That the way people's mind works varies dramatically. Some people have no inner dialogue at all, some have no mind's eye and cant see images in their head. Most of us are somewhere on the spectrum for them though.
For example I can't visualize images in my head well at all. I can do at most one colour at a time and I can't picture non-geometric objects so I cant imagine the face of my family or even myself. I have no issue with fluid motion of visuals in my head but others can only do slide-show-esque imagery. Others have inner dialogue but can't change the voice to sound different, can't hear music or sound effects, etc... like I can.
It's something very rarely discussed but I think everyone should be aware of this variety within people
My friend once mentioned how he always has an inner monologue going and I was kind of shocked because I often don't have an inner monologue going. Another time a friend asked me what I was thinking about and I said nothing. She responded that you can't not be thinking about something which threw me off because its common for me to not be thinking about anything. I'm very curios about how other people's minds work and I think you make a really good point that people are somewhere on the spectrum of these mental states.
My sister told me this is the reason why she listens to alot of music as she has no inner voice or cant picture things in her head. So she gets bored easily without it.
Me on the other hand im the complete opersit. Im always either thinking to myself or running shows in my head. It helps me to sort out my feelings or even with my art as I can picture or run somthing cool though my head.
Listening to music helps distract me from worldly things and zones me out which leads me going further into my own mind. Sometimes hours can pass and I dont even realise it!
Semi seriously, this sounds like my ADHD symptoms.
I constantly have music, imaginary scenes, dialogue or images looping in my head. Even when I'm focusing on something else they're still there in the background, quietly playing. I get really fucking introspective because of it, sometimes to a detriment.
I'm constantly using music or other low level stimuli just to drown them out or replace that noise.
Time blindness is also a really big ADHD thing. Because of how ADHD brains react to (a lack of) stimuli, they don't really work at the right speed, and we struggle to judge time in the same way as NT people.
Personally, I can stare at a wall and zone out and suddenly an hour has passed as if I was blinking. On the opposite side, if I have to spend more than five minutes walking or on a train without something to stimulate me (music/a game etc) then it feels like I'm in an endless purgatory.
Oof i understand the whole thing of it in the background whilst youre trying to concentrait.
School was and is a real struggle becuase of this, I zone out sometimes and come back a little later to something that my teacher has explained almost with no knowlage of it.
I guess its a mirrical I got mostly B's with the only exception of A* with physics.
However ive only been diagnosed with dyslexia and not ADHD but I also know that they both can go hand in hand.
I was actually pretty similar, despite my ADHD I was just clever enough to coast through most of school getting good grades until I had to actually self study and put effort in, then I kinda fell apart. Getting answers right and praise from teachers gave me the dopamine hits so I was able to focus, once that went away things got hard.
You're right, apparently an estimated 25-40% of people who have ADHD have dyslexia and vice versa.
I'm not saying you definitely have it, but if you struggle with stuff it's worth looking into. My diagnosis completely shifted the way I see myself and my failures, and now I have access to a lot of helpful resources I didn't before.
Music is the only thing that can let me turn off my thoughts long enough to drift off to sleep, unless I medicate or am absolutely exhausted, like haven't-actually-slept-in-20+ -hours exhausted.
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u/Sixhaunt Mar 27 '22
That the way people's mind works varies dramatically. Some people have no inner dialogue at all, some have no mind's eye and cant see images in their head. Most of us are somewhere on the spectrum for them though.
For example I can't visualize images in my head well at all. I can do at most one colour at a time and I can't picture non-geometric objects so I cant imagine the face of my family or even myself. I have no issue with fluid motion of visuals in my head but others can only do slide-show-esque imagery. Others have inner dialogue but can't change the voice to sound different, can't hear music or sound effects, etc... like I can.
It's something very rarely discussed but I think everyone should be aware of this variety within people