Synesthesia: Anyone else out there have it? How does it affect your life?

Question

I was born with non-advantitious Grapheme → color synesthesia, which means I was born with a condition which causes me to view the world through different perspectives than most people. I associate numbers and letters through colors and certain times illicit certain emotions in me. I was just wanting to find out if anyone else had this condidtion. When did you realize you had it? Does it affect you life at all?

Answer 1

I have the same thing. Non-adventitious grapheme → color synesthesia. I always thought it was completely normal until I started asking others about it and kept getting weird looks :-)

It's hard to say how/if it affects my life, because I don't have any experience of how I'd perceive things without it. I know very well how things are with it, but without really knowing how things would be without it I can't easily judge how things would be different.

I think it helps with memory though. Associating sensory experiences with things can help you remember those things more easily. For synesthetes this comes naturally since in many cases we do this anyway. In fact some psychologists have shown there's a link between synesthesia and an above-average memory.

Answer 2

I have grapheme synesthesia or chromesthesia. I thought everyone experienced the world the way I do. My letters, numbers, days of the week and months have very specific colors. Because of this, I am a great speller, remember phone numbers and birthdates forever. I named both of my sons names that begin with a watery green-blue letter (A & D). Not all synesthetes agree - our perceptions are unique. So it isn't that we see real things that others can't, we just have a cross-wiring in our brains that holds 2 or more senses together. Experts say we all have this as infants, and our 5 senses separate by about 6 months old. I wonder sometimes if people who see auras have synesthesia. Joni Mitchell and John Mayer supposedly have it. Google Richard Cytowic for more info.

Answer 3

my friend actually has it. she sees words etc in colors. i see words when i listen more so than talk, but they are not in color so i dont think i have synesthesia. also, when i am startled, i see like electric flashes and she does too. its all so fascinating. here is a link i looked up when she and i were discussing it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

best to you!

Answer 4

It is when your senses get mixed up. Like when you give letters colors, see things when you hear music or you smell things when you hear words. it could also be when you give numbers personalities it could affect your math skills as well.