Aphantasia Documentary Film

[tatsymarie]

It doesn't prevent my art, but it does make it very difficult. I need tons of reference images, and a library of adjectives to produce variation. So that I'm not just duplicating someone elses work.

[andrefilipe]

We really need to understand more about this phenomenon. As it could help a lot of people understand themselves.

[QuantumAlchemist_]

I love art and music but could never be as creative as I felt I was born to be. Drawing and painting relaxes me and I thoroughly enjoy it but I could never paint a beautiful scene (without looking at something already drawn or painted) which makes me feel a bit of a fraud. Music I love because it triggered strong emotions in me and helps me relive my memories without ever seeing those memories in my minds eye. I’m amazed that normal people have these abilities yet NO ONE seems to brag about it. I’d be over the moon if I could see loved ones and hear voices. My head is just silent and dark with only my own voice talking to myself all the time.

I would say it held me back a lot in life. I wish I had known I was this way and I would’ve explained my problem to people. I remember one patient of mine asked if I had a glitch. She was serious and I was seriously offended. It makes sense to me now. She was commenting on my memory. She was giving me a million things to do for her and I couldn’t keep up and remember.

Everyone is unique. I like the way I see the world. My friends always compliment me in my ability to read people and feel things that others can’t.

[doggygaming]

For something so drastically different in the way people think to go unknown for so long makes me wonder how else we are unknowingly experiencing life in different ways. I felt like I took the red pill in the matrix when I discovered this. I saw a headline and I instantly knew I had likely made a terrible assumption for over 40 years and I read it my life might never be the same. Now when I close my eyes I feel this lonely emptiness. So much makes sense now though. On a positive note though perhaps there is a feeling of wonderment Aphantasia people get when they open their eyes or see a loved one that others might not experience being able to conjure up images at will. We also get to practice like jedi to try to develop a skill that to us is way more magical than the force. You can move something with hour mind? Big deal, I can do that with my body. You can imagine anything with all your senses? Holy cow.

[shirleygreaves]

Are any studies going on at the moment? I’m 63 and I never knew people could actually make images in their heads until really recently, I thought it was just a figure of speech. I am an amateur artist, I’ve sold a few of my watercolours and people say I’m good but I can’t do anything without looking at reference pictures unless it’s something like a sunset which I know how to paint. I’ve written a few short stories and I’ve had 3 published in magazines so I can still imagine things but I do use real life experiences a lot in my stories. Anyone else manage to be creative despite having Aphantasia?

[-nanabanana]

THANK YOU SO MUCH🤗🙏Explains Aphantasia really well👍👏Love the part about NOT being able to Visualize as a Meditation technique! It is so true for me... Even though I Know in a "Spiritual" sense what the experience of Nowness and Equanimity etc was/is, I couldn't understand how I couldn't Visualize like the rest of our group. Also am excited about the concept of not experiencing fear of the future the way most People do... But i also can't "picture" People or really anything in the past, unless I have a Photograph in front of me... Till I look away from it

[marymary]

Wow, I’m 56 and have only just discovered I have Aphantasia.

[jonnyappleseed]

I’m 55 and have just discovered I have Aphantasia. I feel it’s a disability and it sucks.

[JEPETT]

Please because now I feel ripped off I'm very creative and I can't stop thinking constantly but I close my eyes and I see absolutely nothing but dark as a matter of fact I do see something I see Adams small little dots

[heard]

I think it's a super power to be current and bening able create the vision in the physical will help ie vision boards mood boards ....the thing I have the ability to create what people have in their minds eye better than the people themselves.

I can translate it into 3D

[halimmellick]

Hello I only recently discovered Afantasia but I have definitely had it my entire life. I would love to reach out to you if you would like to study. I would like to find out more about myself. This has been a mind boggling discovery for a 30 year old and has completely changed my perception of the world around me

[Nobodies]

I can tell you how my own happened and that was from long term use of psychotropic drugs. On the drugs I could visualize things and write stories. Over the past couple of years I’ve watched it slowly go away since getting off of them.

[JEPETT]

I use to draw but I couldn't imagine without a picture . I could have maybe bern a great artist by now if I could use my imagination visually.

[barbaragriswoldscagnetti]

I, too, have only recently discovered I am experiencing aphantasia. Meditation was a disappointment for me since I could not picture the mind images ... and I would try and try... not understanding how or why I was failing to grasp the first seemingly simple steps for relaxation. I find it very interesting to note that I do have an excellent memory otherwise and am noteably intelligent (as indicated by various tests and indicies), but I am also on the Autism Spectrum. Is there a correlation?

[gaylecheung]

Get out of here, really…. 3D movies can’t see the effects