APHANTASIA: living without the mind's eye

— a thread

so ayun na nga. i have aphantasia. basically, i can't imagine things

end of thread. joke

a little test for everyone, close your eyes and imagine a red star. in a scale of 0-10 (10 being super vivid as in parang totoo and 0 being wala akong nakikita) gaano ka clear ang red star sa utak mo?

if you answered 0 (like me) then you MIGHT (don't self diagnose, kids) have aphantasia. kasi ako, kahit anong gawin ko, wala. my mind is blank. void. darkness

i am unable to see anything in my head. before akala ko metaphor 'yung mga "oo nakikita ko sa ulo ko" pero hindi pala. may nakakakita pala talaga ng bagay sa utak nila. sana all

noon, i saw a aphantasia test sa facebook. ayun nga, 'yung imagine a red star churva. tas ang sagot ko 10. kasi akala ko naman basta alam mo itsura ng pulang bituin. kasi tf sino ba naman ang hindi nakakaalam ng itsura nun?

'yun pala is meron talagang red star na nabubuo sa utak ng mga tao. lately ko lang nalaman na hindi pala siya normal

may question nga saakin before, "nananaginip ka ba?" and yes i do. my dreams are very vivid. i just can't picture it when i woke up tho

isa pang question is "so basically prosopagnosia?" no. they are completely different. let me explain. prosopagnosia is the inability to recognize faces. and no, i don't have that. i "know" what someone looks like. i just can't imagine them

when i run into someone i haven't seen in a long time, i might have a feeling that i've seen them before. or have a feeling that i know the person but i may fail to recognize them in an instant

i can't recognize someone until a key piece of info is presented. for example, a song, or a phrase we like to say, perfume, mannerisms, call signs, etc.

it's not easy living with this. kasi i feel na nakakamiss ako ng masayang part ng pagkatao, which is imagining. pero it's alright. i can live with it naman :D