Aphantasia, my whole life clueless, two months ago my d. s 21yr old was STUNNED that I could not visualise an apple in my mind, who else didn't know?

[ClaircognizantEmpath]

The best thing for me was at least it was some kind of acknowledgement of my entire lifetime being absolutely hopeless at meditation with visualisation... for me, imagine youve just looked at a lightbulb and now you're seeing that light burn image on your retina, of the light image, when i try to imagine an apple, at best it is no.2 in the light burn outline...

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[WhiteSteve]

Yeah, I’m like a 4 on that scale.

It’s one of the main reasons I don’t enjoy reading. The say it’s “better than a movie”, which could be true, except for me, I’m just reading endless text and there little to no visual of what’s transpiring going on in my mind. YOU have to provide the visual for me, my brain can’t, haha.

But people just take it wrong, like you’re less intelligent or at least less intellectual. The fact of the matter is that it’s just an inefficient method of communication for me, usually.

[HawkPerception]

I've seen this on social media. I think when I close my eyes, I can somewhat visualize things I think about. Not very clearly as if they're in front of me though. I think this is a huge difference between artists and non artists. Their brains can visualize these things so clearly that when they're drawing, painting, etc. they're actually somewhat tracing what's already in their head.

It's a huge advantage in life, as you can apply it to anything creative. I'm sure tons of architects, interior designers, artists, animators, graphic designers, etc. have that ability.

[Lynx122]

I can imagine things very well in my mind I used to kind of direct whole movies in my head. But sadly it's not like watching a movie only the things that I'm focusing on imagining are visible and in focus the rest at the edges of the frame just stay white. But it was still fun.

[RingOfFire]

I never even thought about this before. But now that you bought it up I closed my eyes and tried to imagine an apple.

I mean I know an apple when I see it. But when I close my eyes and try to visualize it I see nothing. When I try to do that with anything, I cannot actually see it. The thought is in my head, but there is no actual image.

That means I have Aphantasia?

[ClaircognizantEmpath]

hey fellow newbie to this, im on a personal mission of finding ways to meditate, I've converted a small freezer into a cold bath, now that works by the body shock responses taking over like the green berets and you think nothing see nothing... but any guided meditation is awful, so if you have any ways you wanna share please do.. the term is aphantasia.. a brain design where that network is off track for us by design so we should ponder on what did the design do then? when a person can visual a memory so clearly in their mind to provoke chemical responses from remembering joy, so these brains can uptake a dopamine shot on demand.. my brain is neurotypical, self diagnosed adhd with hints of autism, bi polar, i write that as a person who is well aware of the condition on social media, I've spent a lifetime understanding myself and in my fifth decade, its evolution and acknowledgement is at warp speed, im trusting the universe here, my point is neurotypical brains and neruodivergent brains are the designed balance of beings, whats happened is the existence, the life support of nutrition, communities, the whole kaboodle we walk around in is designed understanding each type of brain, adhd could be attention deficit hyperactive disorder be connection ability flowing ability in the correct environment... please tell me how you would describe your brain neural networkings? lol xx

[RingOfFire]

Hmmmm... I am not at all convinced I have aphantasia at this point, I am just curious about it. Never heard of it before. I have excellent spatial and mechanical skills and a very good imagination for inventive ideas. So I am not sure if that would be compatible with aphantasia or not because it seems to me your brain needs certain visual skills to accomplish that.

To be honest with you I have zero familiarity with almost everything in your last comment. Sounds a little out of this worldly to me (not in a bad way). But if I was subjected to torture and had no other choice I would probably characterize my brain neural network as very practical oriented. 😀

[kaucky1]

Seems like same💢💫✨🫧here clueless most of my life but seen a movie of my existence but not know was my existence til I saw a Plumb then my premonitions came to pass and backfired even if they look like me not trust them adamenentium or pretend to be sick

[Nikki1989]

Not many people have an understanding of their unique cognitive style. It's a gift.

[David5668]

Having just briefly read up on the condition; I can’t imagine how challenging it must be to not possess the ability to visualise things. You all have my admiration for what it’s worth.

[AhmetHasanCan]

An apple without leaves comes to mind in my mind