Dawning Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 21 hours ago, Marlow1 said: My brother is using the image streaming. He finds it works best when he is walking. He goes out walking by the canal in the evening and speaks outloud to himself, his images are improving but still no voice in his head My partner was trying to help me for a whole with this but she said I was not putting enough effort in and gave up. I know what she means. I don't mind doing the diet and supplements to keep my brain strong but I lack motivation to try to cure the Aphantasia. I so used to not seeing things. My brother really does not like being blind in his minds eye, he is so much more into sorting it than I am For a time I thought that maybe I don't dream, or at minimum I don't see or hear anything. My partner keeps watching me when I asleep and waking me up when I speak or move about a lot. If she thinks I am dreaming she nudges me and says what can you see, what can you hear? I have given answers that imply some dreaming but only a day or so later I can't really remember it Two days ago I said to my partner, why did you get up in the middle of the night? She said I did not get up. I said you did, she said , I did not, and repeated over and over that she did not. I am wondering if I dreamed that. I am sure I looked in the bed and that she was not there but she said she was there. We will continue to observe my sleep. I just want to know if I dream in pictures or if I actually hear anything My partner is by my side right now. She is asking me to try the image streaming again, I will do. Please let me know how you get on with it I just can't imagine functioning without the voice in my head! The fact that neither you nor your brother has one is pretty convincing proof that this is it a genetic thing. By the same token, the fact that he can learn to see images suggests that you could too, if you wanted to. It wouldn't necessarily be a cure, it would be a work-around, and I think it will be work, both to get it and to keep it; it could be fun, though, and it would be interesting to see if our sexualities would change at all once we were able to visualize sexual imagery. Pretty much everyone forgets dreams within a day or two, in fact usually within an hour or two, or even a minute or two, of waking up; at least, that's what I've read. It sounds like you might have had a dream about your partner not being in the bed, although I guess it's also possible that she was sleepwalking and doesn't know that she does it. Let me know what happens if you do try the image streaming! Today, I got some very tiny, very faint, very crude and simplified, silhouetted forms; a dog, a hand and arm, and even a skull! These were more like seeing images in clouds than anything photographic, at least it was a start! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 On 7/7/2018 at 8:51 AM, Dawning said: Image streaming Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 I've been a fan of Laurel and Hardy my entire life; I'm glad somebody else still loves them! I hope that you can get the right dietary balance so that you maintain your weight and also achieve the amount of ketosis that you want! Let's keep each other posted and see what we come up with, with the image streaming; one of us with ketosis, one of us without. Is there any procedure that anyone has used to get sound in their head? It would be too bad if you and your brother were never able to get that, but images are sure better than nothing! Very interesting that your partner are used to sleepwalk! If it was me, I would attach jingle bells to my ankles at bedtime, so if I started sleepwalking it would alert the household. Link to post Share on other sites
EliTucker Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 On 6/21/2018 at 3:34 AM, Dawning said: I found an interesting article that says: "Demisexuals may have very active sexual fantasy lives—whether enjoying erotic stories, watching porn, or creating their own mental fantasies. The difference is that it’s not just the physical act of sex that turns them on, but the whole context of the person they imagine having sex with—there’s a major emotional component to these fantasies that give them an extra charge for the demixexual person." https://bestlifeonline.com/demisexual/ I think this goes. I personally think porn is pretty gross, I won't say why because that's not the point of this thread. But I'll throw my own example in here and say that when I'm with myself, I definitely can vividly imagine I'm being with someone I've been with in the past, or the special someone I really like. I think the same can go for porn for some people, imagining a person in the video is someone you love. Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 On 7/9/2018 at 3:28 AM, Dawning said: http://aphant.asia/forum/my-story/235-aphantasia-as-result-of-neurological-lyme-induced-cognitive-decline Link to post Share on other sites
FallenAngel9799 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 I'm not sexually attracted to any of the actors I see in porn videos, but porn has become a mere aid to sexual release for me. Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 5 hours ago, Marlow1 said: I don't know anybody that has tried to obtain the voice, or sounds etc, but I will research this and let you know if I find anything Regarding the GAPS diet and the brain mending, this process occurs over time. People find improvements in different ways. What they plan to fix might now happen for a whole and what they don't plan to fix can suddenly occur and so it is difficult to say at this stage if my brother will also get the voice or not but going off the healing other folk are having re Autism, Aspergers. ADHD and so on my brother has a lot of hope that other aspects of his minds eye might improve, and me I just hope the problems that I have generally, re my brain injury, that this all improves etc. My minds eye visuals etc could improve as a matter of course. hopefully !!! I recently found this post. The person has Aphantasia and is using GAPs but it is not clear if they have had improvement with the Aphantasia. They have outlined other health improvements though. The supplement list that they include here is lengthy and looks expensive. I have not gone into things this way. My supplement list is much more basic i cannot really tell how much this person is benefiting but it is good to know others are trying to sort things out in a similar way http://aphant.asia/forum/my-story/235-aphantasia-as-result-of-neurological-lyme-induced-cognitive-decline I am still working on the image streaming with my partner. No luck as of yet, but my partner is appreciating the encouragement you have given She also likes the idea of the bell LOL I've got my fingers crossed for you and your brother to get all the improvements you're hoping for! I hope you can figure out what the right supplements are; the problem with someone showing improvement after taking a ton of supplements is that probably only one of them is causing the improvement, but there's no way to know which one. My heart hurts for that poor guy, losing his mind's eye and then his ability to function! You and I are lucky; we've always been this way, and so we function fine with what we were born with. Keep on working at that image streaming! Worst case scenario, you made your partner happy, and that's a good thing. Let me know if she decides to try the bell, LOL! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 On 11 July 2018 at 8:27 AM, Dawning said: I've got my fingers crossed for you and your brother to get all the improvements you're hoping for! I hope you can figure out what the right supplements are; the problem with someone showing improvement after taking a ton of supplements is that probably only one of them is causing the improvement, but there's no way to know which one. My heart hurts for that poor guy, losing his mind's eye and then his ability to function! You and I are lucky; we've always been this way, and so we function fine with what we were born with. Keep on working at that image streaming! Worst case scenario, you made your partner happy, and that's a good thing. Let me know if she decides to try the bell, LOL! After reading your post about improving the voice in the head I found this. It does not quit answer our question as to how can we improve or bring forth the voice, but it does explain how when we speak to ourselves the words we use can make a difference in regards to how effective visualisation can be. It mentions hypnosis, I am not actually advocating that but I do think this guy has some valid points I agree with you that loosing the minds eye later in life would be more difficult, I do think that when we are younger our minds learn to compensate. It has been my actual speech that got damage with the brain injury. I never had the voice in my head but following the brain hemhorrage my actual speech became terrible. I do still struggle with this Although I have no voice in my head I think that I am a verbal thinker. When the words went, oh golly I cannot even explain that. And even now I do struggle a very lot communicating verbally. Not before the brain hemhorrage, I was fine then but my voice now is not normal and I say the wrong word for things and so on. Folk with Aphantasia do also need to work on the verbal and take care of their hearing and other senses and so on. Going blind would not be pleasant at all. Good eyesight needs to be maintained, vitamin A, Codliver oil, I think might help here Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I am not qualified to give medical advice. The supplements that I mention here are generally considered to be safe but if anybody has any concerns regarding anything that I mention it would be wise to speak to your GP or a nutritional expert Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 Interesting video! My mind just boggles at how you can be a verbal thinker when you don't hear any words, LOL. I'm sorry that you had such a struggle after your brain hemorrhage, but you have certainly reached the point where you can express yourself very well in writing at least. Maybe your diet and supplements will help you get even better! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 12, 2018 Share Posted July 12, 2018 On 7/12/2018 at 8:15 AM, Dawning said: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Interesting insight from Temple Grandin! And fascinating to imagine thinking in concepts. I'm a conceptual learner, and that does influence how I think, but that's as far as I go. That's extraordinary, how you see your partner! Have you told her all of this? I think many women would envy her, the way she has such a unique position in your mind! Link to post Share on other sites
zandwitch Posted July 13, 2018 Share Posted July 13, 2018 Hmm...I do identify as asexual as in "not experiencing sexual attraction to others - no motivation to interact sexually with others" though I do like to masturbate and I do enjoy satisfying my counterpart as well as I enjoy stuff which is inherently sexual to others as something non-sexual - especially in terms of BDSM. That is why I participate_d in miscellaneous (alternative queer-feminist) porn projects. It is about exploring my body_mind_emotions and my boundaries and those of my counterparts as well as our dynamics. And it is something that I do on principle. I want sexual self-rule for every_body, more awareness, more consent, a broader definition of safer sex, more queer visibility and more visibility of a broader spectrum of bodies_orientations_identities_interactions. For when I watch (alternative queer-feminist) porn, I do it on principle, too. And I follow the interaction with a kind of distanced interest in human interactions while it definitely doesn't arouse me. Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 On 13 July 2018 at 10:43 AM, Dawning said: Interesting insight from Temple Grandin! And fascinating to imagine thinking in concepts. I'm a conceptual learner, and that does influence how I think, but that's as far as I go. That's extraordinary, how you see your partner! Have you told her all of this? I think many women would envy her, the way she has such a unique position in your mind! We are in therapy. We did not know about the Aphantasia or the Demisexuality until two years ago. Before then we were describing things to each other, using the same words but meaning totally different things. My partner was very hurt by a lot of things that I said but this was because she had no idea that a person like myself can go through life not experiencing sexual attraction, and I had no idea that people that are in love do get attracted to other people We both understand now why our communication went bump. AVEN has provided the language so that we can explain and understand but there is a lot to work through since in the past both of us thought that the other meant totally different things when we were speaking this shows up even more partly when my partner tries to speak to my brother. He knows all about the diet and even aphantasia but he does not always see how those folk that have always had a minds eye see the world. He has not studied grey sexuality either and pretty much thinks everybody is like me and he. Oh my oh my lol Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 15, 2018 Share Posted July 15, 2018 It sounds like you and your partner have had quite an amazing journey; I'm glad to hear that you have gotten so much sorted out! I guess your brother still has a little bit of a way to go, though, LOL! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 On 15 July 2018 at 8:49 AM, Dawning said: It sounds like you and your partner have had quite an amazing journey; I'm glad to hear that you have gotten so much sorted out! I guess your brother still has a little bit of a way to go, though, LOL! Hi i am still not getting far with the image streaming but my brother has just sent me this video Here, the guy is doing something g similar , which I am going to try! He mentions that folk are getting headaches with these exercises. Throughout my childhood I had weekly migraines. My brother had so e too, just not as many as me. Perhaps this is connected https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9guHNBi_mQk Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Please thank your brother for the video! I tried the exercise of describing the things around me, first with my eyes open and then with them shut, and although I didn't see anything while my eyes were shut, when I then did my normal exercise, dazzling my eyes with flashlights to create afterimages, I saw a significantly improved a group of persistent images, 2 different times, so I think it's working! I hope you don't get any headaches from doing this! I did not. Keep me posted! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 8 hours ago, Dawning said: Please thank your brother for the video! I tried the exercise of describing the things around me, first with my eyes open and then with them shut, and although I didn't see anything while my eyes were shut, when I then did my normal exercise, dazzling my eyes with flashlights to create afterimages, I saw a significantly improved a group of persistent images, 2 different times, so I think it's working! I hope you don't get any headaches from doing this! I did not. Keep me posted! Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and I cannot give medical advice. Anybody planning on using either EMDR or Vision Exercises should speak to a qualified practitioner before hand So far no headaches but no images either, nothing. I am thinking I am going to have to use the ketosis too I have been looking into more of what the guy in the video is saying. He is saying that the visual part of the brain is working and that the verbal part is working but the two are not communicating with each other My partner has PTSD. She uses EMDR. The idea behind EMDR is that by moving the eyes side to side the user can get the creative mind to work with the analytic mind. This is not the same thing as what is going on for us, but my partner is wondering if vision exercises might work for us. A lot of folk on the GAPs spectrum are using eye exercises this short video explains how EMDR works This practitioner is using vision therapy with an autistic child My partner has been doing this for several years, but neither of us saw any point in me trying this until now. I mean since we looked at the videos where the guy is talking about disconnections between parts of the brain in aphantasia. I will let you know how we get on have you had any further improvements today? Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 If you're going to try ketosis, probably as close as you can get to what your brother is eating would have the best chance of working for you. I hope it gives you some great images! Interestingly, I tried the EMDR, and it made me a little bit woozy and gave me a low-grade headache. I guess that kind of tracking is something I'm bad at! I'm glad that it works for your partner, though! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 20, 2018 Share Posted July 20, 2018 On 19 July 2018 at 6:50 AM, Dawning said: If you're going to try ketosis, probably as close as you can get to what your brother is eating would have the best chance of working for you. I hope it gives you some great images! Interestingly, I tried the EMDR, and it made me a little bit woozy and gave me a low-grade headache. I guess that kind of tracking is something I'm bad at! I'm glad that it works for your partner, though! Apparently, there are people that are on the Autism spectrum that have good or resonable eye sight but need something other than glassses, contact lenses, patches etc. Many are using EMDR but apparently there are other vidion exercises that can help the person create connections inside the brain. This is all new to me but i am going to continue researching all this. If i find out anything helpful I will let yiu know https://www.advancedvisionoflouisville.com/the-vision-therapy-network/ Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 I'm all for having more connections in the brain! Did you know that for neurotypical people, the connections between the right and left hemispheres are basically identical, but for an autistic person, our connections are totally different not just from a neurotypical person's, but from each other, as unique as snowflakes are supposed to be but aren't? Thank you for being a constant stream of exciting new information! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 On 21 July 2018 at 11:23 AM, Dawning said: I'm all for having more connections in the brain! Did you know that for neurotypical people, the connections between the right and left hemispheres are basically identical, but for an autistic person, our connections are totally different not just from a neurotypical person's, but from each other, as unique as snowflakes are supposed to be but aren't? Thank you for being a constant stream of exciting new information! Yes, my partner has mentioned this in the past. She is ambidextrous and it is often said these folk have more connections that the average. I have mentioned here in the past about her hyperactive mind, her extremely strong minds eye, the committee meeting in her head, as she calls it, and so on My partners aim is constant to quieten down the activity in her minds eye, plus all the chatter. She he is very intelligent, rather like some Aspergers folk are but her overall behaviour and attitude more resembles ADHD. In her family there is a lot of ADHD, Fibromyalgia and Parkinsons. All of these are considered to be caused by dopamine dysfunction. I have met met a couple of people that were on dopamine reducing medications that said they had lost their minds eye due to this, so there could be a linn with dopamine activity and the minds eye. But I strongly disagree with taking dopamine enhancing medication, they can really ness folk up. It is said that ketosis can balance dopamine and other neurons, I have still not gotten around to doing this In the meantime I am continuing with the vision exercises. My partner is trying to teach me tapping too Link to post Share on other sites
Dawning Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Your partner sounds like a really complex and fascinating person; your life to together most be an amazing journey! Interesting thought about the dopamine; it would be awesome if they would research the reported effects on people whose dopamine moved significantly up or down, wouldn't it? Keep on trying different things with the vision exercises, and hopefully something will work! Link to post Share on other sites
Marlow1 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 On 25 July 2018 at 11:08 AM, Dawning said: Your partner sounds like a really complex and fascinating person; your life to together most be an amazing journey! Interesting thought about the dopamine; it would be awesome if they would research the reported effects on people whose dopamine moved significantly up or down, wouldn't it? Keep on trying different things with the vision exercises, and hopefully something will work! Disclaimer: Please do not ever take dopamine enhancing or depleting medication without the supervision of a doctor, such drugs can seriously damage the brain and in most cases the damage is irriversible. I include information in this post only to highlight the research that has been conducted to far in regards to dopamine and it's influence on the minds eye The two folk that I mentioned that were taking dopamine lowering medication both had schizophrenia. There minds eye were hyper and so the doctors tried to get the activity more normal using the dopamine lowering medication but the pictures and voices disappeared altogether and this was just as distressing for them seeing as they were used to thinking with both of these tools https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dopamine_hypothesis_of_schizophrenia In my partners case it is the opposite. Many of her relatives have been placed on dopamine ENHANCING meds. Hallucinations, delusions and so on have followed This link here explains a little about how dopamine enhancing medication can increase both visual and verbal creativity in the mind https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ana.24181 My partner is determined not to end up with the same difficulties that her other family members have and so she uses only natural therapies, Keto GAPs being the main one, but also the eye exercises, tapping and so on My partners dad is on dopamine enhancing meds for his parkinsons and the medication has induced hallucinations, anxiety and memory problems. My partner told his doctor about how the ketones were helping her with her symptoms and so they have now placed him on an MCT (ketone inducing) treatment and his minds eye and all that goes with it has really calmed down In a nutshell what they seem to be finding is that if the dopamine systems are messed up it can lead to overactive minds eye activity, or zero activity, depending upon the levels of the dopamine. No drug really helps either way because the way the system works the more dopamine you create, the bigger the fall downwards, and the lower it goes the more of the drugs these folk need. But the ketosis does not work like this, it neither increases or lowers the dopamine but instead seems the be helping the body regulate itself. It helps with other neurons too such as GABA, Seratonin etc There is a tonne if research going on regarding all this in regards to dementia, epilepsy, autism and so on. So this is why I have joined my brother and partner regarding the GAPs and so on Both my partner and my brother are doing amazingly well, both functioning really really well lately, both feeling calmer and content and both saying they feel healthy and are getting even more well. I guess I am not doing too bad either, though I did have more damage than them with the brain hemorrhage. Regarding the attraction, fantasising and so on. A few years ago my partner and I had some relationship problems (poor communication really, us not knowing about Aphantasia, Demisexuality and so on at the time). She was worried that we might split and that she would loose her long term partner etc and this lead to her becoming hyper and her imagination running wild. It was a nightmare for her at the time. This is another reason why she researches all this stuff and works so hard on keeping her brain and mind healthy It is really ironic how opposite she and I are. When we have troubles I tend to loose my libido and I become introvert for a while but my partner goes the entire opposite. I have to work hard making sure I do not go downwards, so to speak, and she has to work hard not to go off the rails lol..... We are doing well right now though, therapy and AVEN have helped a lot especially in regards to the communication Yes, specific research into dopamine and the minds eye would be great. The schizophrenia, PTSD and other disorders that seem to need an active minds eye are mentioned on many Aphantasia boards. Folk usually saying thank goodness, at least we can't really experience all that kind of suffering. With the PTSD and Fibromyalgia that my partner had I think she has suffered more than I have but she is fortunate that she now has it all under control and is really happy and really healthy too. No where near as hyper as she was, and just glad like me that we found AVEN and recognised why when speaking we did not understand each other Link to post Share on other sites
Sophi Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 This thread it's so interesting! I'm surprised with the answers, tho. To answer your question, I'm Demisexual and I do watch and enjoy pornography and erotica, fairly often. And it makes sense. When people look at porn, something that is made with the only purpose of being arousing, surprise! They should get aroused. It's biology. However, it's perfectly valid if someone is sex repulsed or dislikes porn, though. Everyone is different, in my case, it doesn't apply. Must clarify that when I watch porn I don't think "wow, I'm so attracted to them, I want to bang them". Instead, I think "I like watching this". But I'm not actually into them. In summary, yes, Demisexual, and even Asexuals, can watch and like porn, and by consecuence, perhaps masturbate. Everyone is different and I think it would depend on the person and their preferences. (On a side note, there's some awful, disgusting, disturbing, porn out there. 😳 There's also mainstream porn, made mostly for the dudes. And there's porn that aims to be less mechanical, more sensitive, and so on. Not everything is negative. It simply depends on the person and whatever they, well, fancy 👀) Link to post Share on other sites
Guest DesertWells Posted October 23, 2018 Share Posted October 23, 2018 On 6/19/2018 at 4:55 AM, Deus Ex Infinity said: I totally dislike porn. It's disgustIng but I don't think that it's specifically connected to demisexuality etc. It's more like a personal anti-preference so to speak. This. I don’t watch porn, I admit I have done briefly in the past, but I didn’t get much enjoyment out of it, and I really didn’t like how it made me feel. None of my friends believe that I don’t watch it, it’s quite rare for men not to (I don’t know another guy in RL who doesn’t), which is why I thought it may be due to demisexuality. I see strangers having sex and my mind is kind of blank, I don’t know those people, I don’t care about them, I’m not attracted to them, so I’d much rather fantasise. To my mind, seeing others having sex is almost like watching two animals go at it. I don’t know if it has anything to do with demisexuality, you could argue that Demisexuality has a spectrum of its own and maybe those at one end are more prone to enjoying porn than those at the other, but...I think it’s more likely that it’s simply down to the tastes or nature of the individual. I’m not judging anyone who watches porn, that’s just my preference. Link to post Share on other sites
Rose64 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 I prefer written stories mostly because they have that emotional buildup in a lot of cases and they're way more likely to say things like "I love you". For me written porn or erotica can be very arousing and it's generally much more arousing than video (though I can be aroused by that I tend to prefer erotica). I'm not attracted to strangers but I am aroused by sexual content? Link to post Share on other sites
aring91 Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 I usually prefer erotica or amateur creators, I've become desensitized to porn from the point that visually I don't get anything from it and it just feels like a tool I'll use to get myself off and then move on to something else. With amateur content it's a lot more one on one based and the creators feel like they actually put effort into it. Link to post Share on other sites
Skycaptain Posted August 23, 2020 Share Posted August 23, 2020 Locking this as it's an old thread where many contributors are no longer on forum. Skycaptain moderator TGA Link to post Share on other sites
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