Tharpa Wickert

Hi, I am a 61 yo white, female, Vajrayana Buddhist with total aphantasia, SDAM, and ADHD inattentive type who has had a "normal" life, graduated from college, got married, raised 3 daughters (33yrs, 31, 27), thought I was just like everyone else until a few years ago. I live in VA and would be happy to be interviewed. One of my daughters has aphantasia and one has hyperphantasia. You can email me at [email protected].

Hi. I was diagnosed with ADHD inattentive type at age 56. A couple of years later I discovered other people see images in their minds!! I would not describe my ADHD as my mind never shuts up. Nope. But my attention is very easily hijacked by every and any shiny thing I see. I hyperfocus a lot. Is my terrible working memory from ADHD or is it the effect of aphantasia? I am time blind. Like many ADHD people, for me there are two times- now and not now. I think many people with similar diagnoses spend a lot of time "day dreaming" but I do not see images at all in my mind, none in my dreams, none in my memories. I wonder if my "ADHD difficulty with motivation" is actually connected to being unable to "imagine" future events. I am definitely not neurotypical. I probably also have SDAM. Having said this, I have lived a "normal" life, did well in school, graduated from college, got married, raised kids, and never had the slightest clue that other people don't think the way I do. I guess I do all the same things neurotypical people do, but in a different way. I'm okay identifying as a nonlinear divergent thinker. All these "diagnoses" are just labels. Most people never even think about "how" they think. When I ask questions folks usually look at me strangely and say I don't know, I never thought about it. I think about it a lot now. Getting to know one's own mind is the ultimate journey, says this Buddhist practitioner. So this is one person's experience, for what it's worth. 🤷🏻‍♀️