I spent a day with APHANTASICS (People without a Mind’s Eye)

omg my people!!

Woahh

Congrats to everyone who is early and who found this comment

YAY NIHACHUUU

also ranboo? i didnt expect that omg

😂 that made me laugh
I wish I could see even triangles I only see black 😭

@@miaworth6936 I can see a almost black. dark gray outline if I try really hard.

​@@AngelD3vilDerp I see darkness but I can also see shape, color somehow and somehow still see darkness. I can't really explain it.

@@BILLY-zg7od SAME

We dont really see see it. So ofc when we close our eyes we see black too but our minds aren’t focused on that

WAIT

It can be both 😅

Yea like i thought it was all metaphorical

@@arianna5624 I find the harder I focus on it the harder it is. if you say close your eyes and focus really hard on a ball and its a bouncing ball and its blue. I see nothing. and the harder I focus the more nothing there is.
but if I can distract myself by thinking of a story like, (using dnd as an example) "you charecture draws their handaxe from their belt and gives it a quick flourish before sending it hurtling through the air towards the monster, the axe connects heavily and the impact splts open the creatures skull"
I can see like a very translucant image of the whole thing with fluid motion in my mind. But once again if I focus on it I see nothing. Its like my subconscious can visualize well but its not sharing the ability with my conscious mind. an example is when im asleep I dream in almost reality level detail. but when im wake and focusing I cant even picture a house.
I wish I could see inside your head to see what you dont see so I could compare it to what I can see

Omfg yes I always get lost in thought but never had images, textures, feeling, smells pop into my head.

There’s no way…

It's one of the reasons I'm like a digital hoarder, tbh. I keep voicemails, texts, etc from my folks just in case. I can't recall their voices or anything in my mind, but they're on my phone whenever I need it. Just in case.

i have a minds eye, but its vague, i can remember the rough positioning/colour of things but i dont think i see it as clearly as'normal' people

I have hyperphantasia, but a couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with hashimotos hypothyroidism. The months before my diagnosis, I had no mental imaging! Not being able to see loved ones is what I couldn't handle!

​@@pretty.person.bedroom me too, i think there are levels to it, i can imagine things and when i visualize i remember things in vague way but it's still black, i dont see images vividly

It’s a great experience to you know what you are

Same 😭 I’m part way in shock that people can actually see things when they close their eyes, and part way super upset that I’ve never experienced it

@@0mnom Closing eyes is not even necessary.

bro what im so confused can people axtually see stuff whag

Most people with aphantasia have autism / aspergers, I have both including primary progressive aphasia it really sucks. 😔

Sucks doesn't it. I kinda wish I never knew of this so I could be blissfully unaware!

I can completely understand where you are coming from. I had a huge realitization when I was a kid that when I read, I'm no longer reading the words on the page but watching a movie play in my head. When I explained this to my older sister she told me I was crazy and it does not work like that. She could not visualize during reading. It was honestly crazy to hear that not everyone experienced that.

@@shannonhensley2942 I don't understand how you process the story/words if you're just visualizing it. I have a friend who described it just like you and it's just so baffling.

I can't believe I actually have this too man... I started watching this like "what, no. No one literally sees an image. You just imagine it." My brain is breaking

@@sunsinger7806 I feel your pain

I would just raise my hand and say "Actually, I can't."

I think the discovery of aphantasia is going to open up so many similar discoveries. Our minds have a lot of different modes and capacities. How well can you imagine sounds? How complex can pure concepts get? How are past memories stored for different people?
This all seems very important to understanding one another.

You dont SEE them but its a thing which is hard to explain

@@dr.bandito60 im actually really good at imagine sound, i can listen to music with my mind only

MEEEE ITS CRAZY

Reading your comment is starting to make me realise I have the exact same issue : ( I always thought as an artist that why cant I visualise anything?? and now all these Aphantasia experiences seem very familiar to me.

@@beeee99 tbf people in studios often have this, it won't stop you from being an artist!

I'm shocked to learn this today too. I'm 27, and have never been able to visualise anything.

SAME. Im also an aphantasiac artist who has to see something already done in order to get an idea of what i want to create

As a person who can visualise, it has no correlation to artistic skills. It doesn’t translate that easily

I may not be able to see anything... But I can hear whatever sounds I want and am able to control it at will. I also hear my own voice talking my thoughts 24/7, which can get REALLY annoying.

Only now iv just realised this like 24 years of age i always thought everyone just seen black 😳

Lived 40 years not knowing.

@@Anne_Onymous Ayo same, voices in my head man

It has to vary from person to person what they mean by "seeing images in their head", there has to be some sort of spectrum to this and also different methods our brains handle this "minds eye" stuff.
I have a pretty vivid imagination, I can live inside my head for a long while if I wanted to, I remember "clips" or images from some of my dreams, if I hear a good explanation or read a good book, I automatically get mental images playing in my head.
But I don't literally see a picture when I close my eyes, it's still all dark, at least until I fall asleep.
It's more like the "imagination" lives in a separate simulation space in my head, it's always on demand or kicks in automatically, and if I don't have anything that particularly requires attention, my "focus" will drift to that space. I find it as easy or easier to imagine vividly with eyes open and drifting, than purposely closing my eyes.
I can't imagine a thing and then just start drawing it, because first I would focus on the mental image, then focus back to real life and try to remember what my image looked like. I can't bring my imagination to real life view, or if I do it's more like I'm mirroring the real life view to my imagination with the extra thing I was supposed to add to my view.
But you know there has to be people who can almost literally see a film rolling when they close their eyes, or that they can project their imagination to the real world view.
Then there has to be people who are on the edge of mind blindness, where they might actually sort of have low level visualisation but they consider it more like "understanding what a thing should look like", even though someone else could consider it a fuzzy mental image.
I don't know, maybe some people could also visualise sub consciously, but the graphics part just doesnt reach your surface level brain, but the code still runs in the background and you still get some of the results and answers that this visualisation would have given you, if that makes sense. Based on a discussion with a friend who has some degree of mind blindness going on, and based on how she described a dream she had but didn't exactly "see", that's at least my interpretation of what could be going on with some people.
Also, even though I can visualise decently, or occasionally can have even strong mental images, I really do think my mental image is weaker than some other people's, mine isn't stable and consistent, neither are my dreams. Might have something to do with my ADHD. I can visualise a grand scene, but all the detail is sort of auto filled in, and if I'm asked to "zoom in", I can, and that detail will generate itself, but if I zoom out, some of the other detail has already changed shape. Kind of like how when asked to remember a string of numbers, then reorganize them in your head, people with ADHD and ADD just tend to be incapable of working with as many numbers as people without ADD/HD, so something similar probably applies to the mind's eye too...

I can't do it😒

haha!!

Literally me

Ahhahaha literally I just wanted to say that. 😂

people with aphantasia: "i can't imagine "

we can still daydream! it's just the visual part that isn't there. anything like sounds and for some ppl textures can still be imagined :3

@Kuro_Kuro_ That's interesting. In my case I created alternate realities in my brain that has really helped me cope through life. It's hard to explain but it's essentially like making a tv show or cartoon in my brain, I can't imagine going through life without these worlds and scenes I have created in my brain, I can see and hear these worlds like a little tv show made just for me. It's been a great coping mechanism for me personally so I don't know if i'd still be alive without mental imagery, so it's interesting hearing what it's like to daydream for you.
(I haven't been diagnosed with anything yet and I really want to find out what's wrong with me before I claim I have a condition).

same i daydream all the time

For me daydreaming is usually just staring off into space and just turn off my brain, I never thought people could actually daydream

I have aphantasia and I just stare into space and tell myself stories in my brain, I can't actually see anything but I like- talk in my head to myself- I have complete aphantasia btw, can't imagine feeling or hearing anything either

that's insane to ME bro. I can't fathom how anyone who can visualize shit can be bad at drawing, you literally have a working cheat sheet in your goddamn mind, but istg most people are worse at drawing than I am lmaooo

@@spook6394 lmao, i guess it's easier to plan a drawing, but drawing well also takes a lot of skill and practise

@@sagenaw7137 yeah i never understood that because even as a child if i had something to copy off of i could make like a good replica, but people with something to copy off of in their mind can't do that for some reason.

@@spook6394 cuz the visualisation is kinda the perfect state of what you wanna draw, but your actual skills are different and its not the same as copying of of something in the real world. The thing in the real is already there and easily copyable, but your visualisation knows what it wants to be, but cant put it to paper easily. get it??

i do art and i think of all the details i will put on something but it will be very descriptive words, like colors (specific shades often), wavy, flat, scaly, all kinds of descriptors and then a lot of the time it doesn’t turn out as cool as i thought it would and i restart, cover it up, or usually it just evolves into something else

your memory problem might not entirely be because of aphantasia lol jk, but all power to you!

Nobody sees anything when the close their eyes it’s in your mind not your eyelids

No. Not physical eyes. In your mind. Your minds eyes.
It's def not a picture in your eyelids.
We can see our mind's eye while our eyes are open and closed.

It is not in front of your eyes and you arent physically seeing it, its like its behind your eyes and you cant really focus on it well

@Lucy Palmer Of I had to pick a spot, it like it's coming from the center of your brain. Inside your head.
Lol. So weird trying to explain.

U made me picture a horse now

@@minachan8008 same

@@minachan8008 well now you know you don't have aphantasia

@@minachan8008 and I'm on the toilet taking a sh*t

@@MultiShenan well- i.. i dont think i need to know that😂

photographic memory probably doesn't actually exist sadly. (being able to take mental photographs and look back and notice things you didn't earlier) but there are other interesting memory things like being unable to remember faces or unable to forget faces

@@alyssakoo2089 It does exist. It isn't a mental photo it's just a extraordinary memory.

@@crippledcow2235 that's debatable, to an extent. Photographic memory, aka eidetic memory, is the ability to recall a photograph in great detail for a brief period of time after seeing it just once. It's more common in children than adults, because as we age, we are more likely to change and/or insert false info into the mental image. I happen to be an 'eideticker' and have autism, which, the latter probably plays a big hand in the memory thing. I could be wrong, but I believe what you're thinking of is something different, which is a common misconception.

Photographic memory is not the same. you can have aphantasia, you can still know all the details of a memory, you just cant see it

YES

Same here! And I found out that my dad can visualise but my mum can’t is even more mind blowing!

Maps are confusing lol just tell me which direction I need to be going 😂😂

Seriously! I’m like the total opposite of this disorder lol so that’s what got me to be able to wrap my own mind around this! Crazy to think about 🤯

hi amy!

Make this the top comment bois

Oi Jamie! :D

@@nolanvaughn25 yes

hi!

I think there are levels to it, don't be scared, when i ask other people if they could imagine things they say yes but when i ask them is it clear picture with details in your mind, they say no, it's through blackness in vague way, so most people will think they have aphantasia but they don't just lower level of visualization

SAME!

I spent the majority of my life thinking it was all just a figure of speech. I had no idea people could actually imagine sitting on a beach, waves coming in, and a cool salty breeze in the air.

This topic is still so insane to me. It's amazing, I cannot comprehend it. My ADHD brain speaks in its own full-length movies with musical soundtracks and editor commentary all at once. The visual effects are incredible inside my head. It's so interesting how so many of us are experiencing the world in different ways!

i thought it was just a metaphor tbh

Same I'd sit there and see just darkness

same here! i know what things look like, and i remember things, and i know what a horse and spheres look like, but i cant like see a picture.
when i hear sound though its in my voice, like songs aren't identical to the songs, and hearing others' voices is usually like me doing an impression of them
my internal monologue is really loud and always going it's just when I think it sounds like me

@M.L im an artist! i just struggled thru it bc i thought thats how everyones mind worked lol

literally same

@@Sushigabby Reading your comment shocked me because I have never known what was wrong with me and not visualizing anything like any senses I can explain I just can’t picture it in my mind and imagine.

@@miranda3459 it feels good to have a word to it and to know others are like you too! it feels so sad when you learn that most people can do something that seems impossible.. but there are weird cool things about being like us that ig most people wouldnt experience! everyone's brain works differently and the more you look into it its aweseome to see the ways we all process information and memories

Same with me. I love reading and I would die to visualize myself be in each book

@@nalia49 its cool but becomes a bit annoying because you can visualise something in a totally different way to what the writer intended, and when you see a movie based of the book it can really confuse or disappoint you. Not sure if that makes any sense but thats just my experience.

@@nalia49 also if you don't mind me asking, how do you remember what people look like if you can't visualise anything?

This video has listed some really cool things about it. Like how one decided to be more intentional with drawing as a whole, and not hyper focus on one thing. The other lady also said she could enjoy things several times over. I can't do that. I would love to experience stories I love over again, but since I remember everything feels lukewarm.
People have strengths and weaknesses everywhere. You just have to find what you bring to the table, what you enjoy. Find what makes you you. I guarantee you will like what you find. Most people do, once they get enough therapy that is...

honestly i think it sounds cooler than it is. like i’m greatful i can but at the same time i’m not like literally seeing stuff happen in real time i’m just thinking back and picturing the event if that makes sense. i found my stepdad after he tried to kill himself so that’s like a picture i can’t get rid of for example but the memory as a whole is fuzzy. like idk how to explain honestly i would compare it to remembeing what ice cream tastes like like i can imagine it and know id like it but i’m not tasting it in real time

well if you close your eyes, it literally is `black`. its got nothing to do with closing your eyes. your eyes certainly aren`t closed when your reading fiction, or writing fiction. you see it in your brain somehow. or listening to music and you imagine some theme or setting that goes with it.

@@garconerproduction3046 okay well when i read i don't see them characters running around no. That doesn't happen.

@@garconerproduction3046 and no I don't imagine a theme or anything. I cant just close my eyes and picture shit like mist people can cause I've asked around and yes people can do that

No. It has nothing to do with your eyes. It's inside our minds.
We visualize stuff in our mind's eye with our eyes closed AND open.
It's like it comes from the center of our brains. Not our eyelids.

It's fun during the day but when it gets dark my brain automatically summons up horror sounds and pictures 😢 my brother and my friends laugh at me because they think I'm scared but it's literally my brain playing tricks on me

Explained his case perfectly

Same

I picture it as more of a book vs a movie while trying to explain it

I don't get it

@@aaronjames3228 He means he doesn't have a view of the place hes going to in his mind. He only knows the directions to go to, He doesn't have a good view of "How tall is this mountain in meters" or "Is there moss in the river valley" in his mind. While in a map, You CAN see those things. You can see how tall is a mountain, You can see the moss flowing down the river stream, Ect, Ect.

Commenting to boost ur comment

I would love to see this as a video.

Can I ask what is epilepsy?

Yes as someone who was only recently diagnosed, this would be very helpful.

This would be amazing!

It's blowing my mind, that people can't see images!?

i have aphantasia, but i have an imagination. a vivid one too (as i'd describe it). i used to be a maladaptive daydreamer. but my imagination is just conceptual, focused on facts and story, and involves an abstract understanding of form in space rather than a direct inner sense perception.

I know, then I start imagining what it's like to not be able to imagine. And then I get kinda pissy at myself because that ain't the point. Visually... I mean

@@spook6394 thats so strange and intresting! And its cool to see that theres really just a spectrum of sensing things as a thought, majority of peoples main senses are visual so it makes sense that we would picture things better than we can imagine smell taste ect and its also cool to see a spectrum as theres people who can taste feel smell things in there head that the majority cant. I have something called dpdr and when i derealise it sort of puts me in a seperate space from the world - i call it daydreaming but its not really that, its more where im disconnected from my body and alot of times i will think abt shit and picture shit when im like this, given it aint the nicest things i picture but without being able to do that i think id honestly feel like i truely wasnt connected with my body (like it would make it more real when it happens) because i cant shrug it off to people any more by saying "i was just daydreaming" because its so much more scary if i dont think abt things while like this - when i dont try and think abt things to forget whats happening its truely like im in a vr headset or like im watching this sort of stranger from a first person veiw. Sorry if i rambled but idk it interests me so much

we can imagine, it is just done differently :)

I kinda wish I didn't know that I had it

WTTFFF I wanna cry I never heard of this before and this exactly me!

I am kinda same. I also thought it was a metaphor. And literally I hate descriptive writing about scenery, clothing, background etc. I still always skip those paragraphs. It really blows my mind to know that people can actually visualise all that.

@@im_a_dork8885 I only realized that this was a thing until reading the title and thumbnail of this video. 25 years thinking it's just a metaphor and it turns out people actually see things in their mind lmao. The only way I can describe how I feel about this is: "Huh."

I think this might explain why I have such a difficult time describing scenery when I write and why most of my writing revolves around someone’s inner world and not the outer world... I also skip a lot of scenery parts in books.
Like? I remember what people look like/what places I’ve been to look like, but I can’t literally see them in my mind? Is that what aphantasia is?

It’s crazy to me that people can’t!

It's not really sight, it's a really really different experience but yeah it's a weird sensation

It's not really seeing stuff. Yk how when your eyes look at an apple, they tell yoir brain stuff about the apple (it's red, kind of round, etc) and then your brain goes "i know that, it's an apple"? It's like your mind is just producing the signals (the "it's red and round...") but it's artificial and your eyes don't actually see it. That's how I would describe it.
Tl:dr we don't see things, we just tell our brains what it would feel like to see a certain thing

it’s not as cool as you think the image in our heads is not so clear it’s a really weak image

Yeah, I sometimes get trapped in my mind. Next thing I know it's been an hour.

When I first learned I had aphantasia I was extremely sad and jealous that other people have the ability to visualize. But then I had to remind myself like the guy said in the video that I’ve been this way my whole life and it’s just a different way of thinking. I would be so curious to know what it’s like, but it always been my default state and I know no different.

I'm aboutly jealous, art class was hell. "Imagine a forest and draw it" like excuse me, a forest has trees, but what else am i supposed to draw now? I personally am also a visual lerner, i need to see something done, but since i cant see it in my head it's hard to remember how to do it. Especially easy math problems are hard, because I need to see the number to do that so i gotta right it down. It's annoying. Idk if thats partly the cause of my analysis problem, but I can't interpret for life. Epically Pictures and poems.

​@@cassidysawyer826 But aphantasia in some way is also a super power because you mastered to live without visualization, so if anytime in your life your visualization abilities goes on you could only advance and evolve but for other people if you took their visualizing power from them, they would completely collapse, also your mind doesn't get saturated with images which in some cases could be very horror alike, so you can't visualize bad and horror things so it's good in that way also, it's very scary for people who have vivid imagination when they start visualizing bad things, it's hard to get them out of head

@@cassidysawyer826 do some DMT and see if that wakes up your minds eye.

Yep, now somehow imagine not being able to imagine in any of those ways. No smell, no touch, no audio and no visuals. Welcome to my world.

That you are able to visualize that is just insane. I'm a non-visualizers my thoughts are verbal only and very faint with no sound, pitch, or volume
I'm pretty sure I'm a no audio, as I can't imagine a cat purring or my mother's voice etc

I can imagine audio but nothing else. Like take Fear of the dark for example. I can imagine exactly how the instruments sound, I can hear Bruce's voice, I can hear drums, I can hear guitars and the bass, but I can't see any of it. The same goes for touch, taste and smell, I can't sense it unless I'm sensing it right now

In my head zombie

I have some experiences! Actually some spooky shit going on in my house rn 😭

Oh yeah i would love to tell mine

Yes bro yes

I would LOVE that

My house is haunted by multiple spirits and ive had a spirit follow me since i was born lmao

The crazy thing is that most people with aphantasia have no idea they have it until they encounter something like this video. For me it was a meme I saw on imgur last year that lead to the discovery. It affects your life, you just don't realize it until you find out that when someone says "picture this" they mean it literally and not figuratively.

writing with aphantasia is fuckin wild lmao, i have bullet lists of the plot points before i ever write so i actually know where i'm going, boards with just. words all over them when i'm trying to think of something specific, etc. my writing room looks,,, interesting lol

@@vinyl1208 that's so interesting. If a character or a place is 100% fictional, how do you design them if you cannot visualize them?

@@xVirgosMerlotx so, funny story, in a psych class in college temple grand was brought up and we watched a video where she said something about people with autism, when asked about a church, they will visualize every church they have seen before. I have in my notes, "seeing things in your mind = autism?"
So many things made sense when I realized it's not just a figure of speech to mentally visualize something.

@@hannabooklover i can't visualize it, but i just think about landmarks that are important to the plot along with stuff that people in the world would need to live and stuff. so if it's a magic world, having training places, libraries, etc. i can't really create new ideas in my head so the way i do it is by combining ideas i already know about to make a "new" idea :D i also take a lot of inspo from exisiting landmarks, and then ideas from my friends since they're all artisits :)

It was really interesting to hear about your experience, and I LOVE your art!

You must be an amazing artist since you can make artwork when you can’t visualize

I think it’s amazing that your an artist even tho you can’t visualize. I love art but that’s always been a hinderance for me not being able to picture things in my mind.

I used to do a lot of art and when I got on meds to treat my schizophrenia, it took away my ability to visualize things. I quit painting for over a year because I couldn't create the same way anymore. It took me a long time to accept that I still could paint and do other forms of art. I hadn't lost my knowledge of technique or color theory etc. I just had to do it differently than before. I rely a lot more on references, (but it is still sometimes hard to accept that it doesn't somehow make me less than or more of an inferior artist).

im actually a writer and i have aphantasia, its really interesting seeing and hearing others ways of making art when they can/cant visualise it

IT is weird indeed. Everywhere I comment, people tell me how much they love me and my content. Sometimes IT is annoying. But right now, IT would be okay. So say something nice about my content, dear allie

@@AxxLAfriku what?

@@markimoss9890 dude trippin lmao

@@thecreator_3387 ikr

I thought this condition was normal, until now

So true, as said at around 11:20 , this condition is definitely not a disability

​@@fatchipyeah a lot of conditions that are considered disabilities aren't really disabilities. While I don't have that particular condition, I have two that aren't ana-the thing

@@Purple-ishbluepractically every conditions has its pros and cons. ADHD makes it hard to focus and makes are reaction time slow, but ppl with adhd are usually smarter and have a hyper focus feature. Ppl with autism are normally a bit more akward and overstimulate, but they are also more confident and again smarter.

Yes please

Oh my gosh it’s some of the weirdest experiences you can have

Yes my husband has this

@@byabbs god bless you both 🤙🏻 love y’all I wish I could do more, but just know you two are amazing

Do you mean DID, or it's something different?

Same

I had a friend in highschool who didn't know that we could visually see something in our head, and he said he realized when he looked at an apple and closed his eyes and he couldn't see it even though he was just looking at it

@@NinjaChief101 yeah, it can be really frustrating at times

Seriously and I was like dang this is me lol (yet I still want actor 😂)

If you use the Internet well you can learn everything that you learn in school and more

Ur profile pic is nice,do u mind if I draw it?I won't if u say no:)

Hyperphantasia, about the same amount of people are on that side as on the aphant side.

I'm the same and for the longest time I thought that everybody was like that, was pretty shocked when I found out about aphantasia.
The bad part is I also have a pretty good memory so I would remember scary stuff that I instantly imagined for a long time.

Same here, it can be quite uncomfortable sometimes

If it's seriously disturbing it can also cause an automatic emotional response (such as tensing muscles and change in breathing) as if you're actually seeing it in person too. It's the worst for bad life experiences as you relive them over and over again. o.0 It has its pros and cons for sure.

Yes most definitely, even living relatives (when there are no photos around). My mum basically never takes pictures of herself so when she passes it'll be much harder to cope with. *sighs in aphantasic sadness*

@@Imhighandhungry I can understand and sympathise with that. The good thing for you guys is that a photograph can help revive those mental images though...

@@Imhighandhungry I think that varies for people too. I cam perfectly visualise people that I haven't seen for over a decade, and when i come aross their pics somewhere I'm suprised at just how much I retained.

@@ammaranwar5343 I am personally horrible at remembering faces. My brain just adds too many details that don’t really exist, and my mind is often too hyperactive to retain a still image of anything. Now that I think about it, it’s a little weird, but I will probably have completely forgotten/“replaced” someone’s face/image after probably a day.
Edit: Got off track, forgot to respond to the original reason. But you’re EXTREMELY weird to me. Is it normal for people to remember things so closely after a long period of time?

@@gromplin see! It really does vary person to person. Since you've made me feel so weird about it I just tested myself again by remembering people from my childhood and I'm 99% sure that I'm visualizing their face correctly. I don't think I'm alone, i mean some people can solve long math equations in their mind, so remembering faces is way simpler.

The guided meditation thing yesss😂 they’d always say like imagine your safe space or imagine sitting under a shady tree and I’d be like what do you mean the whole time not meditating bc I was trying so hard to imagine something that I didn’t have the ability to.

I have aphantasia. Personally, while I won’t see an image of something terrifying that can scare me from falling asleep, I might link to reality more and get stuck on possible-ish scenarios like someone hiding under my bed ready to hurt me and that will keep me up.

@@Hooneydew Ohh interesting, so the late night fears are more reality fears than some creepy photoshopped image I've created in my head at the worst possible moment. Even scarier since it can actually happen 😥

@@drowsystag46yearsago5 exactly 🥲

@@Hooneydew YUP! Came here to say this, may not see a scary image in my mind, but possible scenarios keep me me up with great fear.

@@Hooneydew i HATE when that happens! it's like my mind is pulling a really awful prank on me

Fr

I think its the same the other way around
Like you cant see anything? How does that work?

@@kkhlufris1978 it’s just blurry or like dark. Like imagine a dark room or smth- like you can imagine stuff but it’s VERY blurry n you can’t rlly control much :/
I can imagine stuff in my dreams though

@@kkhlufris1978 yes, I have aphantasia and there are still very limited studies on it but for me I've never been able to visualize anything. No nightmares after horror movies, no dreams typically, mostly no rem sleep, and absolutely no visualization normally. I love reading and writing but compared to my mom who has Hyperphantasia(extreme visualization) who sees every little detail involuntary or not
It also makes things like ptsd and childhood trauma a lot easier to work through, for me because I can't remember the memories that traumatized me, I can't even remember 2 years ago half of the time

@@willowway3349 I heard form another person that, yes she can't see but memories and all are more like files in a computer.
Where she can kinda like go back n open a file but instead of images it's more like text.
Also that when reading she can run through a paragraph, like scanning through it.
Oh yeah I think she also mentioned that she doesn't have an inner voice too.

i have it but i loved reading. but i didnt read super fantasy stuff like harry pottery i read stuff like dean koontz and mystery type books

Or it could be ADHD

@@blackenedfeatherz9503 I think you’re onto something. I have adhd and aphantasia and I absolutely HATED reading

@@kannakye9359 yeah I dont have aphantasia but I do have adhd and also despise reading lmao it puts me to sleep

i used to love reading books as a kid, Goosebumps and Fairy books were my favourite, these days i never read as i struggle to read and comprehend things, as i can't visualize things it makes understanding what's going on very difficult for me and adult books require that more, whereas child books were always quick and easy to understand

SAME

Congratulations on the self discovery!

I first learned about it on reddit and I cried. I honestly thought it was just me.

it's still so weird to me, like i've known this for years but it still feels like a massive prank, are y'all actually seein stuff?? 🕵️‍♀️

@@Sushigabby I sometimes get lost in my imagination due to how lucid it feels, so yeah

@@chocoais6601 wow

@@chocoais6601 i get lost in my thoughts, i cant imagine but i hear a lot of thoughts

right! i thought they were joking

I find this so cool! I have maladaptive daydreaming too and I can't even imagine what it's like to just not be able to visualize things in your mind. This video really helped and opened my eyes to a little bit of what it might be like. I hope that someday Anthony does a video on maladaptive daydreaming too so that people can see both sides of the spectrum

I mean I have it and it doesn't really affect life.... Just means drawing without a reference is a disaster

@@D1snerd I've emailed him before trying to get him to cover MD and I've heard nothing

@@D1snerdIt would be interesting to see him do both ends of the spectrum on this.

@@eg.3846 Yeah it doesn't effect it in a major way but feels different. I just really hated when teachers would try to make us visualize for an activity then get upset with me when I said I couldn't.
Drawing without reference would be really annoying though

I'm sat here thinking I need to discuss this with my psych because I thought it was normal 😂

Yes same. I’ve been aware of it for a long time. I found out because I rlly wanted to lucid dream & I couldn’t visualise from books.

I literally thought it was a metaphor for the longest time💀

I am the same way if I imagine popcorn i can't see it, feel it, smell it, taste it

I can do that too

I can too. I can also taste, smell, feel the texture of food. If i imagine two foods, i can basically tell excactly how it would taste

I could do all sounds colors texture and much more

Seriously?

it’s the worst lol, only realised that when people remember memories they actually see them, i don’t see a thing

Same. Seeing blackness when closing your eyes seems terrifying

@@amberl8082 just trying to imagine in my head what its like to not be able to imagine things makes my head hurt.

@@amberl8082 i can’t even dream or anything, i don’t see anything in my dreams but i know it’s all there & when i think of my memories like going to the beach i can’t see a thing, half of my childhood memories are gone

maladaptive daydreaming?
aphants literally have no idea what you are seeing in your head because we've never had it. it's hard to grasp the concept of the other side.

People with aphantisa can daydream to ya know

lmao I have maladaptive day dreaming and Aphantasia at the same time

aphantasia to me is just a lack of Image not fully blind when I think of a rainbow or an ocean I see them both colorless and drawn with white lines in my head

I have aphantasia and daydream a lot. I don't see stories in my head, but I can feel them.

@@katerinapalikova5413 same. Its like even though when I close my eyes its dark I can physically feel as if Im experiencing something.

duuude show him this

Lmaoo same. I legit cant remember what my family members look like immediately after looking away from them. The main way i remember how people look is through muscle memory by drawing them

same

same! I know the traits, but can't mentally assemble them.

I realised this was a real thing when I was watching a movie where someone got robbed and they had a sketch artist come in, I said to the person I was watching with 'why don't they make this more realistic in movies, people can't remember people's faces like that'. They just looked and me all confused. I had never known that everyone else can imagine faces, i hate that when I'm not with my husband or kids that I can't imagine them and remember what they look like 😭 and relatives that I don't live near or have passed away, I can't ever relive those memories.

same

yea me too or "picture this" or "imagine your..."

yeah, I always assumed closing your eyes and seeing black was to prevent distraction, not to actually see stuff

samee.

You dont actually have to close your eyes, you can imagine things with your eyes open

Interesting I wonder if that has anything to do with like lifestyle changes or just not utilizing that muscle anymore I’m the same way I could do it a lot more vividly when I was a child not as vivid as much anymore but I can still see it but it’s distant if that makes any sense

dude, get back into art! are you kidding? you can do so much more than anybody without this could ever do tbh. just keep practicing

@@dabordietrying it’s been six years since I left school and I stopped art I. Year 9 but no o adore it I make spell jars paint stuff I love it I do art how I like it

@@satansniffler1 DO IT LIKE YOU LIKE DOING IT! GOOD JOB! HECK YEAH!

@@psychott6 thank you !! I’ve been painting my room and furniture it’s looking awesome xx

Yeah it's just like.... a memory of sensation... but blackness visually for me. I thought everyone was like that

this makes me super confused, can people actually see?? maybe its about the language we use !?

@@Sushigabby yea I mean I don't need to close my eyes to visualise when I want to draw a pic of like for example a random character. I see the colors the face and the eyes. It's not like you see it as vivid like a picture in front of you but like Anthony said a bit blurry but pretty clear and it can change and you can change the image how you want like if someone asks me to think of a dog I might see dif colors till I decide for example ok I want a black dog or maybe a brown one with spots... which breed is it etc.

@@peppermint1349 okay that actually helps thank you!

@@Sushigabby no you don’t actually just close your eyes and SEE it ,,, for me at least, it’s not an image you see in front of your eyes when you close them, it’s inside your head .. so like more behind the eyes I guess idk it just kinda floats it’s not in a fixed spot in front of your eyes, you don’t actually see it as if your eyes were open and watching something

You can't?

I still can’t believe that people can’t

@@angelfish1192 Same, that's the most insane thing I've ever heard and feel so sorry for people like that

same

You don’t actually SEE it like you look at things it’s a lot different

Me!! Also was shocked to hear that people can imagine touch and sounds and smells. Mines just black.

@@nightmaree_eyess omg me too, like i know what a horse looks like but i dont just see one when i close my eyes... so weird

I first found out about it through Anthony's post a few weeks ago. I was mind blown - and still am, really. I always thought it was metaphorical.

From my understanding, you actually don't have to physically see something when you close your eye lids apart from it and maybe some brightness. It's like seeing unclear, vague, and quick images/scenarios from within your mind that you barely have control of and can dissappear and fade quickly.

@@xa-xii7860 yeah, that's how my cousin described it. He said the closest he can think about "showing" me, is to put your pointer finger slightly above one eye. You see a blurred image of your finger, but still see everything else as normal.

I'm exactly the same! Just like you described and honestly I thought everyone was able to do this. So this video about aphantasia completely blew my mind as I've never heard of it before. I honestly thought everyone could imagine things highly realistic and basically 'watch movies' in their mind

I'm a total aphantasiac. I can't even hear things and I have almost no dreams at all. Even now knowing that people *can* do this for like 2 years now, it still seems like you made this entire thing up even though I know it's true. I can't even imagine or hear my saxophone even though I've been playing it every other day for 7 years now.

@@VoidHxnter that's so fascinating to me! So if you can't hear things in your head, does that mean you don't get songs stuck in your head? I almost always have a tune going on in my head so the idea of that is a little crazy to me

@@sammiewoods258 I don't get songs specifically stuck in my head like you do, but I do repeat lyrics like a broken record. You could call that getting a song stuck in your head if you want.

@@VoidHxnter ah I see, that's really cool!

That’s exactly what I struggle with

Nerd

@@girlysoap9031 nigga I didn't ask

@@wompwompwompyeahyeahyeah1518 woah

@@user-gh1lp4tg1o idc what u think about me saying nigga tommyinnit stan

This is me, allllll the time. I get called out sometimes for having my head in the clouds, because I have such an overactive imagination... any time I'm slightly bored I just escape to my happy places in my head. It's such a huge part of my identity that I would hate to live without it.

Lucky you :,)

@@KelsieJG__they-them same! but sometimes I wish I had aphantasia because I feel like I get lost in my own head all the time and don't spend enough time dealing with the present

I have this condition. And I do almost the same thing except I make a world that is entirely made up of words and kind of like a story in my head with no pictures. Maybe a fiction book? But it takes more effort and I can’t see anything or like visualize anything.

I'm extremely introverted so books where my best friends in school. I loved to visualize the things and i also can't imagine myself not been able to do that.

i probabably couldn't either. and i think i may be on the scale too. but then again can most ppl

Even so, a lot of people gave wrong description of how a criminal looked to the police. Even the order of events people would remember differently, because they were greatly impacted by different emotions during that event.
And if someone pressures you, eg, telling you that a person crossed the road when you know they didn't, visualizing it again and again since the person keeps putting this idea in your head, will make you "remember" that the person crossed the road. Or you would not be sure about the truth at all.
Look up false memories. Most of our memories are false. Made-up by our brains.

@@idislikemints I know. I’m just saying there’s a full chance for people to do it once and catch the attacker. It’s not always a police-pressuring interrogating for hours situation. At least you have the chance to get it right...

Just wanted to comment that I'm really sorry aphantasia puts you in this position :'( constantly being afraid of being assaulted is enough turmoil for us women I can't even imagine what that added pressure must be like

But you can remember what he/she looked like.. just like if I asked you to describe what a dog looked like... you just have to tell the person who’s drawing the person that you can’t picture in your head

Yeah I agree, it feels kind of weird.

agreed, I would just like to at least know their names in the intro. feels less personal and immediately creates a distance from the interviewees

Yesssss

Something is strangely off about this video but I can’t put my finger on it. I hope Anthony is okay. For some reason I’m getting the feeling something happened to him around the time of filming that put down his entire mood.

I noticed it too! I didn't see their pronouns mentioned either?

Willing to learn, what does this mean? :)

@@SerenaGr It's a hair pulling disorder

@@SerenaGr It's a compulsive hair pulling disorder. Similar to nail biting, but it's a lot more difficult to stop. It's linked to mental health, more towards anxiety, but sometimes there aren't any triggers. To this day, it's uncertain as to what exactly causes it and it can affect anyone.

Omg i have that too but i dont think its that serious

@@Alisonn2 I’m sorry to hear you have it too

Amy in the episode is one! I think they have a video on it

@@gemjule yea! I watched their video as well which was also comforting and inspiring :D

I hear that a lot of people with aphantasia get into art. Your mind can't make the image, but you can. Instead of thinking in your head, you just gotta do it on paper instead.

There are pros and cons! I can picture what I want to draw, but can almost never make it look as cool (or cute, or realistic, or stylish, or anatomically correct, etc etc) as it does in my mind. As such, I end up disappointed and discouraged, and have basically given up drawing/painting/digital art now. I wish I could just sit down and draw without having expectations for how it should look, but at least I’ve found other things I can create that don’t make me feel this way (crafts, etc).
Granted, I’m sure no artist is immune to being in those discouraged mental states, but maybe this particular way of arriving there won’t happen to you.

Sounds scary

Sameeeee

@@Imhighandhungry bro I promised myself I would never do that shit, bad history

YES this is why i can only draw if i’m looking at something for reference lol

I always describe it as me seeing static😭

same, that happens to me too. it's a weird feeling '^ ^

Omg same!
I never would have thought that this is aphantasy. Im shocked

thank goodness i'm not the only one! i have super vivid dreams, but when i'm awake, i can't close my eyes and visualize anything, even if I was just looking at the thing i'm trying to visualize.

wait yeah this used to happen to me when i was younger, i'd get so mad that i couldn't just close my eyes and be back in the dream place

@SAHRA OSMAN I don't have the condition and when I wake up, if it was a really vivid dream for whatever reason I can picture what I dreamed about for a little bit until I forget. The dreams that really messed with me I still can picture to this day

I heard that some people visualize words too like visualize spelling out the words or see the word floating or something but not me I see absolutely nothing lol

Man I feel bad cause they can't use some mnemonic techniques

@@NG-dw1sf ive never been able to do that, damn that would be real helpful

@@NG-dw1sf I can try it but it's too blurry to actually "read" what I try to visualize.

And does that mean you don't have an inner voice?

@Nazra Rain that’s such a good question. I reckon they do, just not the same way most people do.

I randomly remember very embarrassing things i did/say. It’s terrible.

@Hebah Khalid same, literally every day 🤦‍♀️

Nope. Nothing. And for me it's weird to know that most folk can. I love this video because it's reaching so many folk that didn't realize this was a thing.