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Aphantasia Logo
Back to all discussions
Community

Join the conversation and share your experiences with the community.

Start a Discussion
Discussion Guidelines

Please remember to:

  • • Be respectful and constructive
  • • Share your personal experiences
  • • Ask questions if you're curious
  • • Help others feel welcome
You're not alone

Talk to counselors, coaches, and educators who already understand aphantasia — so you don't have to start by explaining what it is.

Find aphantasia-aware support
Aphantasia Logo

Building awareness and understanding of aphantasia through research, education, and community support.

About

  • What is Aphantasia?
  • What is Hyperphantasia?
  • Take Assessment
  • Getting Started
  • Newsletter
  • About Us
  • Contact

Community

  • Premium Membership
  • Find support
  • Discussions
  • Events
  • Visualize

For Professionals

  • Overview
  • Free Introduction
  • Counselor Training
  • Educator Training
  • List Your Practice
  • Pricing & Bundles

Resources

  • Articles & Stories
  • Videos & Interviews
  • Aphantasia Course
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Research

  • Research Library
  • Participate in Studies
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© 2026 Aphantasia Network. All rights reserved.

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Do you have lucid dreams? How does your aphantasia affect them?

1 min readByNeal White
Dreams
I would describe my aphantasia as extreme. (I scored a 16 on the "Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire".) I describe it as trying to look through a black glass wall. I know something is there and could even draw its outline, but I see nothing except black.
My dreams are generally all black as well (but not always). If I'm drowsy, I can sometimes paint colors on the black. Just broad strokes though, not even as good as a child's finger painting. Dark colors are easiest, but I can sometimes get yellow or white (only twice). Also, I can easily swirl the colors, but only around the center of my mental field of view.
I occasionally (rarely) have lucid dreams. I've been experimenting, and I can sometimes punch holes in the wall of black glass. Recently, I was able to generate a complete lifelike scene in “full high res” and hold onto it for nearly a second (in subjective time).
It seems like my aphantasia level might be modified with practice.

Do you have lucid dreams and if so, what do you experience?

Do you have lucid dreams? How does your aphantasia affect them?

1 min readByNeal White
Dreams
I would describe my aphantasia as extreme. (I scored a 16 on the "Vividness of Visual Imagery Questionnaire".) I describe it as trying to look through a black glass wall. I know something is there and could even draw its outline, but I see nothing except black.
My dreams are generally all black as well (but not always). If I'm drowsy, I can sometimes paint colors on the black. Just broad strokes though, not even as good as a child's finger painting. Dark colors are easiest, but I can sometimes get yellow or white (only twice). Also, I can easily swirl the colors, but only around the center of my mental field of view.
I occasionally (rarely) have lucid dreams. I've been experimenting, and I can sometimes punch holes in the wall of black glass. Recently, I was able to generate a complete lifelike scene in “full high res” and hold onto it for nearly a second (in subjective time).
It seems like my aphantasia level might be modified with practice.

Do you have lucid dreams and if so, what do you experience?
Aphantasia Logo
L
Liên Vũ Kim•recently•edited
My dreams are really lucid. I don't know why I struggle to imagine things in real life but stories appear in my dreams like a visual novel.
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K
Kevin Paris•recently•edited
I very rarely remember my dreams but I’ve found that occasionally I can recall snippets of dreams immediately upon waking. But, if I don’t also verbalize what I dreamt immediately I soon lose the memories. I cannot influence any control over my dreams and what I see in my dreams is as if I’m looking at it from my own eyes. In other words I don’t see myself in dreams I just see things happening in front of me.
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R
RuoQing Zhao•recently•edited
Lately, I've been really pondering how to use lucid dreams to make up for those imaginative experiences I'm totally missing out on. Heck, I even gave it a shot just this afternoon. If I wanna turn it into a real lucid dream instead of some fuzzy, colorless regular one, I gotta focus hard like you said to actually bring in some colors.
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N
Neal White•recently•edited
Do you find that some colors are harder to "bring in"? As I mentioned above, very dark blues, greens, and purples are easiest for me. Lighter colors like yellow are much harder, and white is extremely difficult.
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