Aphantasia, Condition When Someone Can't Imagine

Aphantasia is the inability to imagine something or someone in the mind or mind. This condition can be caused by a genetic disorder, but it can also be triggered by other conditions, such as a brain injury.

When you think of someone, their face will immediately come to mind. Well, a person with aphantasia cannot imagine faces, sights, events, or objects, even though they are very familiar to him.

Aphantasia, Condition When Someone Can't Imagine

At first glance aphantasia does sound like amnesia, but the two are different. In amnesia, the sufferer may still be able to think of something in his mind, such as the object he just saw.

Various Causes of Aphantasia

The cause of aphantasia is not known with certainty . However, there are allegations that genetic factors could be the cause of this condition. This means that people born into families with a history of aphantasia have a higher risk of experiencing the same thing.

If genetic factors are the cause, a person can experience aphantasia from birth.

Apart from genetic factors, aphantasia It can also be caused by a stroke or head injury. People who have had an accident or have been hit hard on the head and have a brain injury can experience aphantasia afterward.

Some psychological conditions are also closely associated with the risk of aphantasia, such as depression, anxiety disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Symptoms and Signs of Aphantasia

Most people who experience aphantasia realize that they experience this condition after entering their teens or when they turn 20 years old. The following are some of the symptoms of aphantasia:

  • Reduced memory
  • Difficulty imagining the future
  • Unable to remember an event or object in the past
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  • Decreased memory related to sensory sensations, such as sound or touch
  • Rare dreams

When visiting a doctor, people who may be experiencing aphantasia will be asked to do something -the following:

  • Thinking of a close friend or family member
  • Trying to imagine his face, hair and shape
  • Imagine his movements and gestures
  • Imagine the person's clothes in mind

If someone finds it difficult to answer or describe the things above, there is a possibility that he has aphantasia.

Aphantasia Treatment

There is no definitive treatment for aphantasia. However, a study conducted in 2017 showed that vision therapy applied 18 times with a duration of 1 hour per week can reduce the symptoms of aphantasia.

In that study, several techniques were applied in therapy, namely:

  • Card memory game
  • Pattern memory game
  • Activity that invites the sufferer to describe an outdoor scene or an object
  • afterimage technique, when aphantasia sufferers will see an image on a computer screen that slowly becomes blurred and asked to recall it

The aphantasia therapy above is indeed not the main treatment that is commonly used, considering that aphantasia is relatively rare and there are only about 1–3% of people who experience this condition.

So, further research is still needed to understand more deeply about the causes of aphantasia and its treatment. In addition, aphantasia that is preceded by certain diseases, such as head injuries and strokes, needs to be treated first.

Even though people with aphantasia have limitations in imagining things, many of them can still go about their daily activities and achieve success, especially if they have the support of the closest people and appropriate treatment.

If you experience symptoms of aphantasia and feel disturbed by this condition, you should consult a doctor. The doctor will help you find out the cause and determine the treatment needed.

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