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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

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

About

  • What is Aphantasia?
  • What is Hyperphantasia?
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Hypersensitive to noise, car head lights etc

January 2, 20221 min readByLerimeedvy 019a4f81-2758-73f9-9bc2-bb251b7ff0b0
StoriesMental Health
Hello. I have aphantasia and my other senses are affected too, e.g I can't imagine tastes, smells, music etc. I have always struggled with too much light or too much noise, e.g. a family meal around the table and lots of people talking, or sitting in a pub, or any background noise when I'm trying to work, or car head lights etc. I became quite stressed over Christmas unfortunately. I should've just taken some time out and I didn't. Anyway I've been wondering whether the fact that my mind is so quiet may have something to do with why I find the outside world over stimulating at times. I might be able to manage it for awhile but then I feel drained. I'd be really interested in other people's experiences or thoughts. Thank you, and happy new year, Sally

Hypersensitive to noise, car head lights etc

January 2, 20221 min readByLerimeedvy 019a4f81-2758-73f9-9bc2-bb251b7ff0b0
StoriesMental Health
Hello. I have aphantasia and my other senses are affected too, e.g I can't imagine tastes, smells, music etc. I have always struggled with too much light or too much noise, e.g. a family meal around the table and lots of people talking, or sitting in a pub, or any background noise when I'm trying to work, or car head lights etc. I became quite stressed over Christmas unfortunately. I should've just taken some time out and I didn't. Anyway I've been wondering whether the fact that my mind is so quiet may have something to do with why I find the outside world over stimulating at times. I might be able to manage it for awhile but then I feel drained. I'd be really interested in other people's experiences or thoughts. Thank you, and happy new year, Sally
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Gemma Cooper•recently•edited
I have these experiences too. I’m autistic and have aphantasia. So my mind is silent, just an empty void, but everything outside of me is too much to cope with due to the sensory issues.
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Robin Forsyth•recently•edited
I am SOOOO sensitive to noise too but I think for me it's because my internal dialog/hearing is maybe heightened. I can't visualize anything at all but I can hear and it's so distracting having noise in my brain and outside of it!  
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Phedre Parks•recently•edited
Interesting, I never put those two ideas together.  I definitely find too much activity around me to be stressful and draining, even alarming at times.  For example, going to clubs where the music is loud or where I'm surrounded by a ton of people, is not fun for me, it puts me into a sort of survival mode.  I wrote it off as simply being an introvert, but you may have a point about the experience of excessive outward stimulation being just too much in contrast with my inner experience of quiet.  Thank you for the thought, it is something worth considering.
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Frank Schutz•recently•edited
Yes I have the same problem. I have always been a loner but the main reason is that being around people which I do enjoy, nevertheless I always feel drained after a relatively short time. My wife was always energized by being with people while I was drained, due to the over stimulation. For example, I was overjoyed to have my three kids (all adults and long out on there own) two Sons-in-law and two Grandkids at home this Christmas since it was the first without my wife. Nevertheless, I had to often go up to my room and just get time to myself so I could enjoy being with them again. I had not actually connected this with my aphantasia before, but as you explained it, I realized this was the same reason for me.
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