Are we prepared to potentially traumatize people?
I learned about aphantasia on my 64th birthday less than 2 months ago when me and 2 of my kids were incessantly quizzing my oldest son about the images he can "see" in his head. That's when I learned that 2 or my kids and I have aphantasia. Now, I ask nearly everyone about their mental imagery abilities. I've not come across another aphant outside of my family yet.
But my good friend posed a question to me that stopped me in my tracks. He asked, "Are you prepared for the fact that by asking people about this that you may unwittingly traumatize the individual who learns for the first time that most of the world can visualize thoughts and memories but they can't?"
Breaking the news to people that they are mind blind could be quite traumatizing. Are we adequately prepared to dump this life changing news on people?
It took me about a month to come to terms with it. I still relapse into self pity here and there. Ultimately I came to be grateful that some people (most people) have visual thoughts. It's like I'm grateful that some people are star athletes, singers, artists, physicians, pastors, etc. We are all different and unique. I also came to realize that people born with actual handicaps, blindness, deafness, etc., still have full and meaningful lives. So I cant let my mind blindness rule or ruin my life.
But back to my main topic....we need to be careful about dumping this revelation onto a poor unsuspecting undiagnosed aphant... It could be traumatic for them.
Thoughts?