这一切对我来说都是新的,我到底是不是幻觉症患者?

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我刚刚看了一个关于象皮病患者的视频短片,这让我想到了我自己。 我今年 68 岁,到目前为止从未听说过这种病症,但我认为自己可能患有象皮病。 当我闭上眼睛时,什么都没有,一片漆黑、空白的画布,如果我非常努力,我可能会看到一个模糊或局部的图像,但大部分时间都是空的。 这也许可以解释为什么多年来,当人们建议我尝试将可视化技术作为一种成长工具时,我却完全不以为然。 对我来说,它包括一个人的谈话。 当我看着窗外,然后闭上眼睛时,我看不到景色的图像,而我的妻子却能清楚地看到图像。

但是,如果让我描述一个我去过或住过的地方,我就会毫不费力地走过去描述它。 我不需要闭上眼睛,如果我闭上眼睛,我就什么也看不见了,但我觉得这更多的是记忆和印象。 另一方面,我无法在脑海中浮现出面孔,只能看到/感觉到记忆中的人。 尽管我深爱着这些人,但我几乎不费吹灰之力就能从死亡和离别的经历中走出来。 起初,我以为自己是自闭症患者,但我的移情能力非常强,而且发展得很好。

然而,做梦却大不相同,对我来说,当我睡着时,就像爱丽丝掉进了兔子洞。 这是一个崭新的、常常令人不安的超现实世界,在这里,我不仅能清晰地看到绚丽的色彩,还能完美地嗅觉、感觉、味觉和听觉,它们无比生动和清晰。 这听起来很神奇,但坦率地说,这让我筋疲力尽,因为我似乎睡得不深,醒来后疲惫不堪,有时还会迷失方向。 我妻子不会做这样的梦。 一旦醒来,这些梦很快就会消失,我再也想不起它们的细节。

除非有东西可以临摹,否则我画不好画,但我是一个拼贴艺术家,不是抽象的,而是具象的。 我写过一些短篇小说,但我更喜欢诗歌,不是关于自然或美景的诗歌,而是幽默的、以思想为导向的诗歌。 我现在意识到,田园诗不是我的风格,因为我无法将其形象化。 我善于言辞,能解决问题和谜题,喜欢阅读。 由于我发现了幻觉症,我现在才明白为什么我在看到长篇描述性文字时会跳过或瞪大眼睛。 我就是没看见。

我是否患有幻觉症,我无法想象,我做的梦很生动,我无法描绘人脸,我很想知道?

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All of what you wrote fits aphantasia. I take it that the dreams are the thing that’s making you question whether you have it. Aphantasia is an inability to have voluntary visualizations. Dreams and hallucinations are involuntary visualization; those are controlled by a different process, so people with aphantasia can dream and have hallucinations. And while visual people might use visual memory to describe places and give directions, aphantasic people tend to use spacial and conceptual memory to do that; we can accomplish the same thing through different, non-visual means. So yes, your aphantasia sounds very clear-cut to me. 🙂 

 

Just a note, I’m also autistic, as is my spouse and a bunch of people we know, and we all have tons of empathy. The problem is we don’t always know how to show it, and when people don’t see the expected outward expression, they assume we don’t care, even though we care a lot. When I don’t know what’s the right thing to say, I often end up not saying anything. I also can’t do facial expressions, so I usually just look “neutral” even when I’m feeling strong emotions. The idea that autistic people lack empathy was based on outside observers looking at non-verbal kids who couldn’t tell them what they were actually feeling and thinking on the inside. Newer studies (and better communication aids for non-verbal kids) have found that our empathy is unusually high and can be overwhelming.

I think the single most helpful thing for me, was taking a first aid course, followed by a PFA course (psychological first aid, for helping with emotional trauma) because they tell you exactly what to say to someone who’s hurt, so there’s none of that internal “oh no, oh no, what do I say? what do I do? how can I help?” while standing there frozen with indecision and with a neutral expression like nothing’s going on. I still can’t do facial expressions, but they’ve taught me words and actions to express the empathy I was already feeling. … I’m also reminded of this:
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Hi Kes thank you for your reply. It is absolutely amazing to be able to get to the age of 68 without realising that when most people are told to close their eyes and imagine something they actually see a picture. It’s crazy. I have experienced something similar as I am red/green colour blind, I have stopped telling people this as their first reaction is to keeping asking the same question – pointing at something and say ‘What colours is this’. Tedious. So perhaps if I mention my aphnatasia they will starting asking why can’t you see an elephant/apple/Eiffel Tower/Grand Canyon etc when you close your eyes. I think I might just reply that it is always nighttime when my eyes are closed.

Thank you for your input about autism it is such a misunderstood but also incredible interesting condition and I have now updated some of the misconception I have had. I have done a few online test and I always ended up with a result that I am not on autistic spectrum. There is something fascinating between the corellation of autism and aphantasia where outsiders make the mistake of seeing indifference, lack of emotion, etc where there isn’t any. Both are as emotional and mentally healthy but show it in a far more different and subtle way. Much more needs to be done to educate the world on this.

Anyway, that is how I feel and I am glad that I don’t have to try anymore visualisation exercises so when I don my headphones and play the sound of waves crashing on the shore I won’t be upset that I can’t see that.

According to recent studies of aphantasia, the appearance of bright or dim images while awake is associated with the activity of two areas of the brain: the visual cortex (in the back of the head) and the prefrontal cortex (behind the eyes). The prevalence of activity in the visual cortex contributes to brighter visualization; the prevalence of prefrontal cortex activity reduces the visualization brightness , even to zero. During sleep, the activity of the prefrontal cortex naturally decreases, which may explain the brightness of uncontrolled dreams. The question is how to learn to control it.

Definitely a reborn aphantasis with lots of lovely research and discovery before me. No problem with inability to visualise as I have got to wear I am without needing it. Could do with a bit less of the lucid, HD, impressive but oppressive dreaming and a bit more of the deep deep sleep. 

Hi Tony, Yes, I’ve learned a lot of surprising things too, and I find the great variety of experiences fascinating. “It’s always nighttime” is a good way to describe aphantasia. I heard someone else describe it in a similar way, which also underlined the difference between imagination and visualization, something along the lines of, “I have a conceptual imagination, so if you say ‘think of an apple on the table’ then I know there’s an apple on the table, but I can’t see it because the room is dark.”

Autism is a bit of mixed bag, and sometimes it seems like the negatives outweigh the positives, but I can’t think of any downside to aphantasia. Trying meditation was a very frustrating experience, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t need visualizations. I can get to where I want to be in life without that. I don’t feel like I’m missing anything important. On the other hand, some of the things I’ve read suggest that aphantasia may be responsible for the innate tendency to “be in the present moment” and notice the world around me, and I consider that a valuable trait. So, definitely not a bad thing! 

I also love the sound of waves crashing on the shore, and don’t need to see it to appreciate it. 🙂

Hi Kes I agree I don’t think I am missing anything important as I would have surely noticed before. When I close my eyes it’s a blank but my mind isn’t. Looking forward to discovering more. Here is a poem I just wrote.

I close my eyes but see only night
No magical visions come to sight
Can’t conjure a moonrise
There are no stars in my eyes
Just dark grey blurred charcoal
ebony black dark hole
Where all my visions are drawn
Strangled before they are born

 

Here is the twist

I still exist

I don’t really care 

that visions aren’t there

 

Well, I’m 68, too, and have only just discovered the concept of aphantasia. And some of the rest of your experience sounds much like mine, too.

I had always assumed that everyone, including myself, could summon up images from the vasty deep. When I saw the expression “mind’s eye”, I assumed that I could see things with it.

In a sense, I could, and can. If I try to visualise a place or person I know, something comes up on the mental screen. But it’s not an image. It seems to be more like a computer programme for producing an image. I know what the image should look like, but I can’t see it. And this surprises me immensely.

I’m not sure that moving on from death or other losses is really linked to aphantasia but, like you, I have no difficulty whilst still feeling deep empathy with living people, and emotional links even with the departed.

My dreams too are vivid and visual, and I find that some of my most vivid images are those that occur in a half-waking state, when I’m either falling asleep or waking up.

But we seem to have differences, too. I am fine with long descriptive passages in literature. I can sense them, but not visualise them as an image, only as a set of instructions for an image. And, when it comes to art (I make no claim to talent), I find it relatively easy to draw an image from memory or imagination. It’s just that I don’t see it until I start drawing.

And one thing is certain. I do have an almost constant internal monologue/dialogue which takes the form of words that I hear and, even though I am incapable of singing in tune, I can hear music in my head until it drives me crazy.

This is a fascinating subject!