I Have Synesthesia, Let Me Tell You What It's Like

Hi, i have synesthesia. in this article i will tell you what it's like, and explain what it is. I hope you like it!

What is synesthesia?

Synesthesia is a rare condition (less than 4% of the population have it) where two or more of your senses get mixed up. Don't worry, it is NOT a mental condition, or a disability. For example, i have a friend who has it, and this is how it works for her: when she eats something she can smell it, and when she smells something she can taste it. i know most people can kind taste what they smell and visa/versa, but for her it's REALLY strong.

What it's like for me

This is what it's for me: When i see/ hear a number or a letter, i see them in my brain with colors. When i hear music, it is a LOT more complicated. When i hear music, i see all sorts of weird designs, and it's really hard to explain. But comment below, should i make another artical just so i can draw what my favorite song (Ascension by John Coltrane) looks like?

The letter's colors and the number's colors

These are the colors that I pair with the letters and numbers.

Other ways you could have synesthesia

The ways me and my friend have it aren't the only ways it could work. You might be able to taste shapes, sounds, or colors. You might associate shapes with colors or numbers. You might be able to hear smells. The list is endless!

Upsides

Some upsides are... well it's just kinda cool! Imagine having this, just take a second. or maybe you do have it, then think about it. One thing thats interesting is that if you have it the same way i do ( the colors and number part) is that you will probably be able to play this game WAAAAAY faster. Look:

Try to find all the twos mixed in with the fives

Via treehugger.com

Was it hard?

Via treehugger.com

If you don't have this type of synesthesia, this game was probably pretty difficult. How long did it take you? OK, are you ready for me to blow your mind? If you see numbers as colors, it would have taken you 2-4 SECONDS to find all of the twos!

Downsides

Of course, everything has downsides. Here's one: it gets ANNOYING! One way it gets annoying, is that if you don't like the colors in your name, or something you like, too bad! You can't change it. Like for me, the colors in my name are pink, purple, purple, red, and white all over ( for some reason, when letters are put into words, the words add another color. the added color in my name is white). I reaaaaaaally don't like purple, and red is ok, but i don't like it very much. pink is slightly better, but its not one of my favorites. I don't mind white. But all together, i don't really like the colors in my name. My. friend said that for her it is annoying, because if she smells something gross ( like... poop) she doesn't have a choice but to taste it! That's probably a lot worse that what it's like for me, i feel bad for her!

So in summary...

Synesthesia is kind of complicated, and it isn't really a good thing or a bad thing. It won't affect how you interact with people, and I really want to be clear that it's not a disability. Sorry if that's annoying, but I've always had a hard time explaining it. Synesthesia can be kind cool, but sometimes i don't like it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed reading this article, please comment feedback! Thanks for reading, byeee!