Discussion Aphantasia (imagination)

[Squidward]

I've never had a visual imagination so I've become used to the blackness behind my eyelids, but I'm under the impression those that can often end up losing/gaining the ability through depression and drugs and such.
So I thought this might be a decent place to ask you all about your relationship with your imagination, be it visual, auditory or otherwise.

And do you think dreams are connected to it? This question stems from all the accounts I hear of people struggling with their dreams, do you remember them as if they happened? Can you recall an image from a dream after waking up?

I've essentially managed to kill my dreams off. I know they still happen to some extent, cuz I sometimes mix up the memories (as in I recall doing something that I didn't do) or wake up feeling the emotions of experiencing them. I'm not immune to nightmares and waking up terrified or anything, I'm just disconnected from the actual content in them. Overall the dream thing isn't a complaint, fuck dreams, I'm just curious if anyone relates.

Idk I'm getting rambley, so I'll shut up and open the discussion.

 

[Dead Girl Don't Care]

Oh man, I wish I dreamt more. I feel like I don't dream as frequently--I used to dream a lot a few years ago--and I miss it. I spend a lot of time sleeping, and it would be more enjoyable if I dreamt more. Also lucid dreaming would be so awesome and I know I would just dream my life away if I could lucid dream. As it stands it is just killing time unconscious. And like you the dreams I have are far-off and disconnected.

That said, I've always thought I had an active imagination, though to be honest, most of it is used imagining my death and deterioration anymore.

I've never done any psychedelic drugs--maybe I should eat a pound of nutmeg--so I can't really say that's heightened my imagination or sense, but I do feel like the alcohol and drug abuse from my past has hindered it more than anything. I don't have the desire or patience anymore to consciously dream or create. And maybe that is connected to crap-quality sleeping dreams too, I know depression must be.

 

[thatguyakira123]

I can imagine just as I did when I was a kid. I have depression, anxiety and do some drugs but it never effected my imagination. I mostly put on music and imagine myself in aother life, be it a hero or impressing someone I love or just an alternate person altogether. My dreams are a hit ad miss. I sometimes get nightmares but becuase I love marcabe and creeper stuff I enjoy them rather than be scared of them. My regular dreams are mostly controlled by my depression, anxiety and desires. I remember most, but there was this one important one that I wanted to remeber and forgot. These days it's harder for me to dream as my body just refuses to sleep.

 

[Squidward]

Oh man, I wish I dreamt more. I feel like I don't dream as frequently--I used to dream a lot a few years ago--and I miss it. I spend a lot of time sleeping, and it would be more enjoyable if I dreamt more. Also lucid dreaming would be so awesome and I know I would just dream my life away if I could lucid dream. As it stands it is just killing time unconscious. And like you the dreams I have are far-off and disconnected.

That said, I've always thought I had an active imagination, though to be honest, most of it is used imagining my death and deterioration anymore.

I've never done any psychedelic drugs--maybe I should eat a pound of nutmeg--so I can't really say that's heightened my imagination or sense, but I do feel like the alcohol and drug abuse from my past has hindered it more than anything. I don't have the desire or patience anymore to consciously dream or create. And maybe that is connected to crap-quality sleeping dreams too, I know depression must be.

I hardly miss my dreams at all. I've seen guides for making lucid dreams more common and controllable. First step is building a connection to them, making an effort to remember or write down a dream as soon as you wake up is supposed to help. Then for the actual lucid part, you incorporate a "reality test" into your habits/routines such as attempting to poke your finger through your other hand.

I've always read those things with the intention of doing the opposite of everything, cuz fuck dreams. I spend enough time in my head while awake.

I also didn't even think to mention hallucinogens. I've tried shrooms once in my life. All I remember was the sky having neon green grid lines across it, before blacking out.

 

[sserafim]

No, I don't think that dreams are connected to aphantasia. I dream in color and have very vivid dreams that feel real but I can't visualize anything with my mind's eye. Everything is hazy and unclear

 

[derpyderpins]

I've always had a wild imagination. I can picture things in my mind. Not sure how accurate the pictures are, but I understand them fine. I remember when I was really little learning "mental math" by imagining a chalkboard and writing the math out on it. I think I developed detailed imagination because I was an only child and played on my own a lot, and imagination was a big part of it.

I have vivid, weird, detailed dreams. Lately been having some times when I'm awake where I'm not sure if what I dreamed happened. Clearly I remember them for at least a little bit, but once I start with my day if I don't specifically try to remember it will disappear.

 

[jar-baby]

I used to have an extremely vivid imagination as a younger child—I read a lot of fiction, particularly fantasy, and reading was much like watching movies in my head. But one day when I was 12 I picked up a book I'd been reading and realised I couldn't see things in my head anymore. I don't have total aphantasia because I can still picture, for instance, people I know or places I'm familiar with (though it takes some effort to hold on to the mental images, and I can't really imagine complex or moving scenes at all).

I've still been able to have dreams, though—most people with aphantasia do. It seems like dreaming is controlled by a different part of the brain than voluntary imagination.