My parents say that I don’t have aphantasia because a doctor never diagnosed me with it. But I know that I have it. Are any of you diagnosed by medical professionals?
My parents say that I don’t have aphantasia because a doctor never diagnosed me with it. But I know that I have it. Are any of you diagnosed by medical professionals?
I live in Istanbul, Turkey. About two years ago, I told my friends who graduated from the psychology department that I am aphantasic. They didn’t believe me, insisting that only a psychiatrist could diagnose it. So, I decided to see a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist told me, “If you think you have aphantasia, then you probably do. It’s like people searching online to confirm whether they are male or female—it’s something you inherently know. You’ve reached this age without any issues related to it.” When I mentioned what my psychologist friends had said, the psychiatrist simply replied, “There’s nothing psychiatric about this. It’s just a different way your mind works.” Then, he asked if I had any other questions.
When I see statements online like, “It is estimated that a certain number of people have aphantasia,” I realize I’m not included in those statistics. I don’t know who’s counting, but I believe there are many people who don’t even know they have it. Moreover, there may be many aphantasics who aren’t recorded anywhere.
I had the same thing happen with a friend. She was saying I was jumping on the Aphantasia trend because it was cool and that I could not know until I was diagnosed. TBH, I wouldn’t even know what doctor could diagnose Aphantasia without an FMRI which is expensive and hard to justify for something that is not an illness/disability. Anything that is not an FMRI can’t be measured and would rely on what you tell the doctor which can’t be verified. Unless… a lie detector!
As a side note, I don’t know when and it what niche of society having Aphantasia became trendy, but I found it hilarious. I was scared as hell for like 5 minutes when I first found out while I realized that I am doing great in my life.
When thinking about lies, I try to think about the incentive behind the lie. If there is none, its more likely to be true. I don’t know what advantage could come of lying about having Aphantasia, but maybe coming from that angle you could prod your parent’s mind to believe you? This depends heavily on historical context and your relationship with your parents so its definitely not bullet-proof.
My dad was scared shitless when I told him. He called me the next day to tell me we could train for it and find a cure to which I laughed and told him there is nothing to cure. Glad to know it was a well intentioned comment.
