I have only just discovered Aphantasia as a result of research after also just discovering that other people have a voice in their head. I am now astounded that my perception of life through my own mind and memory is completely at odds with most other people. I wonder if many people experience the same effects as I do.
I can hear no sound whatsoever in my mind, not my voice, nor memory of anybody else’s, nor music. When I read , I merely take in what I’m reading, I don’t say it in my head.
I can see nothing in my mind, absolutely zero. Memories only exist in that I know something happened, not that I can picture it. When I see people I know, I often forget their name or where I even know them from if it’s an infrequent acquaintance. When I think of somebody I know well I can’t even describe them physically beyond hair colour or general size and shape, just things I know about them, as I can’t picture them at all, even though I obviously recognise them when I see them.
When I dream, I can only remember anything if I wake up in the middle of it and even then only the way in which I recall consciously. In other words I know what the dream was about but I didn’t actually see or hear it. There is no visual or audio experience , just a feeling or memory that a specific set of things occurred.
Despite all this I have never thought that I was experiencing anything differently to other people. “Minds eye” and “I can’t hear myself think” we’re just terms of phrase that I didn’t take literally and now at 42 years of age my mind is blown to discover it all at once.
I can’t think that I’ve suffered per say compared to others. I don’t relish the idea of a voice in my head, nor the constant flash backs of traumatic events. Perhaps it explains my ability to move on quickly at such times in my life. I also did quite well academically in English and Mathematics despite not visualising what I read. I can count very well in my head which is something I gather others with no mental imagery struggle with.
Finally I also understand that most people can recall smells or tastes of things they enjoy or don’t. Again this is alien to me.
Am I alone in having absolutely no sensory memory. I can neither hear, see, smell , taste nor recall the feeling of touch in my mind at all. I experience things only as they happen and recall them only because I know that they happened, not in any detail.