Casper Green

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Aphantasia 101

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The minds eye is an interesting thing.

At least, I assume it is. Myself, I’m fascinated by the concept.

Our modern language – and even words like imagination – often assume the ability to visualize as a given. I can’t count the number of meditation speakers who talk about imagining or visualizing (I’ll come back to that distinction soon) or motivational speakers who talk about visualizing your future.

That’s all well and good, except that the ability to visualize varies dramatically.

Some people can visualize incredibly well, can imagine all types of things. Perhaps they can get lost in the world of their mind, can go to their happy place, or can dream of a bigger better tomorrow.

Others can’t. Visualization may be a struggle for them. Possible, but takes effort.

Then there are those like me, aphantasics, who can’t visualize at all.

Nothing. Nada. Not with eyes open or closed. Some see images occasionally in hypnagogic states or in dreams, but nothing beyond that.

Fascinating, right?

The other thing is that many of us didn’t know.

I spent most of my life assuming that terms like ‘go to your happy place’ or ‘count sheep’ were just turns of phrases. That they didn’t really mean anything. It was only recently that I realized that most people have a completely different experience of life than I do.

Blew my mind.

The point of this post is simply awareness, as I hope to write more about resources for aphantasics. More than anything, I want to delve into the mental health side of things, to find a kitbag of techniques that actually work.

So, this will be the post that I sent you to if I mention aphantasia in any post, as I don’t want to keep explaining myself each time.

Is Aphantasia a Problem?

So, is it a problem?

That depends on who you ask, really.

I’m part of a few aphantasic Facebook groups, and many of us are pretty low key about it – particularly those born with aphantasia.

Many of us didn’t know that there’s something we’re ‘missing out’ on.

There are some downsides, no doubt about that. Meditation can be frustrating, some self-help techniques are useless, we can’t recall the faces of loved ones, and sometimes our memories are challenging too.

But, many of us still do well.

There are plenty of aphantasics in almost any field you can imagine. Even the ex-chief of Pixar, Ed Catmull, is aphantasic.

It seems like our minds adapt. They find new ways of doing things, filling in the gaps of our experience without us even realizing.

I suspect that aphantasia could even be a good thing sometimes. For example, it almost certainly helps with trauma, as it means we don’t need to re-see anything traumatic. It may also be easier to be present when our minds aren’t 

Here are some things I’ve learned so far from all my reading and conversations:

  • There’s a huge amount of variation among the aphantasic population. Just like everyone else, some of us do well, some don’t. Some of experienced trauma, some haven’t.
  • There’s variation in how we experience aphantasia too.
    • Some people can’t visualize, but have the other senses in their mind, like sound and taste. Others are lacking in most or all senses.
    • Some can imagine in a somewhat traditional sense, just without images. So, they can construct a feeling sense of an object that is almost seen. One they can potentially even manipulate and scale. The ability to do this appears to vary, where some find doing so easy, some difficult, and some (like myself) can barely do this at all.
    • Some of us struggle with the idea. It feels like we’re missing out. Like we were robbed. Others feel like it’s no big deal. Annoying occasionally, but mostly just natural variation in how our brains work.
    • We vary in what and how we enjoy things. Many aphants enjoy reading, although they often skip the descriptive scenes. Others find reading much less enjoyable, especially if they have limited senses in their minds and can’t easily conjure concepts. 
  • Some conditions could be more common among aphantasics than the general population, but we don’t know. The research hasn’t been done. Right now, the main one we can be confident in is that SDAM is more common in aphantasics than in the general population. 
  • The word imagination is highly controversial. Many definitions specifically relate imagination to the ability to create and manipulate images. Others are more focused on being creative and forming new ideas.
    • Aphantasics often hate being told that we have no imagination, especially as many of us are highly creative. It’s perhaps better to say we have no visual imagination or to simply avoid the term entirely.

For Further Information

Facebook Groups for Aphantasics

Interesting Articles and Videos

Please bear in mind that most of these pieces are biased towards the perspectives of the author or the people they’re interviewing. This is to be expected, but sometimes means that authors don’t realize how varied the aphantasia experience can be.

There’s also the Aphantasia Network. This site offers many interesting articles, discussions, and FAQs about aphantasia. It’s probably the best go-to resource, as articles on other sites tend to be one-offs. This site is also where you’ll find information about current research and where our knowledge gaps are.