195

Aphantasia... apparently 3% of the world has it. Any aphantasists in here, who've had success improving their condition? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Transcendant@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

170 comments fedilink hide all child comments

10 years ago, I'd have put my ability to visualise at 0 out of 10. Practice and occasional halucinogen use has got me to 2 out of 10. It causes no end of problems in day to day life, so I'm interested to hear if anyone has tips or just experiences to share so it doesn't feel such a lonely frustrating issue.

edit informative comment from @Gwaer@lemm.ee about image streaming, I did a bit of digging on the broken links, the Dr isn't giving the info away for free anymore without buying their (expensive) book, but I found some further info on additional techniques here, pages 2/3: https://nlpcourses.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Image-Streaming-Mode-of-Thinking.pdf

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[-] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 59 points 1 year ago

On the good side, we're much less affected by trauma, because we're not haunted by replays of it in our minds. So there's that. Also, we can torment visualizers with words like "moist", and describing disgusting things that they "see" in their heads, while we're unaffected.

Use this power only for good, or at least for a good laugh. 😉

[-] Cypher@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

As someone on the opposite end of this spectrum, with highly detailed visualisation, I had never considered that this could be weaponised against me….

Granted moist seems to be a problem for some people more than others. I wonder if that’s due to word associations.

[-] JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Perhaps word assosciations or just bandwagoning with the trend of 'omg moist gross'. Honestly the only times i really think of things being 'moist' is for cakes/baked goods.

[-] Transcendant@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Also, we can torment visualizers with words like “moist”, and describing disgusting things that they “see” in their heads, while we’re unaffected.

That proper made me laugh. Funnily enough I was reading the wiki page earlier for the condition, and remember seeing about an experiment where aphantasics didn't have the same fear response as 'normal' people when reading a scary story. I'm guessing for the reasons you described.

[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

So when Stormy Daniels described Trump as having "yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart" you didn't get a perfect(ly traumatizing) image of that in your mind?

[-] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Also, we can torment visualizers with words like “moist”, and describing disgusting things that they “see” in their heads, while we’re unaffected.

Don't you dare. I have this especially bad when someone mentions a medical condition or an operation they underwent. Anything involving cutting, implanting, or anything of the sort makes it feel extremely real to me.
Someone once mentioned off-hand about having a couple of screws in their leg bone and I started to imagine myself in their position on the operating table. It's not a fun experience.

this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023

195 points (93.7% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26736 readers

2073 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions

Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion

Rules: (interactive)

1) Be nice and; have fun

Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them

2) All posts must end with a '?'

This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?

3) No spam

Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.

4) NSFW is okay, within reason

Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].

5) This is not a support community.

It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.

Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.