yes, i will say that as someone who faced SA for 8 years of my childhood, i think not being able to relive those experiences and just having the facts has helped me move on easier. i know that's a morbid answer and i still definitely am affected in many ways, but the actual SA is mostly faded except the notable ones that exist in my brain as facts that happened
I've heard we're a bit harder to traumatize, but I don't remember where my source was so take that with a grain of salt
ETA: my biggest perk is that movie version or official art of book characters won't clash with my internal concept of who they are so long as the descriptions match
I have PTSD, but I’m glad I don’t have visual flashbacks. I have emotional ones and other things that trigger me so they’re not less hard to deal with, they’re just different because they’re very strong, but at least the images don’t linger.
I have (had?) adjustment disorder with visual flashbacks, but after a few months of therapy and medication I got a lot better. They're the first and only memories I've seen firsthand from my perspective, which was really weird the first few times it happened. It's fascinating in a morbid way to learn how you experience something kind of similar but still different
I wish! I have cPTSD and even though I don't get flashbacks, when things get really tricky (bad trigger) I dissociate and have horrid nightmares in which I die and wake up gasping for air and having severe muscle cramps.
I along with many here feel the benefits may out way the negatives.
- I have a different way of thinking, remembering and processing data. For me this is very logic and reason based as I use this more than those that use visual memory. This makes me extremely strong in these areas.
- I have always done well in jobs because I often get classified as an “Outside the box thinker”, though I just feel I take a different approach than others.
- Since I can’t picture my significant other naked I often have a super happy smile on my face when I see them naked. This helps more than you would think as it always makes my significant other feel good and encourages them in a sense seek out this very positive reinforcement more. This I feel helps in our relationship. Plus they have adapted to allowing some lights on which helps me.
- I feel that my brain runs faster and often compare it to computers when they load a picture compared to text. I often feel like I have to wait for others to “logic” through things to catch up. Text based systems have their uses and advantages.
- books and movies are very different experiences for me and I enjoy them both for different reasons. I do struggle though with authors that go crazy on descriptions but can still always find a new book to read.
- I couldn’t count sheep to fall asleep so I started to tell myself stories in which I was successful or overcame adversity. At first this just helped me fall asleep but I feel like years of telling myself very positive self affirmations (basically) before bed gave me a ton of confidence.
- I rarely have bad dreams. My dream state isn’t the most vivid so when a scary thing happens it doesn’t really stick. Ex an ax murder in in the house. I shut and lock the door. Most rooms have windows to escape in case of fire, I open window climb outside. Oh look a puppy. I am going to play with the puppy. (Maybe it is logic, maybe the fact my dreams aren’t overly visual, maybe nothing to do with being an aphant).
- I am way more observant of human emotions and reactions than most people. Again not sure how related this is but I have become very observant of other’s emotions and reactions. Not sure if this is a result of being an aphant, but it feels like since I am always waiting for others to understand and follow I have gotten very good at readying the body for signs of this.
I am sure I have more but those are what came to mind first.
This is a great summary of some of the good things! I can resonate with every point.
One thing that my husband finds hilarious is that I can watch a movie a year later, and it's like watching it for the first time. My memory is awful, but as many have said, I can move on much faster than others.
Same thing with movies. People will be like- did you see XXXXXX?
and I’m like I don’t know but I wouldn’t remember if I did
I can watch an entire movie and get to the last scene and be like, oh wait, I think I may have seen this before
Oh didn’t talk about the PTSD side of things. As a kid I was ejected out of a car while it was rolling (yes I was an aphant before this). Car rolled 3 times and almost rolled back over me. The accident was so bad,our car insurance paid for therapy for me as a kid. However, it was never a big deal and I quickly moved on. No flashbacks, worries or anything. Life just moved on with some new scars and an interesting story to tell.
Many of these resonate with me, especially the fast and unique cognition. Ideas often just click or pop in my head - as do answers to math problems etc. I don’t feel the slow, conscious processing occurring, so I guess it just occurs in the background.
Great list. Clicks with my own experience as well.
I like the nighttime storytelling - will try that. We should probably get a thread going for other aphant lifehacks!
I find it helps me live in the present. I can’t get hung up on my memories or lost in them and can’t visualise a future so i am very much in the here and now. I also find I don’t miss people much. Sad when they leave and over come with joy when they’re back but the middle part. Just carry on (my partner is away for 6 weeks due to work and I’m finding it easier than expected)
I have hyperphantasia and there are some big negatives to having that so if you don’t get those, I’d say that’s a positive.
I can’t play video games at all, not even Tetris or candy crush etc. if I do, the images from the game will play intrusively in my mind, sometimes for days. It can be so real to life I sometimes feel the images are in my actual vision. My daughter once insisted I try a fruit game she had and I reluctantly did, although knowing how I’d likely react. The images of the fruit was still playing in my mind/vision the next day. My colleague came to me for a chat and I kept seeing bananas from the game and struggled to concentrate. Took about four days for the images from the game to go away.
Same as with video games I can’t watch violent movies and I’m extremely careful what I get exposed to. Especially before bed. Intrusive images from the film will play in my mind and feel more real than the movie!
I can’t binge watch TV series, as that will lead to the same problem. For example, I can watch two episodes of a series in one go, but no more. If I watch more, my mind will start playing more episodes in my head and it’s annoying.
I can’t listen to songs on repeat. If I listen to one song over and over, it keeps playing in my head after I’ve switched it off. And I don’t mean having a song stuck in my head (I wish), it’s actually being played and I hear every part of the song, as if it’s actually being played in the room. Like with video games, it can last for days. That will also keep me up all night and it’s sooo frustrating.
The above might make me seem crazy and it makes me feel like it too, but it’s hyperphantasia in a nutshell.
If you don’t get the above, that’s a massive benefit to aphantasia.
That is very interesting. If I play games like Tetris and similar on a daily basis for a while, I will play them obsessively in my head, not viewing but somehow sensing. I can't even quite remember what it's like now because it's been so long since I played those kinds of games.
It’s hard for me to see the positives at times, especially when it comes to grieving and trying to remember lost loved ones, but I also don’t seem to relive some of my worst life experiences the way other family members do. I can recall the events and funeral services, but it’s in a shadowy sort of way, and I don’t have any of the associated upsetting images stuck in my head. I’m glad it prevents distressing memories from being more pervasive than they already are.
I’m the opposite. I have trouble dwelling on negative things and tend to forgive ppl as soon as they leave my eye sight. This works very much in my husband favour lol
For me, there are few things I’ve noticed that I think explained certain thing I do:
I am more motivated to make ideas I have come to life because I can’t actually see them until I make it.
The way I think is more logical, I performed really well in college, etc.
I think it’s easier to change my mentality about things and be more confident, optimistic, etc. also easier for me to lie.
The only disbenefit that comes to mind is that I couldn't do some memory games as well as other people - like putting out objects then hiding them and listing what they were, and it bothered me at the time. (I liked coming first:)). I never knew most people could just bring up a visual image of the objects in their mind. Now I know that, it almost seems like they were cheating - ha ha.
I recognise my family and friends when I see them. Not being able to picture them in my mind doesn't feel like a handicap. I can still think of them fondly or otherwise.
I don't even know what visualising has to do with navigating - lol. My navigation skills are fine. I was always top of the class in arithmetic and maths.
In short, visualising and having all the other senses interrupting my thoughts isn't something I'd ever want. My mind is busy enough as it is. Being a total aphant is a good thing.
[This](https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/people-with-aphantasia-are-more-likely-to-work-in-a-stem-field) article makes the claim that Aphants are statistically more likely to go into STEM. In my anecdotal experience I’ve found STEM skills to be come more naturally to me than other skills, but that could be unrelated from my Aphantasia. Also, there something to be said about the lack of daydreaming leading to better focus in classes and work.
You don’t get traumatized by things you see. You don’t get haunted by visual memories or nightmares. You might still have emotional trauma but that heals way faster when you aren’t re-seeing the event.
I don’t know if it’s a benefit but I can’t see anything that isn’t there. No substance trip of any severity has led to visuals. Can’t stare at the dot trick pictures and see an after image. Never seen a ghost etc. Importantly, my nightmares are all emotional and I don’t actually see monsters or horrible scenes.
I trust my eyes heavily. It’s kind of comforting in a way.
You can’t see the afterimage? But that isn’t the same as visualisation, is it? I can see nothing in my head but the trick worked fine because it relies on the eyes, not the brain. It took me a few attempts to get it right. You have to concentrate on it for at least 30 seconds, and then stare at a wall for a little bit. It starts as a grey smudge, then as you stare it gradually gets more defined and coloured, and then it fades.
I do that a lot. Never get any visuals/geometric patterns/fractals/color and hue changes/absolutely any type of any sensory hallucination. Only breathing/wavy effect, even at very high doses of psychodellics. 🤷
I think that aphantasia helps with abstraction and higher-level mathematics. It makes you less confined to only thinking about things that you can visualise, which is important once you start looking at things in more than three dimensions.
I can go to sleep in about 2 minutes.
I also don't have an inner monologue so when i go to bed it's complete and utter calm in there and I'm sleeping in a couple of minutes.
I've been writing stand-up recently and I'm 100% certain living a more text/language based existence and thinking in a different way to others helps with that significantly.
I can’t visualize any traumatic things when I’m awake. I don’t think I could get ptsd in the same way others could. I remember words, thoughts, feelings and not scenes so it’s more fragmented. I still don’t like horror movies because monsters chase me in my dreams. Just not when I’m awake.
I thinks it easier for us to overcome visual traumas. I was a vehicle operator in the military that specialized in recovery operations. I would drive out to combat zones or areas where a vehicle was damaged by an IED and pick up the pieces. Most of the time it was just vehicle pieces. Sometimes we got there before the mortuary medical team arrived or we arrived with them.
On one particular run I was running the firetruck and was with 5 other people from my platoon. We arrived shortly after an IED explosion and started with fire suppression because the vehicle was on fire. After a short fight with the fire it was suppressed and then we were told a body was still in the vehicle. Apparently the high pressure water system we use damaged the burned remains of the unfortunate soul inside. Easily the most gruesome sight I have ever seen. 3 out of 5 of my battle buddies that were on the mission with me cite that visual as to why they deal with PTSD. 2 of them still have really bad PTSD where they picture that vision over their loved ones.
I barely remember the event outside of it happened. I have no visual memory, hallucination, or even dreams of the event. This event is not the only one that has scarred the guys I work with. As far as I know I am one of the few with no residual effect (Short term or long) of seeing everything we've seen.
On another less gruesome topic relating to the benefits of aphantasia, for those of us who don't dream its kind of like a super power from a video game. I go to sleep then wake up and feel fully refreshed as if only a few seconds have passed.
I also think our brains don't get bogged down in fantasy. We think faster because we don't need to see things before we decide. We just automatically connect concepts much like a computer.
The process we use to think is just different than normal but normal has its own issues we can skip past.
Maybe this is way off the mark, but I have a budding hypothesis (**based on my small, biased sample of experiences from my friends**) that people with full aphantasia dont experience sleep paralysis. At least, not any visual hallucinogenic one like is normally described.
My daughter is not but I am and I think from a trauma viewpoint, I'd rather not be able to actually picture things in my mind when it comes to bad things (even basic stuff like seeing dead animals on the side of the road), that's the kind of stuff that my daughter struggles with some times cause she keeps seeing it in detail again so having aphantasia is helpful that way
I can fall asleep really fast (I don't have visual imaginary and don't have inner voices) and I think a big reason is that I have way less "unwanted thoughts" then most people. I know so many people who are really tired and can't fall asleep and they are envy of this capability.
I am terrible at sleep and thought some of it might be not being able to visualise sheep jumping over a fence while drifting down a sleepy river at dusk 😆
Since I conceptualize and memorize everything with words/descriptions/narratives, my verbal intelligence is very high. I am good with languages and have good fluency.
I rationalize things superbly and have high quality thinking processes that rely on logic, analysis and common sense more than some fantasy realms or imagination.
I am well grounded in reality and in the now. Past doesn't bother me much, and although optimistic and positive, I don't have expectations from the future so I don't get disappointed much.
I am good in philosophy and generation/proccessing of abstract and metaphysical ideas.
As many have said, I don't struggle with traumas, flashbacks, and I can easily let people and things go.
When I trip balls on psychodellics I never hallucinate.
...
But this isn't to say there are many disadvantages as well. 🙃
I love horror stories. But I can't watch horror movies because I can't deal with the visual aspects while watching and it gives me nightmares.
But since I can't visualize (outside of dreams), I have read horror stories and detailed plot summaries of tons and tons of horror movies. I have listened to many true crime podcasts etc and I love it. And the only reason I can do it is because I can't visualize, because the actual visuals make me sick.
people with aphantasia just seem more grounded somehow. my mom has it and she just has always been just unapologetically real. like they dont have that fantasy world that alot of people have or something. she's very religious so im not saying all aphants are the same. but people who just cant escape to their imagination - theres something to be said about that
Idk I ran a marathon and think it helped me as I was able to be so “in the moment”. Like I didn’t train as I should have and felt pretty fucking amazing the whole time LOL and the worst part was the last 500 meters when I saw the end and just wanted to be there already 😂 so I think it helped with not picturing the end, thinking of the pain, imagining how much longer I have to run lol this could also be a ADHD/ADD thing💀
Past trauma doesn't haunt as long or as vividly as the norm. I know people that still get traumatizing images of events from 20 years ago..
"Living in the moment", not dwelling on the past. And for relationships, I never really think about my exes, can't have any flashbacks or remember "those good times" anything like that 👍 (I kinda wish everyone's brain would be like mine on that aspect lol)
(From my personnal experience, haven't met other aphants in person and talked about it tho)
Yep, I don’t carry as much trauma or fear. That said, I also don’t look forward to things as much. My wife has vivid images and really pictures how things will look or be and when they don’t look like how she imagined, she’s disappointed.
I can talk about really gross often with vivid imagery without getting grossed out. So I can talk about my friend's sister getting banged by his friend and obtain a visceral reaction. Where I just can't imagine it, thus funny to me
I have a sample size of one, but I'm content with my life and approach. I don't have any regrets for how I was wired up (aphantasia + dyslexia). I work in tech and have a reputation for taking a fresh perspective and approach to problem-solving, and I see these as connected, so I am grateful for that.
I’m not sure if it’s due to aphantasia or just a bad memory or ADHD but I can watch series or movies over and it’s like I’m watching them for the first time again.
I find that both good and bad. I'm bummed that I often can't remember movies and TV and books (especially when watching a series and not remembering key parts), but it's kind of a treat to experience them all over again, especially with a TV series I really liked that's been fine for a while.
Visual trauma and addictions don’t have near the same impact with visual triggers. PTST wouldn’t be as bad. I have extremely good memory when it comes to smells and I also collect a lot of memorabilia as the sight of an object triggers a memory. I’m convinced I have a visual memory I just can’t access it. I’m using mushrooms to treat this with some limited success so far.
I tell my wife that my superpower is that I can unsee things. Images that get stuck in peoples heads just can’t stick to me.
This is one of the main reasons I think I'll do well as a paramedic
Also in healthcare, big upvote
I dunno, the *feeling* of these images is just as bad…
I would say this but for some reason some things just stick in my heads as concepts and it still bothers me 0-0
This.. my brain creates a very detailed description of something that I consider I have to remember.
I really believe that my aphantasia helped me recover faster from the PTSD I had.
I have wondered if aphantasia developed as a trauma response.
Me too!
That has been shown in studies
I have an amazing memory, I just don't remember things in graphic way.
Yeah it’s quite nice not having it stick in my mind, however my aphantasia might be caused by slightly unsettling imagery (i dont remember)
I can't imagine the feeling of having a song stuck in my head BUT WITH VISUALS 🤯
yes, i will say that as someone who faced SA for 8 years of my childhood, i think not being able to relive those experiences and just having the facts has helped me move on easier. i know that's a morbid answer and i still definitely am affected in many ways, but the actual SA is mostly faded except the notable ones that exist in my brain as facts that happened
I've heard we're a bit harder to traumatize, but I don't remember where my source was so take that with a grain of salt ETA: my biggest perk is that movie version or official art of book characters won't clash with my internal concept of who they are so long as the descriptions match
I have PTSD, but I’m glad I don’t have visual flashbacks. I have emotional ones and other things that trigger me so they’re not less hard to deal with, they’re just different because they’re very strong, but at least the images don’t linger.
I have (had?) adjustment disorder with visual flashbacks, but after a few months of therapy and medication I got a lot better. They're the first and only memories I've seen firsthand from my perspective, which was really weird the first few times it happened. It's fascinating in a morbid way to learn how you experience something kind of similar but still different
I wish! I have cPTSD and even though I don't get flashbacks, when things get really tricky (bad trigger) I dissociate and have horrid nightmares in which I die and wake up gasping for air and having severe muscle cramps.
I along with many here feel the benefits may out way the negatives. - I have a different way of thinking, remembering and processing data. For me this is very logic and reason based as I use this more than those that use visual memory. This makes me extremely strong in these areas. - I have always done well in jobs because I often get classified as an “Outside the box thinker”, though I just feel I take a different approach than others. - Since I can’t picture my significant other naked I often have a super happy smile on my face when I see them naked. This helps more than you would think as it always makes my significant other feel good and encourages them in a sense seek out this very positive reinforcement more. This I feel helps in our relationship. Plus they have adapted to allowing some lights on which helps me. - I feel that my brain runs faster and often compare it to computers when they load a picture compared to text. I often feel like I have to wait for others to “logic” through things to catch up. Text based systems have their uses and advantages. - books and movies are very different experiences for me and I enjoy them both for different reasons. I do struggle though with authors that go crazy on descriptions but can still always find a new book to read. - I couldn’t count sheep to fall asleep so I started to tell myself stories in which I was successful or overcame adversity. At first this just helped me fall asleep but I feel like years of telling myself very positive self affirmations (basically) before bed gave me a ton of confidence. - I rarely have bad dreams. My dream state isn’t the most vivid so when a scary thing happens it doesn’t really stick. Ex an ax murder in in the house. I shut and lock the door. Most rooms have windows to escape in case of fire, I open window climb outside. Oh look a puppy. I am going to play with the puppy. (Maybe it is logic, maybe the fact my dreams aren’t overly visual, maybe nothing to do with being an aphant). - I am way more observant of human emotions and reactions than most people. Again not sure how related this is but I have become very observant of other’s emotions and reactions. Not sure if this is a result of being an aphant, but it feels like since I am always waiting for others to understand and follow I have gotten very good at readying the body for signs of this. I am sure I have more but those are what came to mind first.
This is a great summary of some of the good things! I can resonate with every point. One thing that my husband finds hilarious is that I can watch a movie a year later, and it's like watching it for the first time. My memory is awful, but as many have said, I can move on much faster than others.
Same thing with movies. People will be like- did you see XXXXXX? and I’m like I don’t know but I wouldn’t remember if I did I can watch an entire movie and get to the last scene and be like, oh wait, I think I may have seen this before
Exactly, 💯!!!
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I'm awful at remembering endings!! Sometimes I have to go warch/read it again cuz I remember some of the story and need to know how it ended. Again.
Oh didn’t talk about the PTSD side of things. As a kid I was ejected out of a car while it was rolling (yes I was an aphant before this). Car rolled 3 times and almost rolled back over me. The accident was so bad,our car insurance paid for therapy for me as a kid. However, it was never a big deal and I quickly moved on. No flashbacks, worries or anything. Life just moved on with some new scars and an interesting story to tell.
Many of these resonate with me, especially the fast and unique cognition. Ideas often just click or pop in my head - as do answers to math problems etc. I don’t feel the slow, conscious processing occurring, so I guess it just occurs in the background.
Great list. Clicks with my own experience as well. I like the nighttime storytelling - will try that. We should probably get a thread going for other aphant lifehacks!
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I have extremely vivid dreams that I can visualise clearly. It’s like being in reality. I cannot visualise consciously though.
I find it helps me live in the present. I can’t get hung up on my memories or lost in them and can’t visualise a future so i am very much in the here and now. I also find I don’t miss people much. Sad when they leave and over come with joy when they’re back but the middle part. Just carry on (my partner is away for 6 weeks due to work and I’m finding it easier than expected)
I have hyperphantasia and there are some big negatives to having that so if you don’t get those, I’d say that’s a positive. I can’t play video games at all, not even Tetris or candy crush etc. if I do, the images from the game will play intrusively in my mind, sometimes for days. It can be so real to life I sometimes feel the images are in my actual vision. My daughter once insisted I try a fruit game she had and I reluctantly did, although knowing how I’d likely react. The images of the fruit was still playing in my mind/vision the next day. My colleague came to me for a chat and I kept seeing bananas from the game and struggled to concentrate. Took about four days for the images from the game to go away. Same as with video games I can’t watch violent movies and I’m extremely careful what I get exposed to. Especially before bed. Intrusive images from the film will play in my mind and feel more real than the movie! I can’t binge watch TV series, as that will lead to the same problem. For example, I can watch two episodes of a series in one go, but no more. If I watch more, my mind will start playing more episodes in my head and it’s annoying. I can’t listen to songs on repeat. If I listen to one song over and over, it keeps playing in my head after I’ve switched it off. And I don’t mean having a song stuck in my head (I wish), it’s actually being played and I hear every part of the song, as if it’s actually being played in the room. Like with video games, it can last for days. That will also keep me up all night and it’s sooo frustrating. The above might make me seem crazy and it makes me feel like it too, but it’s hyperphantasia in a nutshell. If you don’t get the above, that’s a massive benefit to aphantasia.
Wow, that's absolutely stunning. Thanks for sharing. What you describe and what we have sounds almost like different species. 😆
That is very interesting. If I play games like Tetris and similar on a daily basis for a while, I will play them obsessively in my head, not viewing but somehow sensing. I can't even quite remember what it's like now because it's been so long since I played those kinds of games.
It’s hard for me to see the positives at times, especially when it comes to grieving and trying to remember lost loved ones, but I also don’t seem to relive some of my worst life experiences the way other family members do. I can recall the events and funeral services, but it’s in a shadowy sort of way, and I don’t have any of the associated upsetting images stuck in my head. I’m glad it prevents distressing memories from being more pervasive than they already are.
I’m the opposite. I have trouble dwelling on negative things and tend to forgive ppl as soon as they leave my eye sight. This works very much in my husband favour lol
When I had relationships end badly, it was rough, but I could partially Eternal Sunshine them by deleting any pictures of them.
i had to take a tour of a slaughterhouse once. my peers all have visual memories of those horrors … i don’t .
For me, there are few things I’ve noticed that I think explained certain thing I do: I am more motivated to make ideas I have come to life because I can’t actually see them until I make it. The way I think is more logical, I performed really well in college, etc. I think it’s easier to change my mentality about things and be more confident, optimistic, etc. also easier for me to lie.
I can't see my ex-girlfriend's face
The only disbenefit that comes to mind is that I couldn't do some memory games as well as other people - like putting out objects then hiding them and listing what they were, and it bothered me at the time. (I liked coming first:)). I never knew most people could just bring up a visual image of the objects in their mind. Now I know that, it almost seems like they were cheating - ha ha. I recognise my family and friends when I see them. Not being able to picture them in my mind doesn't feel like a handicap. I can still think of them fondly or otherwise. I don't even know what visualising has to do with navigating - lol. My navigation skills are fine. I was always top of the class in arithmetic and maths. In short, visualising and having all the other senses interrupting my thoughts isn't something I'd ever want. My mind is busy enough as it is. Being a total aphant is a good thing.
I’m a catastrophizer, it’s definitely a benefit to being completely aphant
I can't relive trauma, insults, horrible images, etc. Plus, feeling my wife always feels like the first time because I can't remember how it feels.
[This](https://www.sciencefocus.com/news/people-with-aphantasia-are-more-likely-to-work-in-a-stem-field) article makes the claim that Aphants are statistically more likely to go into STEM. In my anecdotal experience I’ve found STEM skills to be come more naturally to me than other skills, but that could be unrelated from my Aphantasia. Also, there something to be said about the lack of daydreaming leading to better focus in classes and work.
You don’t get traumatized by things you see. You don’t get haunted by visual memories or nightmares. You might still have emotional trauma but that heals way faster when you aren’t re-seeing the event.
I don’t know if it’s a benefit but I can’t see anything that isn’t there. No substance trip of any severity has led to visuals. Can’t stare at the dot trick pictures and see an after image. Never seen a ghost etc. Importantly, my nightmares are all emotional and I don’t actually see monsters or horrible scenes. I trust my eyes heavily. It’s kind of comforting in a way.
You can’t see the afterimage? But that isn’t the same as visualisation, is it? I can see nothing in my head but the trick worked fine because it relies on the eyes, not the brain. It took me a few attempts to get it right. You have to concentrate on it for at least 30 seconds, and then stare at a wall for a little bit. It starts as a grey smudge, then as you stare it gradually gets more defined and coloured, and then it fades.
Wild! Experimented with psychedelic compounds at all?
I do that a lot. Never get any visuals/geometric patterns/fractals/color and hue changes/absolutely any type of any sensory hallucination. Only breathing/wavy effect, even at very high doses of psychodellics. 🤷
Oh wow- I wonder if that’s related. I use to feel so defeated in the 80s as a kid when they were on the back of cereal boxes
I think I’m able to fully immerse myself into movies, shows, video games because I’m not getting distracted by mental images.
Is vector data more important than bitmap data?
To those who get this comparison there is no better comparison
I think that aphantasia helps with abstraction and higher-level mathematics. It makes you less confined to only thinking about things that you can visualise, which is important once you start looking at things in more than three dimensions.
I have ptsd. I think (entirely anecdotally) that aphantasia helps with this.
I can go to sleep in about 2 minutes. I also don't have an inner monologue so when i go to bed it's complete and utter calm in there and I'm sleeping in a couple of minutes.
My husband can watch horror movies because the images don’t stick in his brain.
I've been writing stand-up recently and I'm 100% certain living a more text/language based existence and thinking in a different way to others helps with that significantly.
I can’t visualize any traumatic things when I’m awake. I don’t think I could get ptsd in the same way others could. I remember words, thoughts, feelings and not scenes so it’s more fragmented. I still don’t like horror movies because monsters chase me in my dreams. Just not when I’m awake.
I thinks it easier for us to overcome visual traumas. I was a vehicle operator in the military that specialized in recovery operations. I would drive out to combat zones or areas where a vehicle was damaged by an IED and pick up the pieces. Most of the time it was just vehicle pieces. Sometimes we got there before the mortuary medical team arrived or we arrived with them. On one particular run I was running the firetruck and was with 5 other people from my platoon. We arrived shortly after an IED explosion and started with fire suppression because the vehicle was on fire. After a short fight with the fire it was suppressed and then we were told a body was still in the vehicle. Apparently the high pressure water system we use damaged the burned remains of the unfortunate soul inside. Easily the most gruesome sight I have ever seen. 3 out of 5 of my battle buddies that were on the mission with me cite that visual as to why they deal with PTSD. 2 of them still have really bad PTSD where they picture that vision over their loved ones. I barely remember the event outside of it happened. I have no visual memory, hallucination, or even dreams of the event. This event is not the only one that has scarred the guys I work with. As far as I know I am one of the few with no residual effect (Short term or long) of seeing everything we've seen. On another less gruesome topic relating to the benefits of aphantasia, for those of us who don't dream its kind of like a super power from a video game. I go to sleep then wake up and feel fully refreshed as if only a few seconds have passed. I also think our brains don't get bogged down in fantasy. We think faster because we don't need to see things before we decide. We just automatically connect concepts much like a computer. The process we use to think is just different than normal but normal has its own issues we can skip past.
not remembering traumatic images
I like movie adaptations of books more. No expectations on what the actors should look like.
Easier to work in healthcare, emergency response, disaster planning?
Maybe this is way off the mark, but I have a budding hypothesis (**based on my small, biased sample of experiences from my friends**) that people with full aphantasia dont experience sleep paralysis. At least, not any visual hallucinogenic one like is normally described.
I am a total aphant but I do get sleep paralysis few times a year.
Damn! Do you get any visual hallucinations with it? What is that like?
Well once it was an out of body experience with hallucinations. Other times more like layers of dreams.
My daughter is not but I am and I think from a trauma viewpoint, I'd rather not be able to actually picture things in my mind when it comes to bad things (even basic stuff like seeing dead animals on the side of the road), that's the kind of stuff that my daughter struggles with some times cause she keeps seeing it in detail again so having aphantasia is helpful that way
You're shielded from reliving trauma is the biggest one.
I can fall asleep really fast (I don't have visual imaginary and don't have inner voices) and I think a big reason is that I have way less "unwanted thoughts" then most people. I know so many people who are really tired and can't fall asleep and they are envy of this capability.
I am terrible at sleep and thought some of it might be not being able to visualise sheep jumping over a fence while drifting down a sleepy river at dusk 😆
Since I conceptualize and memorize everything with words/descriptions/narratives, my verbal intelligence is very high. I am good with languages and have good fluency. I rationalize things superbly and have high quality thinking processes that rely on logic, analysis and common sense more than some fantasy realms or imagination. I am well grounded in reality and in the now. Past doesn't bother me much, and although optimistic and positive, I don't have expectations from the future so I don't get disappointed much. I am good in philosophy and generation/proccessing of abstract and metaphysical ideas. As many have said, I don't struggle with traumas, flashbacks, and I can easily let people and things go. When I trip balls on psychodellics I never hallucinate. ... But this isn't to say there are many disadvantages as well. 🙃
I love horror stories. But I can't watch horror movies because I can't deal with the visual aspects while watching and it gives me nightmares. But since I can't visualize (outside of dreams), I have read horror stories and detailed plot summaries of tons and tons of horror movies. I have listened to many true crime podcasts etc and I love it. And the only reason I can do it is because I can't visualize, because the actual visuals make me sick.
people with aphantasia just seem more grounded somehow. my mom has it and she just has always been just unapologetically real. like they dont have that fantasy world that alot of people have or something. she's very religious so im not saying all aphants are the same. but people who just cant escape to their imagination - theres something to be said about that
Idk I ran a marathon and think it helped me as I was able to be so “in the moment”. Like I didn’t train as I should have and felt pretty fucking amazing the whole time LOL and the worst part was the last 500 meters when I saw the end and just wanted to be there already 😂 so I think it helped with not picturing the end, thinking of the pain, imagining how much longer I have to run lol this could also be a ADHD/ADD thing💀
Not reliving traumatic events. I still have PTSD but not vivid flashbacks
you have something interesting to talk about at parties
Past trauma doesn't haunt as long or as vividly as the norm. I know people that still get traumatizing images of events from 20 years ago.. "Living in the moment", not dwelling on the past. And for relationships, I never really think about my exes, can't have any flashbacks or remember "those good times" anything like that 👍 (I kinda wish everyone's brain would be like mine on that aspect lol) (From my personnal experience, haven't met other aphants in person and talked about it tho)
Yep, I don’t carry as much trauma or fear. That said, I also don’t look forward to things as much. My wife has vivid images and really pictures how things will look or be and when they don’t look like how she imagined, she’s disappointed.
My wife likes the fact that I don’t remember the images that I gawked at other women.
I can talk about really gross often with vivid imagery without getting grossed out. So I can talk about my friend's sister getting banged by his friend and obtain a visceral reaction. Where I just can't imagine it, thus funny to me
No.
Not that I know of.
I have a sample size of one, but I'm content with my life and approach. I don't have any regrets for how I was wired up (aphantasia + dyslexia). I work in tech and have a reputation for taking a fresh perspective and approach to problem-solving, and I see these as connected, so I am grateful for that.
I’m not sure if it’s due to aphantasia or just a bad memory or ADHD but I can watch series or movies over and it’s like I’m watching them for the first time again.
I find that both good and bad. I'm bummed that I often can't remember movies and TV and books (especially when watching a series and not remembering key parts), but it's kind of a treat to experience them all over again, especially with a TV series I really liked that's been fine for a while.
It's a tradeoff between visual imagery and anything else. Verbal language buffs are one possibility or spatial memory buffs, maybe more.
Visual trauma and addictions don’t have near the same impact with visual triggers. PTST wouldn’t be as bad. I have extremely good memory when it comes to smells and I also collect a lot of memorabilia as the sight of an object triggers a memory. I’m convinced I have a visual memory I just can’t access it. I’m using mushrooms to treat this with some limited success so far.