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

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

  • chaalfont@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I used to think I had aphantasia, but I’m not entirely sure if that’s the case. For example, I can’t visualize in my mind’s eye something as vivid as a dream. My memories are not totally vivid either, but it’s not as if I can’t remember things visually.

    I do wish I could imagine more vividly, but for me it’s far from not being able to visualize at all.

    As far as tips, I think you have to stop repeating this thought to yourself that you’re limited in ability or unable to do something. If you try to do something but say to yourself “I can’t do this” then you aren’t going to succeed. If you believe you can there’s no guarantee that it’ll make it happen, or happem immediately, but you’ll undoubtedly get better results

    • Bleeping Lobster@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      As far as tips, I think you have to stop repeating this thought to yourself that you’re limited in ability or unable to do something.

      This is very key and thanks for mentioning it. I’m constantly fascinated by the subject of placebo (and the related nocebo effect). Our brains seem to be able to control far more than we realise; apparently, even when told they are taking a placebo, a placebo can still be effective!