visualise things.

People who can picture things don’t need to close their eyes to do it. I can be looking at what I’m typing now and clearly picture an elephant in my mind.

For people who can’t picture things in their mind, does it mean you can’t draw things unless they are right in front of you?

I could describe how someone looks but I don’t think I’d do it very well because it is based on a more abstract recall. I could describe my son to you but my husband would be able to give you a more detailed,
life like description because he call recall his appearance visually. Just like with the windows in the house example, I would tell you about his hair, eyes etc but I wouldn’t be describing a visual recall. Likewise if I create a fictional character I can decide she has black hair wavy hair and tell you that.

I love it when I see a film of a book I've read and the characters look exactly as I pictured them.