A member’s story
You Are Not Furniture: What A Viral Post Got Wrong About Aphantasia
A viral post called people who can't visualize 'furniture.' I was one of the first 21 people ever documented with aphantasia. Here's what that post gets wrong.
Tom Ebeyer · March 2026
A member’s story
Alexander of Aphrodisias: The Ancient Philosopher Who Mapped Mental Imagery
This piece explores recently published philosophical research on Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 AD) and its relevance to understanding aphantasia. While ancient philosophers couldn't have known about cognitive diversity as we understand it today, their assumptions about universal mental processes help us appreciate how differently minds can work.
Tom Ebeyer · January 2026
A member’s story
Laying the Tracks: How I Manifest Without Mental Imagery (or Nostalgia)
Drawing on Under the Tuscan Sun, Terry Grace explores what it means to build a meaningful life without the ability to picture it first. This essay offers an alternative framework for manifestation: one rooted in feeling, resonance, and faith rather than visualization.
Terry Grace · November 2025
A member’s story
How a Visual Artist Who Can't Visualise Grew to Embrace Her Process
An artist with aphantasia cannot visualise images but embraces creating through hands-on exploration, turning absence into meaningful, innovative, and expressive works of fine art.
Deleted member · October 2025
What the research says
Mental Health Breakthrough: Aphantasia Does Not Shield Against PTSD
How aphantasia affects mental health treatment, revealing that while aphantasics don't experience visual flashbacks, they still feel emotions intensely, requiring alternative therapeutic approaches beyond traditional imagery-based techniques.
Reshanne Reeder · March 2025
A member’s story
Ekphrasis: The Ancient Art of Evoking Vivid Mental Images
Did the ancient Greeks know some people can’t create mental images? The forgotten history of ekphrasis challenges our assumptions about imagination and offers surprising insights into our image-saturated world.
Jennifer McDougall · August 2024
Something to try
The Power of Abstract Thinking in Aphantasia
The concept of 'tokens' and 'types' helped me understand how we think differently: visualizers use specific imagery, while aphantasics excel in abstract thinking.
Tom Ebeyer · February 2024
Something to try
3 Ways to Motivate Yourself Without Visualization
How do you stay motivated to achieve your goals if you can't visualize them? Discover alternative motivational strategies without visualization.
Tom Ebeyer · January 2024
Something to try
Can't Visualize An Apple? Try This Apple Illusion to Experience What Others See
This apple illusion allows people who can't visualize to temporarily 'see' an image that isn't there—using visual perception to demonstrate what others experience through their imagination.
Aphantasia Network · October 2023
Something to try
Are You a Visualizer or Conceptualizer? The Ball on a Table Test
The Ball on a Table experiment is a simple visualization test that reveals whether you think in pictures (visualizer) or concepts (conceptualizer). This revealing experiment, originally credited to u/Caaaarrrl, takes less than a minute but provides profound insights into how your mind processes information.
Aphantasia Network · October 2023
What the research says
The Visualizer’s Fallacy
Understanding the hidden assumptions that lead to biases against aphantasics’ cognitive abilities.
Christian Scholz · September 2023
What the research says
Revisualizing the Role of Imagery in Mental Healthcare
Visualization is often used in mental wellness and therapy, but what does this mean for those with aphantasia?
Reshanne Reeder · May 2023
A member’s story
"Seeing" Dragons With Aphantasia
Journey to the hidden world of dragons. A guided meditation for aphantasics. No mind's eye required.
Auri'An Lay · October 2022
Something to try
Meditate With Aphantasia
Many easy ways to meditate without a mind’s eye. Next time you find yourself frustrated by the inability to visualize in meditation, give some of these alternatives a try.
Jim Collison · August 2022
Something to try
Mental Images and the Design Process
When I learned about aphantasia I began to wonder... How might the vividness of our individual imaginations impact our design process?
Melanie Scheer · July 2022
Something to try
Visualizing the Invisible
What do typical visualizers experience? How does my imaginative experience compare? Designer Melanie Scheer introduces a new way to visualize the visual imagination spectrum.
Melanie Scheer · June 2022
Something to try
Visualisation and Why We Don’t Need it to Make Visual Art
Artists, writers, illustrators, photographers and all people who work with their creative impulses are not limited by their aphantasia.
Elina Cerla · May 2022
A member’s story
So Your Child Can't Visualize?
If your child can't visualize, they might experience aphantasia. As a parent, you might worry. The important thing to remember is your child can be successful in school. They just need to be aware.
Stephen Waterman · March 2022
