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Aphantasia... apparently 3% of the world has it. Any aphantasists in here, who've had success improving their condition? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Transcendant@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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10 years ago, I'd have put my ability to visualise at 0 out of 10. Practice and occasional halucinogen use has got me to 2 out of 10. It causes no end of problems in day to day life, so I'm interested to hear if anyone has tips or just experiences to share so it doesn't feel such a lonely frustrating issue.

edit informative comment from @Gwaer@lemm.ee about image streaming, I did a bit of digging on the broken links, the Dr isn't giving the info away for free anymore without buying their (expensive) book, but I found some further info on additional techniques here, pages 2/3: https://nlpcourses.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Image-Streaming-Mode-of-Thinking.pdf

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[-] SwingingTheLamp@midwest.social 59 points 1 year ago

On the good side, we're much less affected by trauma, because we're not haunted by replays of it in our minds. So there's that. Also, we can torment visualizers with words like "moist", and describing disgusting things that they "see" in their heads, while we're unaffected.

Use this power only for good, or at least for a good laugh. 😉

[-] Cypher@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago

As someone on the opposite end of this spectrum, with highly detailed visualisation, I had never considered that this could be weaponised against me….

Granted moist seems to be a problem for some people more than others. I wonder if that’s due to word associations.

[-] JackFrostNCola@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Perhaps word assosciations or just bandwagoning with the trend of 'omg moist gross'. Honestly the only times i really think of things being 'moist' is for cakes/baked goods.

[-] Transcendant@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago

Also, we can torment visualizers with words like “moist”, and describing disgusting things that they “see” in their heads, while we’re unaffected.

That proper made me laugh. Funnily enough I was reading the wiki page earlier for the condition, and remember seeing about an experiment where aphantasics didn't have the same fear response as 'normal' people when reading a scary story. I'm guessing for the reasons you described.

[-] I_Fart_Glitter@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

So when Stormy Daniels described Trump as having "yeti pubes and a dick like the mushroom character in Mario Kart" you didn't get a perfect(ly traumatizing) image of that in your mind?

[-] thelsim@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Also, we can torment visualizers with words like “moist”, and describing disgusting things that they “see” in their heads, while we’re unaffected.

Don't you dare. I have this especially bad when someone mentions a medical condition or an operation they underwent. Anything involving cutting, implanting, or anything of the sort makes it feel extremely real to me.
Someone once mentioned off-hand about having a couple of screws in their leg bone and I started to imagine myself in their position on the operating table. It's not a fun experience.

this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023

194 points (93.7% liked)

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