Visualization : 100% Off Topic : Calling all PHDs

[Lifelover]

This seems a strange place to seek this advice but what the Hell?


I seem to have a disability that I can find no other example of.

I am incapable of seeing a visual mental image. I do have visual dreams but when awake I can not "visualize" anything. Even if I study it prior too, I can not get a visual image without seeing it.

I'm just now starting to realize how much it impacts my memory. I have a great "feel" for how my life has gone and I have emotional memories of most events but details are nil.

I've discussed with this many people and to the man (or woman) they can visualize to some extent. The degrees vary greatly but all are capable of some.

Imagine how I struggle to spell! OMG TY spell check

Anyway, does anyone hold any particular knowledge on the subject or knowledge of who to ask?

Please and Thank You
Greg

[lnomalley]

if you have a family doc let him be your first point of contact. i never recommend looking to a message board for medical/psych advice. the only responsible answer i can give you is that if it bothers you to the extent that you are positing this question here, i would address it immediately and face to face with a pro.

this agnosia you are describing may or may not indicate an impairment in normal mental functioning and needs to be looked at. not to get your panties in a bunch and neurology is in no way my area of expertice (my doctorate is in clinical psych, i'm all talk), if i had this problem i'd wonder if there were something happening in the part of my brain that allows me to create mental images of thoughts (because i am neurotic as hell about about my brain). i'd be actively asking my doc if it is possible that i might be having a siezure disorder or a tumor or if its just nothing, and i want to look at a my structural/mental functioning via a psych test just to be thorough.

not remembering your dreams doesnt mean anything. the only people that don't dream are dead people. not being able to create mental images.. well that sounds like something worth looking at and ruling out as a problem.

for the record, this response is not any form of treatment or consultation, and i am in no way acting as your caregiver. i'm just a fellow cyclist offering common sense advice... call your doctor.

[Lifelover]

if you have a family doc let him be your first point of contact. i never recommend looking to a message board for medical/psych advice. the only responsible answer i can give you is that if it bothers you to the extent that you are positing this question here, i would address it immediately and face to face with a pro.

this agnosia you are describing may or may not indicate an impairment in normal mental functioning and needs to be looked at. not to get your panties in a bunch and neurology is in no way my area of expertice (my doctorate is in clinical psych, i'm all talk), if i had this problem i'd wonder if there were something happening in the part of my brain that allows me to create mental images of thoughts (because i am neurotic as hell about about my brain). i'd be actively asking my doc if it is possible that i might be having a siezure disorder or a tumor or if its just nothing, and i want to look at a my structural/mental functioning via a psych test just to be thorough.

not remembering your dreams doesnt mean anything. the only people that don't dream are dead people. not being able to create mental images.. well that sounds like something worth looking at and ruling out as a problem.

for the record, this response is not any form of treatment or consultation, and i am in no way acting as your caregiver. i'm just a fellow cyclist offering common sense advice... call your doctor.

Based on the brief description I got from doing a google searh agnosia doesn't seem to fit. I have no problems with recognition.

I have talked briefly with the family doctor and like myself since this is not something that is new he did not seem concerned. I did not mean to imply that this is a new condition or that it is causing me great concern or problems.

I'm really looking for inofrmation more than advice. I just have not talked with another person who can not visualize anything.

[lnomalley]

my response is still the same (although its great to hear that this isnt a recent development). i want to clarify that i am not diagnosing you... an agnosia is just a blanket term.. well there are many descriptive qualifiers that go before an agnosia, but in the general sense i am using it here it just refers to the absense of the ability to think visually... (if i were talking about you i'd say, 'there is this guy that describes a kind of agnosia.. where in he is unable to think visually'). what i would like to restate is that a) the internet is the worlds worst source of diagnostic information, especially for something that might be specific to one individual and require a creative intepretation, and, b) if i had an neurological experience that was impacting the quality of my life and my cognitive functioning. no matter if it were life long or not, i'd want to go get some psych testing to see what's up.

i don't want to put you on the defensive, i don't know you, or your medical history, and am just offering some informed common sense. clearly if there were no issue here you wouldn't be asking about it on message boards and searching around google for an explaination. often times from psych tests they can determine if there is a deficit, can identify the deficit is, locate it in the brain, and most of all suggest treatment/intervention.

i don't want to tip toe into the realm of sounding like this is a consultation, i am just saying as basic standard of practice if someone walked into my door presenting what you posted here.. i would refer them for a work-up/ testing all the while i'd find comfort in t he fact that this isnt a change in functioning for you.

the experience of thinking visually is vitally important to qualtiy of life, and that you are able to dream visually makes this even more complex and curious... and if i were having this experience, i would certainly be highly motivated to explore it until i had a full understanding of what was going on, and also a way to develop a skillset that would allow me to create some sort of mechanism to compensate for the deficit. as a shrink, once i had all things ruled-out, and evidence of a brain that should be able to produce visual thinking, i'd start working in talk therapy to pick the lock (for lack of a better metaphor).

anyway... i dont feel comfy responding further because it isnt appropriate for me to do so...and i wish you the absolute best. brains are amazing.

luck and happy cycling... ('scuse my typos,i just banged this out without proofing).

[Lifelover]

my response is still the same (although its great to hear that this isnt a recent development). i want to clarify that i am not diagnosing you... an agnosia is just a blanket term.. well there are many descriptive qualifiers that go before an agnosia, but in the general sense i am using it here it just refers to the absense of the ability to think visually... (if i were talking about you i'd say, 'there is this guy that describes a kind of agnosia.. where in he is unable to think visually'). what i would like to restate is that a) the internet is the worlds worst source of diagnostic information, especially for something that might be specific to one individual and require a creative intepretation, and, b) if i had an neurological experience that was impacting the quality of my life and my cognitive functioning. no matter if it were life long or not, i'd want to go get some psych testing to see what's up.

i don't want to put you on the defensive, i don't know you, or your medical history, and am just offering some informed common sense. clearly if there were no issue here you wouldn't be asking about it on message boards and searching around google for an explaination. often times from psych tests they can determine if there is a deficit, can identify the deficit is, locate it in the brain, and most of all suggest treatment/intervention.

i don't want to tip toe into the realm of sounding like this is a consultation, i am just saying as basic standard of practice if someone walked into my door presenting what you posted here.. i would refer them for a work-up/ testing all the while i'd find comfort in t he fact that this isnt a change in functioning for you.

the experience of thinking visually is vitally important to qualtiy of life, and that you are able to dream visually makes this even more complex and curious... and if i were having this experience, i would certainly be highly motivated to explore it until i had a full understanding of what was going on, and also a way to develop a skillset that would allow me to create some sort of mechanism to compensate for the deficit. as a shrink, once i had all things ruled-out, and evidence of a brain that should be able to produce visual thinking, i'd start working in talk therapy to pick the lock (for lack of a better metaphor).

anyway... i dont feel comfy responding further because it isnt appropriate for me to do so...and i wish you the absolute best. brains are amazing.

luck and happy cycling... ('scuse my typos,i just banged this out without proofing).

I do appreciate the responses.

Assuming my family doctor continues to be of little help, what kind of doctor should I approach first? psych or neuro?

[lnomalley]

see if he knows any good neurologists.