Synesthasia - What?

Has any one here heard of Synesthesia?

Basically Synaesthesia is a truly fascinating condition. In its simplest form it is best described as a “union of the senses” whereby two or more of the five senses that are normally experienced separately are involuntarily and automatically joined together. Some synaesthetic's experience colour when they hear sounds or read words. Others experience tastes, smells, shapes or touches in almost any combination. These sensations are automatic and cannot be turned on or off. Synaesthesia isn’t a disease or illness and is not at all harmful. In fact, the vast majority of synaesthetic's couldn’t imagine life without it.

I am a Synesthetic and until recently did not realise that I was unusual in this, also I didn't realise it even had a special name. My main trait is attaching colours to days, times, numbers and letters. For instance Wednesday is 'bright orange'. If I hear the word Wednesday or think of doing something on a Wednesday, I see it tinged with orange. Thursday is purple, etc.

I now see it as a gift rather than a freaky problem that's moves me further from the norm.

Does anyone else have this amazing gift?

If so, does it help or hinder you in any way?

How does your Synesthesia manifest itself?

I'm really looking forward to the replies. x

That is very cool. To this day I wonder what traits have yet to be discovered as the person who has them grows up with them and possibly sees no difference with others in their lives. I have worked with people who were color blind and sytha person who smelled sounds.

The world certainly is an amazing place when you stop and think about something other than yourself.

The only time I experienced this was by taking pot. I could both see and hear music when I closed my eyes....that was one of the more powerful things I could do. It was interesting and made me realize there is much more that can be experienced beyond just the individual 5 senses. I'm not taking it anymore for pain issues, but it was interesting nonetheless. I wish I had the ability to do all of that just by my own accord.

Yup. I see instruments as colors and shapes and letters and numbers have colors. It's pretty handy, although no one actually believes I have it.

Hi,

I love your last comment! Sometimes we are all too self absorbed, especially when ill and in physical or mental pain.

Smelling sounds, wow! I know that sometimes a piece of music will take me back to a time when I ate a certain food or smelt a perfume, but this is natural and the way our mind likes to link things together to make sense of our world.

Hi Yumi,

Cannabis and LSD are well known for stimulating the minds of artists, musicians, philosophers, writers and poets, through out history. Timothy Leary is known for his work with drugs and hallucinogens with mental patients. Its a shame it was debunked by the powers that be.

Bob Marley, (my cousin), is famous for weed influencing his music and writing. It is an underused magical herb and maybe one day it will be fully accepted as a wonder drug. Its abuse by some young people has sadly given it a bad name. It is great for pain and its use negates the need for manufactured narcotic pain relief. Shamen knew of its properties since the beginning of time, and have a lot to teach us.

If you work on your Kundalini and Chakras you can reach a state where these sounds, smells and colours can be reached naturally. Good Luck x

Hi Samantha,

Other people that have never experienced it will not believe that anyone else can. We are in a small minority who have this ability. Have you ever tried contacting a Synesthesia study group or organisation? Some hospitals undertake research and would love to hear from you. If you are more interested in following this up for yourself, just google 'Synesthesia', and find somewhere locally.

best of luck, you are not alone. x

Hi Kipper-bang,

Yes, I've experianced this for years and the first time I realized 'everyone' didn't do it was when I was in highschool and whilst waiting for the band teacher to return to class, about 14 of us started talking about weird things. One kid said they saw colors in words, letters, numbers...I said, me too! And was imediately astonished when no one else in the class did.

I also see the months of the year as actual 3 dimensional blocks strung together, (always confused me as a small child how we jumped from december all the way back up to january!) and see the days of the week in similar form. I also 'see' music and thanks to youtube can show others exactly what I see when I hear music...there is a upload (or two) featuring Beethoven where, as the piece is played, long lines move along with the instruments...sort of a smooth, rolling graph. It's what I see with any music, but of course, not always smooth, depending on the song

There is a website that offers Synesthesia testing--evidently there is an actual study being done on people like us, because of the unusual way we 'see' things. I've forgotten the name but I'm sure you could find it if you google it. But be patient....it is a loooooong test.

Btw: Wednesday is brown. Saturday is orange. lol

I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but I've got that ASMR which I can cause to happen at will. It goes down the back of the head, neck, and raises all the hairs on the arm. Although it gives me a headache if I keep it going for too long Not sure what is actually going on when I do that...

Wow...interesting! (sorry about the eventual headache tho!)

Double WOW! Just followed your link and I do that too but I can't do it at will. It usually only happens if I hear a particularly beautiful piece of music, see a very moving part of a play, or read same in a book...I always just chaulked it up to 'it must really be good' when it happens because that's the only time it's happened...when I've experianced something very emotionally moving.

Honestly, I wouldn't want to do it all the time...it's kinda creepy feeling...once is plenty lol Hasn't happened for a long time though. Not sure how I feel about that :/

Well, I'm on a sort of chat site for synesthetes but I'm too young to enter into any research studies. I think it's just a super cool irregularity with my brain.

Yes, I've had a degree of synaesthesia all of my life. It is considered a great gift by many brilliant artists, musicians, etc. Some people have it, most don't. As others have pointed out, LSD was a very popular way to induce synaesthesia.

I'm in. Mine usually was in the olfactory... smells, tastes etc.

I wonder if it's what gives me the only sense of smell and taste I have, after my accident... imagination?

I have it. For me, the days of the week are colors and on a 3D plane, and time is colored (weeks, months, years, decades, centuries, millenia, and on...) and on a 3D plane. It kind of reminds me of a really long Monopoly-like board game. I can hear pictures sometimes, like if I see a picture of something moving, it might make a whooshing sound in my head or something. All the letters of the alphabet are colors and on a 3D plane, shapes have colors and smells, like triangles are orange and smell like oranges, and circles are yellow and smell like lemons. Monday is white, tuesday is sky blue, wednesday is bright yellow, thursday is brown, friday is black, saturday is forest green, and sunday is pink. That is the way it has always been for me, and it makes it easier for me to figure out dates. When I hear music, I can also see it in patterns and shapes.

Never knew it had a name glad to know. I see color combinations in everything and always thought it was just being a bit on the artistic side.. lol