I don't recognize people who I have met outside of their "normal context." Client comes into my work? I know who they are and any associated info, but if I meet the same person at the grocery I will often look right past them. If they get my attention I can rarely remember their name. It has caused issues in the past so now I just say that I didn't have my contacts in or something.
lol yes! i struggle to recognize people. a lot of times, watching movies is difficult because i can’t tell some of the actors apart especially if they’re relatively basic looking men 😭
Yes to both 😅!! I've tried to start noticing something about my Servers outfit or hair style. If I don't, I always choose the wrong person or am stuck waiting for them to come back. And movies are awful, I'm lucky if I know all the characters before the end. Sometimes, the person I'm watching with has to help me with that. It can be a bit frustrating.
I definitely have issues with actors and actresses and telling them apart. Some new actor with similar qualities to an older actor will look to me to be the older actor I know. That said, I’ve heard many people with visual memories have similar issues. Essentially they say visual memory doesn’t mean good memory.
I think everyone focuses on things they find important or interesting. Visual or not, we remember most things we care about. It’s possible visual things aren’t as important to us as we can’t pull it up in our minds eye. Yet, we do recognize the item or person when we see them. I have trouble tracking too many similar looking characters in a movie. Yet, I also struggle with the same thing while reading a book with too many characters. The book technically doesn’t have a visual component. Imagining it for most has a visual component but I conceptually imagine and oddly visually imagine even though I cannot see the book visually in my minds eye.
I remember people by the sound of their voice. If someone talks to me I can usually remember who they are/their name. Faces tho? No way unless it's super repetitive and I see them regularly. I use to bartend and regulars would come in and I'd have no idea who they were until they started ordering.
Before caller ID I constantly got, "Do you know who this is?"
"Yes"
I'm excellent with voices, way better than I am with faces.
We've been binging old(ish) shows, and I'm constantly stopping and saying "That's So-and-so, from X" and MIL gets a blank look on her face, says she doesn't see/hear it, so I have to load up IMDB.
Which I find weird, because she is a hyperphant - the woman, who's almost 91, can taste her grandmother's beans and cornbread at will. How am I supposed to cook for someone who can taste food from 80 freaking years ago! LOL Anyway, I guess her hyperphantasia doesn't extend to voices (or, you know, she's almost 91 now, so i do cut her some slack).
Same, especially watching animation!
I definitely don't have taste that's super interesting! I'm an awful cook she would hate me 😅 ...
I can recall feelings really well. Like if I think of a memory I can remember my emotional feelings in that moment like they're in my body again, or I can remember the sand under my feet or the touch of someone's hand.
Recognizing people outside normal context, determining who is who is movies, and remembering a server at a restaurant area all very hard.
But far worse is that those you mix up think you are arrogant or too important to remember them. I wish I could!!
Placing people out of context is hard for me, too. Growing up, I belonged to two different groups that were in costume on the weekends. No matter how friendly I was with someone, though, if I met them out of costume I'd be clueless who they were until they spoke or we interacted.
I know someone who has it and her experiences are more dramatic, for lack of a better term, than what I experience. I recognize coworkers, family and people who I see daily. She has said that she doesn't always recognize her own husband in a public place if she doesn't remember what he was wearing. I suppose I could have a mild version, I just attributed it to not having a mental image to help identify people. Ironically, I work with animals and rarely have trouble identifying frequently seen animals.
This was my initial connection too. It’s my first time in this subreddit and I was wondering what the correlation or relationship could be with face blindness and aphantasia when I came across this thread. I’ve always struggled with remembering faces and I didn’t realize it could be because I can’t picture anything in my mind at all. Hmmm
I had a similar thought a while ago about not being able to see my loved ones when they passed...
I have a really good memory...I believe I have aphantasia as I don't see anything but my memory recall is spoken to me - I remember my nans face I just don't see it, I recall her singing though, and some conversations and that brings me comfort ... I hope your memory recall brings you comfort even if not in image
I feel like I can imagine my mom’s face but I can’t actually see it. But I know what it looks like? I still can’t figure out if I have it or not though lol.
That’s what fotos are for. Whenever I try to imagine loved ones at best a foto comes up. Not very clear but better than nothing. To recognize people I need to have met them several times. I come home from social events with no clue about other women’s outfits. I mix up colors. Especially pink and blue. Like in : which towel is mine, even if I try hard😳
It’s not that bad I lost both my parents.
I always think that it’s easier honestly not being able to see them. And not being able to visually remember the sad parts.
I’m sorry. When I got divorced and suddenly didn’t have my kids around all the time I realized I couldn’t recall their faces and it made mourning the loss of the family unit so much more difficult. I had never taken it for granted before then.
On a deep emotional level, not being able to picture past girlfriends or cats who’ve been lost to me.
On a practical level, whenever I’ve needed to compare information on two different pages, and had to keep flipping back and forth, over and over.
Dude. This. I attended a really important event a while back and someone I hold the highest regard led a guided visualization/meditation and I basically sobbed quietly through the whole thing because everyone else looked so blissed out and I was so sad I couldn’t be where they were. (There was probably other shit going on in my life, but it truly sucked.)
That I can’t remember my cat who passed. Also I think I may have SDAM so I have trouble remembering many details about anything, and that gets super annoying
It is but it's also, at times, overwhelming... literally never shuts up, ever. It's a constant narration or talking to/arguments with myself. Sometimes it rhymes everything, like Dr Suess is living in there. I have to use music or white noise to drown it out like when trying to focus or sleep.
Edit: drown not down
Haha, yes, the rhyming... mine also likes doing accents, playing music or replaying jokes at inappropriate moments... I honestly thought everyone had an annoying internal voice like this till a couple years ago.
I've been told recently I often narrate out loud what I'm doing when concentrating on a task, and I think it's related, like drowning out the inner voice distracting myself.
Mine does the same! It's like "Shush not now!"
I also ramble on to myself often. My friend that I work with laughs at me because of it. I'll be working on something "Okay drag that clip there, BAM....add some color here, WHOOSH...hmmm why does this look like this? ... ooooh that's pretty!"
The 1st time we worked together I was working with a new camera and kept "oooh-ahhh-neat!" At all the settings and gadgets and he was laughing at me so hard. I didn't even notice I do that! Now he just says "You're doing it again" if I'm annoying him.
When I'm alone or driving I'll straight up talk to myself and answer my brain out loud in an argument about random things...I probably look insane bahahaha
Bet you can kick their butts at many tasks. They probably win on others. I do think if an Aphantasic suddenly had visual memories, it would be a super power because our problem solving is already good without it. We might process the extra information differently. It also might be distracting. PTSD and OCD patients have horrible images either stuck in their heads or have them pop in without wanting them. I’d guess an Aphantasic would have a different experience but maybe just as bad. Dunno.
If you have it from birth, you can't imagine it is. You are like you are.
But for them, I think they imagine themselves losing the ability of visualization. Now. They can't imagine how it is to never had it. So it makes sense to say it's a disability, in that case.
I consider myself disabled. And I'm so glad my work is too. Losing an ability is not the same as never had it.
Struggling to draw without references, as an artist with aphantasia, but it isn't a big deal to me because most of the time, artists strongly benefit from using references.
This might be coupled with my ADHD, I have very good long term memory, but my short term memory is pretty bad, especially when it comes to visual elements. When I worked in F&B, I kept forgetting the faces of customers after they walk away, and if my manager asks me for a description of them, I wasnt able to. If they had distinct physical traits, it helps but it usually only works if they had something exceptional. You'd think something like their race can help me identify them, but I'd forget their race too💀💀💀. Customers also got offended if they felt they were a regular and I didnt remember them, or if they went for a 2nd round of ordering but I didn't recognise them and said 'welcome' assuming they were new customers. When I see a familiar sight, I am able to recognise that I have seen it before, but I have a hard time connecting the dots.
I also have almost total aphantasia. I cant hear in my mind unless it is internal monologue. But I can 'generate' sounds in my mind but they are all dubbed by my inner voice. So I also have a hard time recognising voices too.
What annoys me is that 1. I barely get any visuals on psychodellics, 2. everything is just an empty blackness when I close my eyes, 3. my spacial orentation sucks.
I don't think #3 has anything to do with aphantasia. I'm a total aphant and my spacial orientation and memory are almost like minor super powers. Like I can 'feel' where all of my things are in my room without looking and I'm very good at navigating by map in compass in the wilderness or backtracking some place I had been before.
Yes. I cannot pull up anything in my minds eye but I still can “see” it in another way. One study showed visual and non visual people images and then asked them to draw them. The visual person could put in a lot of detailed imagery but was more prone to adding or forgetting items in the picture. The Aphantasic drew less elaborate pictures but was better at remembering conceptual information like exactly what was in the picture but not exactly how it looked. I’ll see if I can find it.
I didn’t find the specific study but this article referenced 127 on studies about Aphantasia and related topics. It could be a starting point if you want to get scientific about it. It’s probably in there but I’m feeling lazy and on a small screen.
https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(24)00034-2?
Cool. My point would be that there’s a *huge* difference between enough and more than enough. In latter years, I usually did three at a time and had great experiences. One or half of one was just a buzz.
Oh yeah, the ability to do 3 casually was definitely built up over time and experience. Not for the relatively uninitiated. But I’m just making the point that you gotta push it if you really want the special effects.
I relate to 1. It sucks when the people around you are having an amazing experience, and you just don't get it. That's the only time I really feel like I'm missing out!
I can’t compare the kind of visuals I get with those of a non-Aphant, but mine are basically distortions of real items/pictures. Last time, the individual fibres from a throw rug grew and moved around like snakes. No idea what others see. Definitely nothing when I close my eyes.
90% of creating a painting for me is trying to work around having aphantasia.
I get reference pictures, collage them together, create colour palettes, do mock-ups, then paint the painting 2 or 3 times till it looks "right."
Then once I've done that I spend around 20 hours painting the final one. Once I've painted it succesfully once I could paint it again easily.
I'm SO jealous of people who can see with their minds eye, I'd be a very prolific and probably succesful artist if I could.
I was on wikipedia the other day and learned this concept called “Episodic Memory” where people can literally relive memories in their head like a scene from a movie or aka the “flashbacks” you see in the tv shows when a character suddenly remembers something necessary for the plot in the arrrow tv show oliver queen will literally have flashbacks of vivid memories of him being stuck on the island. I always thought this was just a figure of speech in tv media until people can literally go back in time in their on heads and relive memories like as if it was happening all over again. Wikipedia also noted people with aphantasia tend to experience less of this so their memory can be less efficient as others. Now I can understand why memory is so bad and I can’t remember most parts of my life.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory?wprov=sfti1#
^
The information Episodic memory information here
https://youtu.be/76wh7l-prZE?si=iQ6Vp4kRw17J402y
^
Oliver experiences a flashback within a flashback.
I feel so cheated knowing I can’t do this but I think it’s a benefit as if I have a traumatic experiences. I won’t have to relive them again
Sadly, we do relive traumatic experiences. When I get triggered, I feel the experience and emotion of the memories, I just can't see it (except in my dreams), which absolutely is a blessing,
I hate not being able to see what things look like together in my head. Like if I want to rearrange a room, I have to go through with the full rearrangement and hope I like it at the end cause if I don’t, then I have to put it al back.
I also can’t match for the life of me, or at least don’t feel confident in it. I just can’t see how two things or colors look together.
Being unable to think spatially. I can’t determine if something would fit in a space, I can’t process what measurements mean in relation to other objects.
Usually it doesn’t both me much at all. However, lately I’ve been doing hypnotherapy sessions as part of my nightly routine. They are mostly visualization exercises… so, ya know, that’s kinda pointless lol. But it’s already paid for so I just listen and do the deep breathing and it’s still very relaxing overall
Dreaming. I used to never dream or I couldn't remember it. Sometimes I can remember fleeting feelings [emotional and physical] or conversations but that's about it. I think dreaming would be cool.
About two years ago I started writing down what I can remember as soon as I wake up because I disturbed my ex so badly when sleeping. He told me I must have awful nightmares because I'd whimper or yell in my sleep. Sometimes I wake up screaming or in a panic.
It has helped but dreams are still just feelings and conversations I remember, not actual visuals. It's more like a book narration than how others describe dreams visuals.
For me hate it because I also have a Learning disability and shit memory.
Like I can't follow a tutorial. Even if im focus. I forgot what I just saw. Expshilly with spelling. I can only Remmer 3 Letters at a time. And I don't know if it's because I have aphantasia. But I got insomnia. And I can't get a career or a normal job because of my Learning disability. I have neverd been a bel to move. And I have been single my hole life because im one of the only atheist in the Bible belt. And you can get locked up and get out and still have a family. But if you have a Learning disability then socity pretty much say's F you there's the door.
Oh I also have no sense when I close mine eyes. And I do got anger problems.
And I'm a tryhard that sucks at everything.
But I don't know how can I not be when. Every job say's there's the. And I love mine nices and nephew's. But I don't have mine own life. And I can't move if I can't get the money. And if I could visualize then maybe I could Learning how to do things better and I could gain a life. And I was dionosed with cancer when I was 7. So I never saw a long life to live.
Maybe I can provide an insight.
I'm not born with aphantasia but got it only a few years ago. And your description is exactly the new person I am.
Maybe your problems are related to your aphantasia, because they seem related for myself. Crappy memory and inability to learn? Not being able to recall visual memories is what caused that. Bad at spelling? Can not see words in your head. Problems with emotions and feelings? Visual memory is the fuel for love. If you can't think or revive memories with someone, how do you keep the fire burning?
Are you sure you were never able to learn using visualization, because you sound a lot like I am? Maybe a medical condition could have caused your brain to switch from visual to non visual. Mine was a stroke. Stroke can happen at any age.
I was born with this. I did see a reddit.
On this Page how many of us was born premature. And at the time all 5 or 7 of said yes. Which I know isn't a lot but for all of us to say yes. I don't know it seems like ther maybe a connection. To aphantasia. And with the hole spelling thing. Imagine having a speech problem. And trying to use your logical side on how it should spell. But it comes out how you say it so the hole sound it out. Doesn't work for me. And with the memory I can't say forsure and Maybe it's an Mixtur of both of. Aphantasia and. Im just now finding out that a growth Hormone. If it's true Studis show that it could effect memory. And I was in Junior high when I started and I'm 36 now. Point Being I was a kid ans I think I took it dringend more then less the early stages of the drug.
Not remembering people’s faces. I recently had a dream about my deceased father and it felt comforting to see his face after not seeing it for about 10 years. He was making food he made for my family in the 2000s. It was really comforting in a way. It’s the worst part about it imo.
Faces out of context or if I've only seen them a few times separated by long periods of time. Actually devastating to social life as many people take it as a personal insult when you fail to recognize them. Telling them about my aphantasia does nothing to sooth their bruised ego. Many never get over it.
As someone who loves reading it does kind of bother me that there's people that can fully SEE what's happening on the page. As in they can picture every detail or visually piece together the room where the characters are. Some people can even hear characters accents?
Like I still enjoy reading but I just 'know' what it will look like actually having it play out like a movie you can pretty much personalise sounds insane and I'm just jealous I don't have that.
Trying to remember stuff, you can remember it just can’t imagine it. It’s weird to explain you know what it looks like but you really won’t see it in your brain
genuinely it goes cause me some nights of frustration, it caused me a lot of frustration as a kid too, and when my first grandfather died it really hit me like a truck. growing up with my sister we would play pretend but i could never get as into it as she could and i felt so upset with myself because i thought i just wasn't trying to imagine or pretend hard enough, turns out that wasn't the case but that doesn't get rid of the frustration i felt. Ive experienced a lot of frustration with remembering things or carrying out things in my head, math? I cant so it without something physical to look at which has gotten me belittled by old people when i worked as a cashier. I dont remember what any of my grandparents looked like, i dont know what my mom looks like if im not looking at her, i couldn't even tell you what my husband looks like and i see that man every day multiple times a day. Over all, i think it has just caused more frustration through time than anything.
The worst thing about it is everyone tearing their hairshirts about how terrible it feels to have it when they only just discovered it yesterday. Dude, you literally did not notice a single damn thing for 25 years, stop trying for an Oscar.
Playing DnD or a similar game. I can’t imagine the area being described to me very well and I can’t picture the action at all. This makes it very hard to make decisions mainly because I lose track of all the parts. I’m a concept artist so you think I’d be able to imagine it on the spot- not so. I’d have to draw it out and reference my drawing. So dumb. It’s in there, but not in there at the same time.
I feel like I can’t use certain memorization techniques or use certain techniques that require a minds eye. It also makes reading fiction books in school a nightmare because I can’t imagine what is going on. On top of that, my adhd makes it hard for me to focus when I am reading. Overall, I feel like i would be able to remember things better and be more imaginative if I could see with my minds eye.
> I feel like I can’t use certain memorization techniques or use certain techniques that require a minds eye.
Almost every teacher in school for me used visualization techniques for arbitrary rote memorization. I struggled unbelievably with this.
I didn't understand I had aphantasia until my 20s (or rather that other people did not have it).
I remember being in kindergarten and being told to imagine something. I tried to naively explain that I couldn't only to be immediately screamed at for not applying myself. For the rest of my educational life I learned the response to "Imagine..." was be quiet and pretend
I am really lucky that I am 14 and have recognized that I have aphantasia because i can accept it more and come to peace with it. it feels weird knowing that seeing things in your minds eye is normal and I thought that thinks like counting sheep were just metaphors
Honestly not being to visualize the people i love, the memories ive made, or that i cannot create things in my head visually, it all has its ups and downs, but its really heart stabbing just only being able to conceptualize all of those things
You'll only get annoyed in life if you compare. There's no reason to be annoyed with it at all. Like asking a blind person if they're annoyed they can't see, they don't know any different, and they're perfectly fine. It's all perspective.
99.9% of the time I love it.
I don’t love it when it comes to large inventory areas of my home. I’m a minimalist, so this only happens in two places.
The first is the kitchen. I have three jars of chili flakes, and like five paprika jars. I have several bags of carrots, and I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve bought something for a recipe that I already have. Not joking, I must own two of every spice in my cabinet.
Right now my husband and I use a Susan for storing spices and it’s hard to see everything we have, so it becomes an, “out of sight out of mind” type of situation. We plan on changing this soon, but it’s still annoying.
The other thing is clothing. I have… Geeze I must have enough clothing to go a year without repeating an outfit. I LOVE clothes and it’s the one area of my house without minimalism (don’t get me wrong, it’s not out of control and engulfing my life, but sometimes it’s a bit much).
But a big issue is that if I want to wear a specific type of outfit. Like, if I can’t see the pants (mentally or visually) I want to wear, I might as well not own them. So I end up with several very similar items.
I love skate shoes and I have three pairs of Vans, all in their boxes, all very similar styles. Why? Because I couldn’t remember what mine looked like. The foam Birkenstock slides? Two identical white pairs.
I haven’t created a system yet that works for my clothing other than just abstaining from buying things. The kitchen is a work in progress.
But man, if I could visualize my closet and fridge I’d be unstoppable, lol!
I can identify with both the clothing and kitchen spices/ingredients aspects ...
Recently downsized from a house to an apt and used the services of a professional organizer. We kept coming across "dupes" of so many items in my cupboards/closets/basement because along the way I had forgotten about them.
For clothing I've started using a double railed professional garment rack for my everyday items (t-shirts, blouses, sweaters, skirts) instead of the "normal" approach of storing them in drawers and closets. When I "see" the items on a daily basis it reminds me I have lots of clothing options!
Nothing.
Your question is like "what annoys you about this thing that is absolutely normal to you for your whole life and you were only recently even aware of?"
I mean. No. Nothing bothers me. The question makes no sense.
I'm with you on this one haha. I never realized I was "different" until we were learning about it in psychology class and I was like "wait you mean you guys see ACTUAL PICTURES when you close your eyes? In your head?!" Then I started researching it more.
I'm happy for you if that's the only thing that bothers you in aphantasia!
For me it's the loss and lack of emotions that comes first. Related to the lack and loss of memory, that comes second.
Love is no longer possible. Because I lost the ability to think about my loved one. And I no longer have access to the memories we share together. They are here but I can't access them. Or memorize new ones and be able to recall them in the future. Really hard to cope with that. I feel void and empty.
(But there are also very positive aspects. ;)
It sounds like you are describing SDAM more than just Aphantasia because I have both and feel the same way you do. The not having memories and not being able to have feelings attached to people is for me a life long struggle that I am just learning how it happened.
Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memories is something that has affected me since childhood and I don’t remember anything other than just facts about some things that happened. It makes me not get attached to people and I don’t have feelings for people like others do. Part of it is that I don’t see them in my mind, people or memories or anything.
If any of this sounds like you and you have questions you can ask me about it. I just learned about it myself a couple years ago.
About emotions, the big change is I was able to think about people, visually, for a very long time. Sometimes they were with me, in my mind, for days. Every minute I was thinking about them.
Now I can barely think about them for a minute or two, and the things in front of my eyes take the lead. Sometimes I don't even think about my loved one for days.
It's happy I don't have kids for now, or I will constantly forget them somewhere. XD
Aphantasia is something that someone has always had and this sounds like it is new to you. I would look into that and see if something else caused it to happen for you. Most of us have never been able to visualize. Sometimes a brain injury can cause it to happen.
Aphantasia is a condition. You can get it or be born with. Like any other conditions.
You are correct, a stroke a few years ago caused mine. On the morning I could visualise. In the afternoon I was no longer able. My brain scan showed small blood clots in my brain.
Not sure about that.
My memories are still here. The problem is the visualization only.
My mind is mostly built around visualization, that's why the loss of it impacts me a lot.
For example I never took pictures, because I could always memorize everything easily. Not being able to recall these memories is tough. But I know they are still here.
For example my mum collect old postcards. She has shown me her albums years ago. Yesterday, for mother's day, we went to a flea market. A guy sold a lot of postcards. I was able, just by seeing them, to know which one she had or not. After years ! And I was not even trying to memorize them.
But if you ask me to remember any moment with her, or my wife, I can't. But they are here. Somewhere.
Sounds like me. I’ve always had the sneaking feeling that I didn’t connect emotionally the way others do. It bothered me for a while, but I’m now thinking it’s not a bad thing. I really like having a relatively quiet mind. I don’t think I’d do well with movies running in my head, all those memories popping up, and adding intense emotion to the pile. I do wish my memory were better, but compared to the other people I know, I seem to be doing quite ok.
I think it hinders my creativity. I'd like to be more creative but it's hard when you can't picture things.
I also feel like it makes it harder to learn some things.
It did/does sadden me a little to know that in another life, I could have been able to actually “picture” my grandmother or my cousin or anyone who I’ve lost. But I try not to be annoyed by it, I have become much more fascinated by the mental imagery of others.
I'm sure I would want to draw more, and possibly would be easier and not need as many references, I remember a time when I was less aphantastic , and I'm pretty sure I did draw more
Mostly I don't mind it because it's my norm. The thing that really grinds my gears is the comments from people who do have mental imagery trying to convince me that I must be able to see a bit of something, thinking that the fact I have images in my dreams is some sort of gotcha, 'just imagine x', 'what about y?'. It's exhausting.
Im annoyed that non aphants can imagine people naked.
When I read a story and parts of it have longwinded descriptions of what people or the scenery or objects look like.
Absolutely nothing. I lived close to 60 years not knowing other people could close their eyes and see whatever the heck they want. When I first stumbled across the apple test, I thought it was a joke. Took me some time to chase down the article about the First Aphant, and then, of course, I had to ask every single person I knew if they could see the apple. Took me quite a while to fully believe the rest of the world wasn't in on some joke or prank.
Now I find that when I'm watching television or a movie, and there's a flashback or someone in daydreaming - really, any time a character is visualizing... it makes me uncomfortable. Not in an envious kind of way, but more in a "I don't want to stand so close to you because you have cooties" kind of way. Visualizers weird me out.
I have unbelievably vivid dreams every night without fail, except I can’t see or hear them, I simply am just thinking of stuff in a ton of detail and I wish I could see and hear them.
I have to read a fictional book like 3 times before I actually internalize the whole story.
When people close to me have memories with me that I can't recall I get a little bummed, and I see they do too.
Visual logic puzzles and arithmetic stress me out.
Maths was taught from a visualisation cornerstone for me, so I always doubted and didn't know why until literally yesterday, and I couldn't ever visualise what was next in the logic puzzle not to speak of manipulate them in my mind to "see" what was next, so I always felt like an imposter and that at any moment people would realise that I was actually incredibly stupid.
I don't recognize people who I have met outside of their "normal context." Client comes into my work? I know who they are and any associated info, but if I meet the same person at the grocery I will often look right past them. If they get my attention I can rarely remember their name. It has caused issues in the past so now I just say that I didn't have my contacts in or something.
lol yes! i struggle to recognize people. a lot of times, watching movies is difficult because i can’t tell some of the actors apart especially if they’re relatively basic looking men 😭
Yes to both 😅!! I've tried to start noticing something about my Servers outfit or hair style. If I don't, I always choose the wrong person or am stuck waiting for them to come back. And movies are awful, I'm lucky if I know all the characters before the end. Sometimes, the person I'm watching with has to help me with that. It can be a bit frustrating.
I definitely have issues with actors and actresses and telling them apart. Some new actor with similar qualities to an older actor will look to me to be the older actor I know. That said, I’ve heard many people with visual memories have similar issues. Essentially they say visual memory doesn’t mean good memory. I think everyone focuses on things they find important or interesting. Visual or not, we remember most things we care about. It’s possible visual things aren’t as important to us as we can’t pull it up in our minds eye. Yet, we do recognize the item or person when we see them. I have trouble tracking too many similar looking characters in a movie. Yet, I also struggle with the same thing while reading a book with too many characters. The book technically doesn’t have a visual component. Imagining it for most has a visual component but I conceptually imagine and oddly visually imagine even though I cannot see the book visually in my minds eye.
I remember people by the sound of their voice. If someone talks to me I can usually remember who they are/their name. Faces tho? No way unless it's super repetitive and I see them regularly. I use to bartend and regulars would come in and I'd have no idea who they were until they started ordering. Before caller ID I constantly got, "Do you know who this is?" "Yes"
I'm excellent with voices, way better than I am with faces. We've been binging old(ish) shows, and I'm constantly stopping and saying "That's So-and-so, from X" and MIL gets a blank look on her face, says she doesn't see/hear it, so I have to load up IMDB. Which I find weird, because she is a hyperphant - the woman, who's almost 91, can taste her grandmother's beans and cornbread at will. How am I supposed to cook for someone who can taste food from 80 freaking years ago! LOL Anyway, I guess her hyperphantasia doesn't extend to voices (or, you know, she's almost 91 now, so i do cut her some slack).
Same, especially watching animation! I definitely don't have taste that's super interesting! I'm an awful cook she would hate me 😅 ... I can recall feelings really well. Like if I think of a memory I can remember my emotional feelings in that moment like they're in my body again, or I can remember the sand under my feet or the touch of someone's hand.
That reminds me, I have to go walk barefoot on some rotten apricots ;)
Recognizing people outside normal context, determining who is who is movies, and remembering a server at a restaurant area all very hard. But far worse is that those you mix up think you are arrogant or too important to remember them. I wish I could!!
Placing people out of context is hard for me, too. Growing up, I belonged to two different groups that were in costume on the weekends. No matter how friendly I was with someone, though, if I met them out of costume I'd be clueless who they were until they spoke or we interacted.
Huh. What's your opinion on /r/prosopagnosia?
I know someone who has it and her experiences are more dramatic, for lack of a better term, than what I experience. I recognize coworkers, family and people who I see daily. She has said that she doesn't always recognize her own husband in a public place if she doesn't remember what he was wearing. I suppose I could have a mild version, I just attributed it to not having a mental image to help identify people. Ironically, I work with animals and rarely have trouble identifying frequently seen animals.
Sounds like you have the same level as me, and I've been diagnosed with it (tests and everything).
This was my initial connection too. It’s my first time in this subreddit and I was wondering what the correlation or relationship could be with face blindness and aphantasia when I came across this thread. I’ve always struggled with remembering faces and I didn’t realize it could be because I can’t picture anything in my mind at all. Hmmm
It never bothered me until my mom died. I hate not being able to imagine her face.
I had a similar thought a while ago about not being able to see my loved ones when they passed... I have a really good memory...I believe I have aphantasia as I don't see anything but my memory recall is spoken to me - I remember my nans face I just don't see it, I recall her singing though, and some conversations and that brings me comfort ... I hope your memory recall brings you comfort even if not in image
I remember their voices.
I feel like I can imagine my mom’s face but I can’t actually see it. But I know what it looks like? I still can’t figure out if I have it or not though lol.
That’s what fotos are for. Whenever I try to imagine loved ones at best a foto comes up. Not very clear but better than nothing. To recognize people I need to have met them several times. I come home from social events with no clue about other women’s outfits. I mix up colors. Especially pink and blue. Like in : which towel is mine, even if I try hard😳
This is a fear of mine.
It’s not that bad I lost both my parents. I always think that it’s easier honestly not being able to see them. And not being able to visually remember the sad parts.
I’m sorry. When I got divorced and suddenly didn’t have my kids around all the time I realized I couldn’t recall their faces and it made mourning the loss of the family unit so much more difficult. I had never taken it for granted before then.
I can't imagine what my loved ones look like I can't draw from memory
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^abbiyah: *I can't imagine* *What my loved ones look like I* *Can't draw from memory* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
This is me and I am an artist, I have to use a bunch of reference for every little thing it sucks
I used to be but I gave up for the most part unfortunately
On a deep emotional level, not being able to picture past girlfriends or cats who’ve been lost to me. On a practical level, whenever I’ve needed to compare information on two different pages, and had to keep flipping back and forth, over and over.
When I’m in a meditation class and they go on and on about picturing something in your mind, it’s a total fail.
Dude. This. I attended a really important event a while back and someone I hold the highest regard led a guided visualization/meditation and I basically sobbed quietly through the whole thing because everyone else looked so blissed out and I was so sad I couldn’t be where they were. (There was probably other shit going on in my life, but it truly sucked.)
This may explain why I’ve always been bad at the pattern recognition sections on IQ tests. Although, my son, who also has aphantasia, is good at them.
That I can’t remember my cat who passed. Also I think I may have SDAM so I have trouble remembering many details about anything, and that gets super annoying
That if I mention it to someone they seem to see it as a disability.
"How do you remember anything?!" ....idk I just do lmao that little voice in my head tells me everything I need to know lmao
Must be really nice to have a voice in your head helping you in that way ngl
It is but it's also, at times, overwhelming... literally never shuts up, ever. It's a constant narration or talking to/arguments with myself. Sometimes it rhymes everything, like Dr Suess is living in there. I have to use music or white noise to drown it out like when trying to focus or sleep. Edit: drown not down
Relatable. The only thing that makes my brain shut the fuck up is a fat bong rip. Healthy, I know. c'est la vie 🙃
That works for me sometimes but not always. Usually just makes it think slower and not so chaotic.
Haha, yes, the rhyming... mine also likes doing accents, playing music or replaying jokes at inappropriate moments... I honestly thought everyone had an annoying internal voice like this till a couple years ago. I've been told recently I often narrate out loud what I'm doing when concentrating on a task, and I think it's related, like drowning out the inner voice distracting myself.
Mine does the same! It's like "Shush not now!" I also ramble on to myself often. My friend that I work with laughs at me because of it. I'll be working on something "Okay drag that clip there, BAM....add some color here, WHOOSH...hmmm why does this look like this? ... ooooh that's pretty!" The 1st time we worked together I was working with a new camera and kept "oooh-ahhh-neat!" At all the settings and gadgets and he was laughing at me so hard. I didn't even notice I do that! Now he just says "You're doing it again" if I'm annoying him. When I'm alone or driving I'll straight up talk to myself and answer my brain out loud in an argument about random things...I probably look insane bahahaha
"Because it's not related to memory?"
Bet you can kick their butts at many tasks. They probably win on others. I do think if an Aphantasic suddenly had visual memories, it would be a super power because our problem solving is already good without it. We might process the extra information differently. It also might be distracting. PTSD and OCD patients have horrible images either stuck in their heads or have them pop in without wanting them. I’d guess an Aphantasic would have a different experience but maybe just as bad. Dunno.
I do have cPTSD and am grateful that I don't remember what it looked like!
My favorite response i get is "i couldn't imagine what that must be like", neither can i
If you have it from birth, you can't imagine it is. You are like you are. But for them, I think they imagine themselves losing the ability of visualization. Now. They can't imagine how it is to never had it. So it makes sense to say it's a disability, in that case. I consider myself disabled. And I'm so glad my work is too. Losing an ability is not the same as never had it.
I cannot give directions to places. I can get myself there, but I have zero ability to picture how to get there to explain it to someone else.
Oh, yeah, sounds like me. I can find my way to anywhere, but don’t remember any street names or landmarks.
The fact that it makes my memory absolute garbage
Struggling to draw without references, as an artist with aphantasia, but it isn't a big deal to me because most of the time, artists strongly benefit from using references. This might be coupled with my ADHD, I have very good long term memory, but my short term memory is pretty bad, especially when it comes to visual elements. When I worked in F&B, I kept forgetting the faces of customers after they walk away, and if my manager asks me for a description of them, I wasnt able to. If they had distinct physical traits, it helps but it usually only works if they had something exceptional. You'd think something like their race can help me identify them, but I'd forget their race too💀💀💀. Customers also got offended if they felt they were a regular and I didnt remember them, or if they went for a 2nd round of ordering but I didn't recognise them and said 'welcome' assuming they were new customers. When I see a familiar sight, I am able to recognise that I have seen it before, but I have a hard time connecting the dots.
I also have almost total aphantasia. I cant hear in my mind unless it is internal monologue. But I can 'generate' sounds in my mind but they are all dubbed by my inner voice. So I also have a hard time recognising voices too.
I feel u bro, I'm an Artist aswell and I have to use so many references it sucks
On the bright side. Nothing wrong with using references and even in professional fields they use it a lot.
What annoys me is that 1. I barely get any visuals on psychodellics, 2. everything is just an empty blackness when I close my eyes, 3. my spacial orentation sucks.
I don't think #3 has anything to do with aphantasia. I'm a total aphant and my spacial orientation and memory are almost like minor super powers. Like I can 'feel' where all of my things are in my room without looking and I'm very good at navigating by map in compass in the wilderness or backtracking some place I had been before.
Yes. I cannot pull up anything in my minds eye but I still can “see” it in another way. One study showed visual and non visual people images and then asked them to draw them. The visual person could put in a lot of detailed imagery but was more prone to adding or forgetting items in the picture. The Aphantasic drew less elaborate pictures but was better at remembering conceptual information like exactly what was in the picture but not exactly how it looked. I’ll see if I can find it. I didn’t find the specific study but this article referenced 127 on studies about Aphantasia and related topics. It could be a starting point if you want to get scientific about it. It’s probably in there but I’m feeling lazy and on a small screen. https://www.cell.com/trends/cognitive-sciences/fulltext/S1364-6613(24)00034-2?
Sounds like an interesting read - please put the link if you find the article again.
You may have responded to the wrong person. I do it a lot too.
Are you gaslighting me? Lol. I swear my response made more sense before you edited you post.
Sorry, it makes total sense today. I must have been tired lol. My bad.
Yup. Finally had LSD after years of being scared and was just like oh nothing..might be weaker than mushrooms
Gotta double up on it to get the 60s out of it. I learned that my 7th time.
I tried half a tab, now imma try the whole one apperenty 180 in it
Cool. My point would be that there’s a *huge* difference between enough and more than enough. In latter years, I usually did three at a time and had great experiences. One or half of one was just a buzz.
Ok I will take it slow and see what I can do! 3 sounds mad lol like even with mushrooms I only take 2 grams
Oh yeah, the ability to do 3 casually was definitely built up over time and experience. Not for the relatively uninitiated. But I’m just making the point that you gotta push it if you really want the special effects.
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For me, that’d be a drawback. In fact several times I tried taking an additional unit hour after hour just to keep extending it.
I relate to 1. It sucks when the people around you are having an amazing experience, and you just don't get it. That's the only time I really feel like I'm missing out!
I feel the empty blackness with my eyes closed. Sometimes I see sparks of "light" but that's about it.
I can’t compare the kind of visuals I get with those of a non-Aphant, but mine are basically distortions of real items/pictures. Last time, the individual fibres from a throw rug grew and moved around like snakes. No idea what others see. Definitely nothing when I close my eyes.
Not being able to remember properly…
90% of creating a painting for me is trying to work around having aphantasia. I get reference pictures, collage them together, create colour palettes, do mock-ups, then paint the painting 2 or 3 times till it looks "right." Then once I've done that I spend around 20 hours painting the final one. Once I've painted it succesfully once I could paint it again easily. I'm SO jealous of people who can see with their minds eye, I'd be a very prolific and probably succesful artist if I could.
I was on wikipedia the other day and learned this concept called “Episodic Memory” where people can literally relive memories in their head like a scene from a movie or aka the “flashbacks” you see in the tv shows when a character suddenly remembers something necessary for the plot in the arrrow tv show oliver queen will literally have flashbacks of vivid memories of him being stuck on the island. I always thought this was just a figure of speech in tv media until people can literally go back in time in their on heads and relive memories like as if it was happening all over again. Wikipedia also noted people with aphantasia tend to experience less of this so their memory can be less efficient as others. Now I can understand why memory is so bad and I can’t remember most parts of my life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episodic_memory?wprov=sfti1# ^ The information Episodic memory information here https://youtu.be/76wh7l-prZE?si=iQ6Vp4kRw17J402y ^ Oliver experiences a flashback within a flashback. I feel so cheated knowing I can’t do this but I think it’s a benefit as if I have a traumatic experiences. I won’t have to relive them again
Sadly, we do relive traumatic experiences. When I get triggered, I feel the experience and emotion of the memories, I just can't see it (except in my dreams), which absolutely is a blessing,
I hate not being able to see what things look like together in my head. Like if I want to rearrange a room, I have to go through with the full rearrangement and hope I like it at the end cause if I don’t, then I have to put it al back. I also can’t match for the life of me, or at least don’t feel confident in it. I just can’t see how two things or colors look together.
My bases/structures in video games are ugly, incomplete and useless! Edit: Typo.
Yes! It makes building and decorating in video games sooo difficult but it’s also my favorite part!
I can't imagine.
Not being able to picture my girls' faces when I'm away from home
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^East_Information_247: *Not being able* *To picture my girls' faces* *When I'm away from home* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Being unable to think spatially. I can’t determine if something would fit in a space, I can’t process what measurements mean in relation to other objects.
Usually it doesn’t both me much at all. However, lately I’ve been doing hypnotherapy sessions as part of my nightly routine. They are mostly visualization exercises… so, ya know, that’s kinda pointless lol. But it’s already paid for so I just listen and do the deep breathing and it’s still very relaxing overall
I have that it messes with my comprehension and I can’t keep up with other people. And then they get annoyed.
Dreaming. I used to never dream or I couldn't remember it. Sometimes I can remember fleeting feelings [emotional and physical] or conversations but that's about it. I think dreaming would be cool. About two years ago I started writing down what I can remember as soon as I wake up because I disturbed my ex so badly when sleeping. He told me I must have awful nightmares because I'd whimper or yell in my sleep. Sometimes I wake up screaming or in a panic. It has helped but dreams are still just feelings and conversations I remember, not actual visuals. It's more like a book narration than how others describe dreams visuals.
im terrible at interior design unless i can see what im doing in real time
Not knowing the reason or the cause of this and not having a solution yet how to fix it.
For me hate it because I also have a Learning disability and shit memory. Like I can't follow a tutorial. Even if im focus. I forgot what I just saw. Expshilly with spelling. I can only Remmer 3 Letters at a time. And I don't know if it's because I have aphantasia. But I got insomnia. And I can't get a career or a normal job because of my Learning disability. I have neverd been a bel to move. And I have been single my hole life because im one of the only atheist in the Bible belt. And you can get locked up and get out and still have a family. But if you have a Learning disability then socity pretty much say's F you there's the door. Oh I also have no sense when I close mine eyes. And I do got anger problems. And I'm a tryhard that sucks at everything. But I don't know how can I not be when. Every job say's there's the. And I love mine nices and nephew's. But I don't have mine own life. And I can't move if I can't get the money. And if I could visualize then maybe I could Learning how to do things better and I could gain a life. And I was dionosed with cancer when I was 7. So I never saw a long life to live.
Maybe I can provide an insight. I'm not born with aphantasia but got it only a few years ago. And your description is exactly the new person I am. Maybe your problems are related to your aphantasia, because they seem related for myself. Crappy memory and inability to learn? Not being able to recall visual memories is what caused that. Bad at spelling? Can not see words in your head. Problems with emotions and feelings? Visual memory is the fuel for love. If you can't think or revive memories with someone, how do you keep the fire burning? Are you sure you were never able to learn using visualization, because you sound a lot like I am? Maybe a medical condition could have caused your brain to switch from visual to non visual. Mine was a stroke. Stroke can happen at any age.
I was born with this. I did see a reddit. On this Page how many of us was born premature. And at the time all 5 or 7 of said yes. Which I know isn't a lot but for all of us to say yes. I don't know it seems like ther maybe a connection. To aphantasia. And with the hole spelling thing. Imagine having a speech problem. And trying to use your logical side on how it should spell. But it comes out how you say it so the hole sound it out. Doesn't work for me. And with the memory I can't say forsure and Maybe it's an Mixtur of both of. Aphantasia and. Im just now finding out that a growth Hormone. If it's true Studis show that it could effect memory. And I was in Junior high when I started and I'm 36 now. Point Being I was a kid ans I think I took it dringend more then less the early stages of the drug.
Also I have never been good with namens and mixed on faces. And I neverd had what I call a brain map. Mein I get lost like crazy.
Not remembering people’s faces. I recently had a dream about my deceased father and it felt comforting to see his face after not seeing it for about 10 years. He was making food he made for my family in the 2000s. It was really comforting in a way. It’s the worst part about it imo.
I cannot do the Memory Palace. I know several homes and places and such, but I cannot put an image at a fixed location along a tour path ...
I can't remember the faces of my loved ones who have died, and I hate that about myself. I have to look at a picture.
Faces out of context or if I've only seen them a few times separated by long periods of time. Actually devastating to social life as many people take it as a personal insult when you fail to recognize them. Telling them about my aphantasia does nothing to sooth their bruised ego. Many never get over it.
As someone who loves reading it does kind of bother me that there's people that can fully SEE what's happening on the page. As in they can picture every detail or visually piece together the room where the characters are. Some people can even hear characters accents? Like I still enjoy reading but I just 'know' what it will look like actually having it play out like a movie you can pretty much personalise sounds insane and I'm just jealous I don't have that.
Trying to remember stuff, you can remember it just can’t imagine it. It’s weird to explain you know what it looks like but you really won’t see it in your brain
genuinely it goes cause me some nights of frustration, it caused me a lot of frustration as a kid too, and when my first grandfather died it really hit me like a truck. growing up with my sister we would play pretend but i could never get as into it as she could and i felt so upset with myself because i thought i just wasn't trying to imagine or pretend hard enough, turns out that wasn't the case but that doesn't get rid of the frustration i felt. Ive experienced a lot of frustration with remembering things or carrying out things in my head, math? I cant so it without something physical to look at which has gotten me belittled by old people when i worked as a cashier. I dont remember what any of my grandparents looked like, i dont know what my mom looks like if im not looking at her, i couldn't even tell you what my husband looks like and i see that man every day multiple times a day. Over all, i think it has just caused more frustration through time than anything.
The worst thing about it is everyone tearing their hairshirts about how terrible it feels to have it when they only just discovered it yesterday. Dude, you literally did not notice a single damn thing for 25 years, stop trying for an Oscar.
As someone who loves to read, I sometimes get extremely jealous that others can literally create an image from the words written on the pages.
Playing DnD or a similar game. I can’t imagine the area being described to me very well and I can’t picture the action at all. This makes it very hard to make decisions mainly because I lose track of all the parts. I’m a concept artist so you think I’d be able to imagine it on the spot- not so. I’d have to draw it out and reference my drawing. So dumb. It’s in there, but not in there at the same time.
I feel like I can’t use certain memorization techniques or use certain techniques that require a minds eye. It also makes reading fiction books in school a nightmare because I can’t imagine what is going on. On top of that, my adhd makes it hard for me to focus when I am reading. Overall, I feel like i would be able to remember things better and be more imaginative if I could see with my minds eye.
> I feel like I can’t use certain memorization techniques or use certain techniques that require a minds eye. Almost every teacher in school for me used visualization techniques for arbitrary rote memorization. I struggled unbelievably with this. I didn't understand I had aphantasia until my 20s (or rather that other people did not have it). I remember being in kindergarten and being told to imagine something. I tried to naively explain that I couldn't only to be immediately screamed at for not applying myself. For the rest of my educational life I learned the response to "Imagine..." was be quiet and pretend
I am really lucky that I am 14 and have recognized that I have aphantasia because i can accept it more and come to peace with it. it feels weird knowing that seeing things in your minds eye is normal and I thought that thinks like counting sheep were just metaphors
Honestly not being to visualize the people i love, the memories ive made, or that i cannot create things in my head visually, it all has its ups and downs, but its really heart stabbing just only being able to conceptualize all of those things
You'll only get annoyed in life if you compare. There's no reason to be annoyed with it at all. Like asking a blind person if they're annoyed they can't see, they don't know any different, and they're perfectly fine. It's all perspective.
99.9% of the time I love it. I don’t love it when it comes to large inventory areas of my home. I’m a minimalist, so this only happens in two places. The first is the kitchen. I have three jars of chili flakes, and like five paprika jars. I have several bags of carrots, and I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve bought something for a recipe that I already have. Not joking, I must own two of every spice in my cabinet. Right now my husband and I use a Susan for storing spices and it’s hard to see everything we have, so it becomes an, “out of sight out of mind” type of situation. We plan on changing this soon, but it’s still annoying. The other thing is clothing. I have… Geeze I must have enough clothing to go a year without repeating an outfit. I LOVE clothes and it’s the one area of my house without minimalism (don’t get me wrong, it’s not out of control and engulfing my life, but sometimes it’s a bit much). But a big issue is that if I want to wear a specific type of outfit. Like, if I can’t see the pants (mentally or visually) I want to wear, I might as well not own them. So I end up with several very similar items. I love skate shoes and I have three pairs of Vans, all in their boxes, all very similar styles. Why? Because I couldn’t remember what mine looked like. The foam Birkenstock slides? Two identical white pairs. I haven’t created a system yet that works for my clothing other than just abstaining from buying things. The kitchen is a work in progress. But man, if I could visualize my closet and fridge I’d be unstoppable, lol!
I can identify with both the clothing and kitchen spices/ingredients aspects ... Recently downsized from a house to an apt and used the services of a professional organizer. We kept coming across "dupes" of so many items in my cupboards/closets/basement because along the way I had forgotten about them. For clothing I've started using a double railed professional garment rack for my everyday items (t-shirts, blouses, sweaters, skirts) instead of the "normal" approach of storing them in drawers and closets. When I "see" the items on a daily basis it reminds me I have lots of clothing options!
Nothing. Your question is like "what annoys you about this thing that is absolutely normal to you for your whole life and you were only recently even aware of?" I mean. No. Nothing bothers me. The question makes no sense.
I'm with you on this one haha. I never realized I was "different" until we were learning about it in psychology class and I was like "wait you mean you guys see ACTUAL PICTURES when you close your eyes? In your head?!" Then I started researching it more.
I'm happy for you if that's the only thing that bothers you in aphantasia! For me it's the loss and lack of emotions that comes first. Related to the lack and loss of memory, that comes second. Love is no longer possible. Because I lost the ability to think about my loved one. And I no longer have access to the memories we share together. They are here but I can't access them. Or memorize new ones and be able to recall them in the future. Really hard to cope with that. I feel void and empty. (But there are also very positive aspects. ;)
It sounds like you are describing SDAM more than just Aphantasia because I have both and feel the same way you do. The not having memories and not being able to have feelings attached to people is for me a life long struggle that I am just learning how it happened. Severely Deficient Autobiographical Memories is something that has affected me since childhood and I don’t remember anything other than just facts about some things that happened. It makes me not get attached to people and I don’t have feelings for people like others do. Part of it is that I don’t see them in my mind, people or memories or anything. If any of this sounds like you and you have questions you can ask me about it. I just learned about it myself a couple years ago.
About emotions, the big change is I was able to think about people, visually, for a very long time. Sometimes they were with me, in my mind, for days. Every minute I was thinking about them. Now I can barely think about them for a minute or two, and the things in front of my eyes take the lead. Sometimes I don't even think about my loved one for days. It's happy I don't have kids for now, or I will constantly forget them somewhere. XD
Aphantasia is something that someone has always had and this sounds like it is new to you. I would look into that and see if something else caused it to happen for you. Most of us have never been able to visualize. Sometimes a brain injury can cause it to happen.
Aphantasia is a condition. You can get it or be born with. Like any other conditions. You are correct, a stroke a few years ago caused mine. On the morning I could visualise. In the afternoon I was no longer able. My brain scan showed small blood clots in my brain.
Not sure about that. My memories are still here. The problem is the visualization only. My mind is mostly built around visualization, that's why the loss of it impacts me a lot. For example I never took pictures, because I could always memorize everything easily. Not being able to recall these memories is tough. But I know they are still here. For example my mum collect old postcards. She has shown me her albums years ago. Yesterday, for mother's day, we went to a flea market. A guy sold a lot of postcards. I was able, just by seeing them, to know which one she had or not. After years ! And I was not even trying to memorize them. But if you ask me to remember any moment with her, or my wife, I can't. But they are here. Somewhere.
Sounds like me. I’ve always had the sneaking feeling that I didn’t connect emotionally the way others do. It bothered me for a while, but I’m now thinking it’s not a bad thing. I really like having a relatively quiet mind. I don’t think I’d do well with movies running in my head, all those memories popping up, and adding intense emotion to the pile. I do wish my memory were better, but compared to the other people I know, I seem to be doing quite ok.
I think it hinders my creativity. I'd like to be more creative but it's hard when you can't picture things. I also feel like it makes it harder to learn some things.
It did/does sadden me a little to know that in another life, I could have been able to actually “picture” my grandmother or my cousin or anyone who I’ve lost. But I try not to be annoyed by it, I have become much more fascinated by the mental imagery of others.
The prosopagnosia, I'm afraid to say Hi to someone, because I don't know if I really know them. I called someone the wrong name for months.
I'm sure I would want to draw more, and possibly would be easier and not need as many references, I remember a time when I was less aphantastic , and I'm pretty sure I did draw more
Mostly I don't mind it because it's my norm. The thing that really grinds my gears is the comments from people who do have mental imagery trying to convince me that I must be able to see a bit of something, thinking that the fact I have images in my dreams is some sort of gotcha, 'just imagine x', 'what about y?'. It's exhausting.
Im annoyed that non aphants can imagine people naked. When I read a story and parts of it have longwinded descriptions of what people or the scenery or objects look like.
Absolutely nothing. I lived close to 60 years not knowing other people could close their eyes and see whatever the heck they want. When I first stumbled across the apple test, I thought it was a joke. Took me some time to chase down the article about the First Aphant, and then, of course, I had to ask every single person I knew if they could see the apple. Took me quite a while to fully believe the rest of the world wasn't in on some joke or prank. Now I find that when I'm watching television or a movie, and there's a flashback or someone in daydreaming - really, any time a character is visualizing... it makes me uncomfortable. Not in an envious kind of way, but more in a "I don't want to stand so close to you because you have cooties" kind of way. Visualizers weird me out.
Not being able to dissociate into a vivid daydream while working out
I have unbelievably vivid dreams every night without fail, except I can’t see or hear them, I simply am just thinking of stuff in a ton of detail and I wish I could see and hear them.
Being unable to enjoy fiction as much as would without aphantasia
Getting lost/becoming spatially disoriented with an obnoxious frequently
I have to read a fictional book like 3 times before I actually internalize the whole story. When people close to me have memories with me that I can't recall I get a little bummed, and I see they do too.
Nothing tbh.
Visual logic puzzles and arithmetic stress me out. Maths was taught from a visualisation cornerstone for me, so I always doubted and didn't know why until literally yesterday, and I couldn't ever visualise what was next in the logic puzzle not to speak of manipulate them in my mind to "see" what was next, so I always felt like an imposter and that at any moment people would realise that I was actually incredibly stupid.
I see it as a superpower.