Can't stand pictures of people on the walls

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Is there anyone else who has something like an aversion to pictures of people on the walls at home?
There's a feeling like a pressure pushing against me from them.

Don't want pictures of people in my wallet either.

Last edited by southwestforests on 21 Jul 2009, 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I don't have any.

Not me, but that's interesting. How are you with eye gaze?
I have a son who can't stand huge portraits of people. He feels like they are watching him.

Agreed. No pictures of people on my walls ever. Nor in my wallet. Actually, no pictures or anything else on my walls. They are too distracting. Even shadows cast by lights or reflections on shiny surfaces can be distracting.

Eye gaze is an interesting point. I make a habit of looking at people's collar bones, since direct eye contact is confusing and unpleasant. Anyone else?

I don't do pictures either, walls or wallet

Other than the required ID picture

I don't do pictures of me AT ALL

Me too. I hate pictures of people posed looking out. Makes my skin crawl. when I see magazines with a single person on the cover particularly if it is centered on their face I almost always turn them over so that I don't have to see them.

Oh me too. I have a lot of pictures of bands in my room and I've got a huge one of Ryan from Panic at The Disco (I think he's cute) and it feels like he can read my mind with his eyes.
The pictures on my wall that I like the most are of people not looking at the camera.

Never occured to me, but there are no pictures/photos of people around me. Except maybe vague figures in classical art. Lab Pet does not do eye contact either.

There's so much art, why choose a human to look at? I mean, they're everywhere! Why bring them home to display on the walls?
Aren't 6 billion enough??? Why post more on the wall......geez.

I can't stand pictures of people hanging on the walls (feels like they can see me even though I know they can't) and I never get my picture taken (although that's mostly because I think I'm ugly).

I do that too, but my brother with aspergers insists on turning them up the right way again, because he feels like the person on the cover will suffocate when they're face down.

Yes.

The crazy thing is that I really care about the people in the photographs (friends, family members etc.).

Yet at the same time, I often can't bear to look at their eyes.
I feel afraid: it's bizarre.


It's paradoxical: how is it possible to love someone, but have difficulty looking in their eyes for more than a few seconds?

What's going on?

I've never really been a "people person" yet I can still like and be friends with others.


I also have difficulty looking at real photographs of people in magazines without turning the page. I sometimes feel intense fear and embarrassment when looking at a photograph of a person's face. This is why I've always preferred comics or nature/science magazines.


I also have difficulty taking photos of people too.
I used to get complaints from my family that I only took pictures of the scenery or animals. I'd often be asked:

"Where are all the people?"

Ambereyes, some research of the brain showed that for NTs, eye gaze stimulates the limbic system. For ASs, eye gaze stimulates the amygdala, hence the fear. You can desensitize yourself. It took me a few decades, but now I'm completely comfortable looking into people's eyes. Now I have to practice not staring.

Thanks that's really interesting.
It explains a lot (if it's true), not just about me, but about other people I'm close to.

Stuff like this relating to different kinds of brain wiring should really be made common knowledge because it has far reaching implications for social interactions.

Of course I will try and desensitise myself (I've been trying to do this my whole life), but I also think that other people should be made aware about individual differences.

That way people could try and "meet each other half way".

At the end of the day, if the difference is hard wired, there's only so much one can do and that goes for both sides AS and NT.


The next question is:
"Why does eye gaze stimulate the amygdala rather than the limbic system in AS people?"

What's the evolutionary mechanism for this difference?

Is the AS "fear" response "maladaptive" or due to some other factor such as group selection?

Picture this topic

I have pictures of my children on the walls and in my wallet.

Such pictures do not stimulate my amygdala. These are my kids.

I have photos of my family members as memories in albums. Many pics are over 100 years old.

As a rule I do not like pictures of myself, but I make an exception because of my kids, for posterity.

I would never post a pic of myself here, or anywhere else on the internet.

The paintings on my walls are landscapes, which are very peaceful.

Ok, this is very strange and cool, I had not thought of this before, but no... I don't have any pictures of people on my walls, except for my children (which don't bother me at all). In fact, my husband keeps wanting to hang photos of people up and I keep stalling saying that I need to paint that wall. I didn't realize it before, but I think this is why.

I remember in college I would always sit at the same table in a corner of this campus hamburger shop, and they had this old photo of a sports team from the early 1900's on the wall in that corner. Of course I knew they weren't real, but I always felt like those guys were "sitting with me" at the table, like friends.

Interesting about the single face on a magazine too. I remember very clearly when I was younger always using a pencil eraser to erase the eyes out of the person's face and re-draw the eyeballs cross-eyed. How in the world did I make it almost 40 years without someone realizing I was an Aspie?

Factoid: Those with ASD, when their eye movements are 'tracked' (via sensory electrodes) even avert eye contact with 'moving pictures,' meaning TV & movies - same reason. Instead, our eye movements are all over the screen, not selectively on the person and their eyes.

NTs have selective attention, which basically means they focus on just certain key areas that are meaningful to them, such as other people, their expressions (eyes!), and main focal points. Conversely, those w/ ASD can, for example, how many electrical outlets are in a room, chairs, details, patterns, etc. but might miss the big picture.......so they say.

Yes, am aware eye contact stimulates amygdala and ours is already flooded with stimuli. Also, my video clip (URL below, in sig line) SHOWS the why of my lack of eye contact.