Disordered, deficient, and dehumanised: How biomedical and cognitive approaches are limiting our understandings of aphantasia
Main Article Content
Abstract
Abstract
Background: Aphantasia is neither officially a mental health disorder nor a cognitive disability, but is increasingly being positioned as something adjacent to both. Aim: The current study seeks to explore how aphantasia is positioned by published research, science communication, and social media posts. Method: Two types of data were collected: published research about aphantasia, and content by researchers and the public across several social media sites and forums. Data were extracted, transcribed, and then analysed using a discursive approach. Particular attention was given to the interpretative repertoires researchers and the public draw on when discussing aphantasia. Results: People with aphantasia were largely positioned as disordered, deficient, and dehumanised by researchers from biomedical and cognitive perspectives. There was a lack of lived experience led research into aphantasia. Conclusions: Biomedical and cognitive lenses seem limited in their ability to meaningfully contribute to the field of understanding aphantasia. Drawing on Mad and Crip studies, we can see in the literature about aphantasia the emergence of a field that seeks to try to control or fix aphantasia despite a lack of evidence that such an approach is necessary.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant IMSJ right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-NC ND) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in IMSJ.
References
Arcangeli, M. (2023). Aphantasia demystified. Synthese, 201(2), Article 31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-022-04027-9
Arnold, D. H., Andresen, I., Anderson, N., & Saurels, B. W. (2023). Commonalities between the Berger Rhythm and spectra differences driven by cross-modal attention and imagination. Consciousness and Cognition, 107, Article 103436. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2022.103436
Bellingham, B., H, K., Boydell, K., Isobel, S., Gill, K., & River, J. (2021). Towards epistemic justice doing: Examining the experiences and shifts in knowledge of lived experience researchers over the course of a mental health research training programme. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 30(6), 1588-1598. https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12910
Blazhenkova, O., & Pechenkova, E. (2019). The two eyes of the blind mind: object vs. spatial aphantasia? Russian Journal of Cognitive Science, 6(4), 51s65. https://doi.org/10.47010/19.4.5
Blomkvist, A. (2023). Aphantasia: In search of a theory. Mind and Language, 38(3), 866-888. https://doi.org/10.1111/mila.12432
Blomkvist, A., & Marks, D. F. (2023). Defining and ‘diagnosing’ aphantasia: Condition or individual difference? Cortex, 169, 220-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2023.09.004
Brette, R. (2022). Brains as computers: Metaphor, analogy, theory or fact? Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.878729
Cavedon-Taylor, D. (2022). Aphantasia and psychological disorder: Current connections, defining the imagery deficit and future directions. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 822989. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.822989
Costa, L., & Ross, L. (2023). Mad Studies genealogy and praxis. International Mad Studies Journal, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.58544/imsj.v1i1.5239
Costandi, M. (2016, 4 June). If you can't imagine things, how can you learn? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/jun/04/aphantasia-no-visual-imagination-impact-learning
Dance, C. J., Ipser, A., & Simner, J. (2022). The prevalence of aphantasia (imagery weakness) in the general population. Consciousness and Cognition, 97, Article 103243. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2021.103243
Dodson, W. (2021). “OMG, so that’s why I do that?!”. Attitude. https://www.additudemag.com/slideshows/decoding-the-adhd-mind/
Fox-Muraton, M. (2021). A world without imagination? Consequences of aphantasia for an existential account of self. History of European Ideas, 47(3), 414-428. https://doi.org/10.1080/01916599.2020.1799553
Jarl, V. C. (1958). Historical Note on the Term Differential Psychology. Nordisk Psykologi, 10(2), 114–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/00291463.1958.10780375.
JohnBoyTheGreat. (2023). “Aphants’ minds work like computers…”. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/15hao77/aphantasia_doesnt_exist/
Jones, N., Atterbury, K., Byrne, L., Carras, M., Brown, M., & Phalen, P. (2021). Lived Experience, Research Leadership, and the Transformation of Mental Health Services: Building a Researcher Pipeline. Psychiatric Services, 72(5), 591-593. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000468
Keogh, R., & Pearson, J. (2018). The blind mind: No sensory visual imagery in aphantasia. Cortex, 105, 53-60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2017.10.012
Leaf, S. (2018). “The two conditions are not directly related.”. Quora. https://www.quora.com/Can-someone-have-aphasia-and-aphantasia-at-the-same-time/answer/Stanley-Leaf/log
LeBlanc, S., & Kinsella, E. A. (2016). Toward Epistemic Justice: A Critically Reflexive Examination of ‘Sanism’ and Implications for Knowledge Generation. Studies in Social Science, 10(1), 59-78. https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v10i1.1324
Lesak, D. (2018). Does Aphantasia prevent meditation? Quora. https://www.quora.com/Does-Aphantasia-prevent-meditation/answer/David-Lesak
Mawtus, B., Renwick, F., Thomas, B. R., & Reeder, R. R. (2024). The impact of aphantasia on mental healthcare experiences: Stage 2 Registered Report. PsyArXiv Preprints. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/f6h5q
McMahon, R. (2023). Stories of the silenced manifesto and Mad Studies: An experience of biomedicine and mental health. International Mad Studies Journal, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.58544/imsj.v1i1.5250
Monzel, M., Dance, C., Azañón, E., & Simner, J. (2023). Aphantasia within the framework of neurodivergence: Some preliminary data and the curse of the confidence gap. Consciousness and Cognition, 115, Article 103567. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2023.103567
Monzel, M., Keidel, K., & Reuter, M. (2021). Imagine, and you will find – Lack of attentional guidance through visual imagery in aphantasics. Attention, Perception, and Psychophysics, 83(6), 2486-2497. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-021-02307-z
orarewehamster. (2019). “Definitely on several levels at once. I’ll be thinking…”. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/au4v12/comment/)/
Potter, J. (2012). Discourse analysis and discursive psychology. In H. Cooper (Ed.), APA Handbook of Research Methods in Psychology: Vol. 2. Quantitative, Qualitative, Neuropsychological, and Biological (pp. 111-130). American Psychological Association Press.
Salsbury, A. (2023). Depression – a ‘computer’ virus in the Human Brain. Ainsley Salsbury. https://ainsleysalsbury.com.au/resources/readings/how-depression-is-like-a-computer-virus-in-the-human-brain/
Sato, K., & O’Toole, K. (2023). UQ student Loren Bouyer lives with aphantasia, which means she can't visualise objects. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-14/what-it-is-like-living-with-aphantasia/102973458
Scholz, B. (2022). How did you find out you were not aphantasic? Quora. https://www.quora.com/How-did-you-find-out-you-were-not-aphantasic/log
Scholz, B., & Stewart, S. J. (2021). Using discursive psychology to critique power imbalances in the health workforce. In J. Crossman & S. Bordia (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Workplace Contexts (pp. 233-244). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781789904345.00021
Scholz, B., Stewart, S. J., Bocking, J., & Happell, B. (2019). Rhetoric of representation: The disempowerment and empowerment of consumer leaders. Health Promotion International, 34(1), 166-174. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/dax070
Sci Guys. (2020). The Science of Aphantasia (LIVE at VidCon London) | FULL PANEL | Sci Guys Podcast #48. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt2hjCW-kIQ
Shams, L., & Seitz, A. R. (2008). Benefits of multisensory learning. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(11).
Sinclair, A., Elwyn, R., Scholz, B., Maylea, C., Brhaspati Stott, S., Happell, B., Fossey, E., Cosantino, J., Grey, F., Thorburn, K., Spandler, H., & The International Mad Studies Journal Community. (2023). An Introduction to the International Mad Studies Journal: A Collective Reflection on Processes, Movements, Journeys, Futures, and Unfurlings. International Mad Studies Journal, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.58544/imsj.v1i1.5237
Stoltenberg, J. M. (2025). Understanding the relationship between aphantasia and post-traumatic stress disorder Alliant International University]. Fresno.
sugarcoatedsisters. (2023). “Does anyone else have this? Our dad was today years old when he found out…”. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@sugarcoatedsisters/video/7272437260006559009?q=aphantasia&t=1701133594703
Takahashi, J., & Gyoba, J. (2020). A Preliminary Single-case Study of Aphantasia in Japan. Tohoku Psychologica Folia, 79, 26-32.
Tallinter. (2020). Does Aphantasia Impede your Ability to Love? Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Aphantasia/comments/hasewo/does_aphantasia_impede_your_ability_to_love/
Thorneycroft, R. (2020). Crip Theory and Mad Studies: Intersections and points of departure. Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, 9(1), 91-121. https://doi.org/10.15353/cjds.v9i1.597
Wired UK. (2021). Aphantasia: The People Who Can't Visualise | 'Out of Mind' | Wired UK. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa84hA3OsHU
Zeman, A. (2020). Aphantasia. In A. Abraham (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the imagination (pp. 692-710). Cambridge University Press.
Zeman, A., Milton, F., Della Sala, S., Dewar, M., Frayling, T., Gaddum, J., Hattersley, A., Heuerman-Williamson, B., Jones, K., MacKisack, M., & Winlove, C. (2020). Phantasia–The psychological significance of lifelong visual imagery vividness extremes. Cortex, 130, 426-440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cortex.2020.04.003
Zhao, J. W. (2019). How did you discover you had aphantasia? https://www.quora.com/How-did-you-discover-you-had-aphantasia/log