r/hyperphantasia

I have hyperphantasia and have had it since I was young. I am lucky to have been able to grow up in a time where AI and technology wasn't ruining my childhood like it is with the children of today (I am 23F). The biggest issue I've been facing recently is I feel like AI usage either purposeful or accidental is ruining my hyperphantasia. I love to create worlds in my head and characters that play in those worlds. I used to be able to visualize these worlds and characters so easily and vividly a few years ago, but every since AI has come around I have found it harder to visualize what I want. I can still do it of course but I have to focus harder then I used to have to. ChatGPT was a tool I used at times to build stories and images of my worlds but one tike I tried to actually write down what I was seeing and found it almost impossible which I am certain was because of my sudden reliance on AI. I have since deleted ChatGPT and even did away with Google to stop myself from being tempted with AI. But for those who also have hyperphantasia what are some ways you guys strengthen and calmly build the ability back up? Honeslty this whole situation has felt like when a athlete gets injured and has to learn to build muscle and movement back up and I just dont know what is the best way of doing that with this kind of thing. Any and all advice is welcome!

(I would also put this in the question flare if I could but it won't let me)

I did it you guys....I can't believe it but I did it. So many years of trying everything and the answer was in front of my face the entire time.

Freewriting!! I noticed when I was playing

Dungion AI( ai DND) my visualizations were great! So I decided to set at my desk and get a notebook and just write a daydream story and god! It took me to a real place. It turns out, that writing produces better visualizations then imagining.

I wanted to share something my brain does and see if anyone else experiences anything similar.

Whenever I am in a state of high distress or dark thoughts, my brain suddenly plays a vivid, full-length visual simulation of the worst-case scenario and the reality of death. It is so intense that it completely stops me in my tracks. It feels like an aggressive survival instinct kicking in to protect me from harm.

Even when my mind isn't occupied with work or a task—like when I'm just walking down the street—my brain does something similar. It looks back at the physical steps I just took and simulates a scenario where if I had stepped slightly differently, I would have been seriously hurt or killed. Then it shows me that the actual step I took was the right, safe one.

It feels like my brain is constantly running background simulations of danger just to force me to stay safe and protect me.

Does anyone else experience these kinds of vivid, protective mental simulations or visualizations? Is this a common way for the mind's survival mechanism to work?

I would like to know how others hyperphantasia interacts with their cognitive processing style or other mental aspects and informs their view of the world. For myself, I have a primarily intuitive processing style that involves taking in large sets of information (sensory experiences, readings, writings, art) and subconsciously generating connections or patterns that then emerge in dreams, insights, visions, epiphanies or snap moments and the like. The fact that hyperphantasia is primarily a visualization ability makes these other aspects vividly more powerful for myself.

Some ways this is expressed for me is being able to have causal information crystalize into probable outcomes. So in chess for example, seeing the pieces move around for a few turns into the future and this extends in general to scenario visualization. This relates to transformation and trajectory that my brain generally is attuned to and has a temporal dimension tracking changes and anticipating outcomes. Extreme examples of this would be seeing the past and future in the present. Time itself has a suffusing quality to it that is then expressed visually so it almost feels like being in a time loop if not careful.

Other ways is that it makes dreams and day dreams far more salient in my life. Its often disorienting awakening from a cinematic dream or a dream would involve sudden connections about something that has been on my mind occurring and appearing visually.

So how does hyperphantasia add to the way your brain overall works and how you view the world? What is your overall mental phenomenology like? How does it help and how does it hurt?

So I already think that I'm a synesthete, so I made a post on the r/Synesthesia asking if this could be that, and someone suggested hyperphantasia. Basically, whenever I am doing something (not sure exactly what causes it, but it normally happens when reading or listening to music. Probably other things too though, and I just don't notice) I see like images that sometimes move in my head. And it is not just thinking about what the describe, I think it just happens. Like for the song Stupid Song by Olivia Rodrigo, every time she sings the chorus certain images come to mind. It does match kind of what the lyrics are, but not totally. And it happens every time. Same images too. Also when I read a book, I will like imagine what the house looks like because yeah. Then I can still bring up the picture of the house, years after reading the book. And when I re-read a book, the images are the same. (one reason why I don't like when they make shows of the books I like is because the scenes are different than I imagine it) I also like completely see whats happening in the book if I get into it. I can still recall most of the scenes from the book I just finished. This feels super normal to me, but I am not sure if everyone does this because I tried explaining to a friend, and she was very confused. There is other stuff too, and I thought about it earlier, but I forgot sooo. I feel like I am not doing a great job describing this, but I mostly want to if this is something special, or if everyone does this. I can describe more if needed too.

EDIT:
So I am doing the VVIQ test right now, and I realized that I can visualize a pretty strong scene, but I can't keep it. Like I get distracted by other thoughts or something, and I have to start again. I also have AuDHD, so maybe that influences something? Not sure though. Also, whenever I do the thingy where I imagine an apple, I can't just think of an apple. I see myself eating it, and can hear the crunch, smell the apple, feel the juice getting on my mouth. I think about myself wiping away the juice, or looking to make sure its not bruised.

I'm 30 and recently found out I have hyperphantasia, both visual and auditory. For all my life I assumed everyone's mind worked like this. I can see things fully in 3D with my eyes open. I can fly around like a drone.

I'm staying at a beach house right now and I look at the empty houses next door and can imagine them all at once, fully alive from memory. It comes all at once — not like a movie playing out, but simultaneously. The dad reading the newspaper in the morning with a coffee, in his dressing gown on the balcony. The poodle running around the house and relaxing in the sun. The kids sprinting across the beach to swim. The family eating dinner on the balcony and in the backyard. The sounds too. Even their black SUV parked out front. These are real memories that happened 15 years ago. I'm recreating what I remember... maybe to fill a void, maybe to preserve the memory, maybe just to hold onto that particular summer. It's a beautiful but dangerous thing, because it pulls me out of the present.

I can manipulate objects in real time — move furniture around without closing my eyes, see it from a different angle. But it comes at a great cost. Severe anxiety, ADHD, PTSD — all amplified by hyperphantasia. Reliving traumatic events in full detail that feels completely real. Imagining scenarios — even something as simple as a car trip with so much dread and detail that I'm exhausted before it happens. I often play out full sequences of events that will most likely never happen. It limits me a lot from being present. I can feel tired alot from doing this.

If I look out at the ocean and see a ship, I can transport myself onto it without closing my eyes. I visualise myself on the deck, what it looks like up close, then look back at where I'm standing now. I can feel the wind, the waves. But doing this can actually stop me from going out and doing the real thing.

These are just some of my experiences. I'd love to hear if anyone can relate because knowing I experience things so differently from my family and friends feels incredibly lonely.

I’m not really sure what happened. One day I’m vividly imagining I’m in space, and then the next minute everything stops and I cannot imagine anything. It’s been months now, and still nothing. Is it gone for good? I feel so... incomplete.

I recently went down the rabbit hole of aphantasia and the minds eye. I realized that I have some sort of phantasia but I have no idea how strong it is. I have been maladaptive daydreaming for about 6 years of my life (I’m 22M) and I love doing it. My daydreams have gotten so detailed that I really feel like I am there. I understand this maybe some sort of unhealthy coping mechanism but my life isn’t on a bad track so idc. Does anyone else with phantasia have this experience?

Can the human brain accurately simulate a completely new physical interaction by combining memories of old ones?

For example, if someone has only ever been hugged or kissed by a normal-sized adult, can their brain accurately calculate how that exact interaction would feel coming from a much smaller person (like a two-foot-tall leprechaun hahah)? Can the mind accurately scale down the weight, pressure, and proportions without having a real memory to base it on?

I was doing a little investigation about my mind and how vivid the imagination and emotions produced by it can be.

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When I listen to music or read stories, I can create images in my mind in relations to the feelings I get from the music or stories. Sometimes the emotions are so strong it makes me want to cry but I end up choking on it.

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Then when I think about letters and numbers, they have colours and feelings attached to them. For example "8" is a light blue and feels slippery in my mind while the letter "Q" feels kind of alien and is very fuzzy and blurry.

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I also kitbash miniatures and attached character and story to them. I can imagine vividly how something would feel, taste, or smell. It's like putting puzzle pieces together but if it doesn't feel right I don't like it and have to pull it apart, even when others say it's really good.

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I care less about the technical skill when doing the art and more about the feelings produced by it.

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If anyone can give some insight, that would be interesting and helpful to hear as things seem to point towards ideasthesia but because the concept is new, I wonder if my imagination is just really crazy when stimulated by things

So, it's 1:30am and I'm trying to fall asleep, but for some reason everytime I close my eyes and start to imagine something, the thing that I'm imagining just starts to get distorted into a huge version of itself and then get so tiny to the point where I can't even see it anymore, and as I try to focus on imagining something else at a normal size, it immediately starts getting big and then small and it's really hard to get it back to normal size. I should add this all happens in a completely white room (what I'm imagining, not an actual white room).

Does anyone know why this happens, or if there's a term for it?

It really makes me uncomfortable and stops me from falling asleep. Help

I’m sure what I am describing is NOT hyperphantasia but the whole concept of hyper and aphantasia is so confusing to me. I’m also sure my questions have been asked by many people before me too lol.
I am able to daydream for hours, with my eyes open too, but when I close my eyes I see nothing but black. I can still daydream and imagine scenarios etc but it’s more like a “knowing” or like I’m seeing an image but not really seeing it. Is this aphantasia? I find it hard to imagine (no pun intended) that I have it because I’m such a good daydreamer. There’s just so much about it that I don’t understand lol. I have been in the aphantasia subreddit but wasn’t able to get a clear answer. Maybe I never will 🤣.
When I asked my husband to picture an apple he tells me that he can literally see a hologram of an apple and turn it around in his mind. That blew my mind! He also claims to have a photographic memory so I think he is closer to hyperphantasia on the spectrum.

I am good at imagining things physically.
But when I learn abstract concepts like logic or problem solving, it can get hard.

Feels like my mind goes empty, and I'm trying hard to squeeze a thought or force my brain to make some type of scaffolding/connecion to help construct whatever logic or abstract concept I am trying to learn.

Most of the time, it's like 80% endless squeezing/forcing my brain to think or scaffold the concept, and 20% real useful output.

I hate having this cos it takes me a really long time to learn maths cos I am trying to intuitively understand the topic.

People say, "Oh, you just need to visually represent the concept", but here lies the problem: this very statement is teleological cos I need to understand the abstract concept first to indeed know how to visualise it. This is why I found statistics very hard. I can't come up with the visualisation myself due to this very reason unless someone who knows it shows it to me.

I feel like people who are good with logic dont think in this way, how do they think?