Anybody else started thinking in shapes?

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I have begun to notice I am thinking in shapes, often connected with (especially strong) feelings. My counselor mentioned the possibility of Synesthesia, but I don't know if it could be, or not. I don't see numbers or letters in color, I simply see shapes connected with emotions.
Anybody else do this? Just curious.

JW

Not shapes for me. I see colors. Flowing and ebbing. It is quite fascinating. Not sure how to explain it. I know it isn't shapes.. but it is similar in a way I think.

Synesthesia is quite common with ASDs and it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to see colours with numbers/ letters. That particular thing is known as "grapheme-colour synesthesia" and it is only one of the various types. People with synesthesia may have only one type of synesthesia very strongly, or a combination, or many of them not as strongly, etc. It varies greatly. I would guess that your thinking in shapes in connection to feelings is a form of synesthesia. As you become aware of synesthesia, you may start noticing other instances of it in your life. Even if you don't, what you already do qualifies in my opinion.

I have almost every type you can imagine but they are not so strong that they invade my life to the point where they are distracting. I'll share what I have:

I see colours for strong emotions (hot pink with a glowing golden centre and flecks of neon green for very intense romantic love).

I have grapheme-colour synesthesia (the numbers and letters with colours, also certain whole words, like names - usually based on their first letter).

I also have spacial sequence synesthesia (also perhaps known as "number-form synesthesia"), which means picturing numbers laid out in a certain spacial sequence. In my case they start like a graph, with 0 at "ground level" and then slowly rising indefinitely. The interesting thing is that the rise of the numbers isn't perfectly even, so some parts of the never-ending "hill" of the graph seem to rise more steeply depending on which numbers are there (i.e. after 100). As a kid, I used to see it as a snowy ski-slope, since I did some cross-country skiing, but as I matured it became a green graph on a black outer space background.

I have sound-colour synesthesia, so I picture all music as various shapes and washes of colours.. pretty much any combination of shapes and colours you could think of. Normally, they don't invade my vision, but I've had a couple VERY intense ones when listening to music while starting to fall asleep.

Here's an interesting one: personification. I do this almost exclusively with numbers 1-9. Each one has a distinct personality and gender. For instance, they are all either male or female except for 2 which is androgynous, number 8 is kind of a bully, and 9 is a bit haughty, etc. I had these thoughts very strongly as an elementary-school aged child, and I would think of their personalities and interactions while doing math problems.. which led to major distraction!

Lastly: lexical-gustatory synesthesia. This is associating certain words with tastes. I only have it very rarely. I also occasionally associate a colour with a very distinct flavour, such as a certain light yellow to synthetic banana flavour.

Valkyrie, I agree, it does sound very similar to what I see! Same basic landscape, but you have colors, you lucky dog!

EverythingShimmers, I found your explanation of Synesthesia enlightening and fascinating!! You obviously have several forms of it, yourself, and I'd like to know more! FASCINATING reading what you wrote!!

And you believe my shape/ emotional thinking would qualify as Synesthesia? I need to research this, more, and see what I can learn about it.

Thanks to you both for your input!

Not really with shapes necessarily, but I see music in waves, usually in frequency patterns or ripples.

Jaden, that does sound very similar to what I can see/ feel. It makes me wonder how many types of Synesthesia there are, and what all can actually be called "Synesthesia".
I still feel kinda confused about it....

I see music in moving shapes.

I read poetry and "see" lines running through and connecting words, sounds and ideas.

That sounds interesting, Mikassnya!

Music for me has a great deal of color although I"m not completely sure it's actual synesthesia, it may simply be pseudo synesthesia. Either way I've lost most of this ability as an adult.

For example one might consider themselves synesthesic because they feel unesay with the number 13, yet this is a cultural issue as well.

Hmmm....makes me wonder about what we experience, Stoek. I am not sure whether or not I have Synesthesia. I only know I experience shapes, motion, emotion. Unsure about things, at this point....

I've personally heard of a lot and experienced a few (though most of the time I only experience two and I'm not sure if the second would be considered part of the catagory).

There's seeing music in color, smelling sounds, tasting colors, and a few others I can't put into words at the moment.

Certain smells have colors.

I almost want to say "personification" with letters, but I think that was more of a vivid imagination as a child than actual synesthesia, because it doesn't happen automatically.

Jaden, I'm still trying to learn about Synesthesia, but there's a lot of the same kinds of information on the web, and I rarely see anything I'd truly consider to be new information. *sigh*
conundrum, you have some interesting Synesthesia, from the sound of it!

Thank you.

Here's another one: I used to personify network logos. Guess I wasn't the only one, though--ever see this site?

Closing Logos Wiki (Okay, not "personification", exactly....)

YES ive thought in shapes for quite a while. Theyre more like abstract digital art looking things. Formations with concepts and ideas attached to each section. I thought maybe it was synesthesia but that is apparently random associations? (correct me if im wrong). And my shapes are more of a language with rules and purposes so i feel like its not syn for me.
They can have different textures, colours, opacity and can also include shapes of normal everyday objects to help the meanings, like a door is very useful symbolically. Mine uses physics and helps me solve problems within myself and also other types of things. Usually the way i explain it to people is that, if you have a whole bunch of metaphors, when you keep using more and more to explain a concept. My shapes fit through each of the metaphors perfectly. its basically raw conceptualising. I think to some degree everyone has this, as theres a lot of it in 'sayings' in english that make it seem like everyone has it but we might just be more sensitive to it so we actually can percieve it. Mine are tied to thoughts and emotions. im so glad there are other people. of course our shapes probably wouldnt have the same meaning but just imagining another person replying to me in shapes actually makes me cry. sometimes it feels like being an exchange student in this world where no one else speaks my language. even though i grew up with english. its like i have to constantly translate my shape thoughts into english so others can get me. im slow with words.

oh also, the shapes that come with my feelings, i feel the shapes in my chest. as if im sensing where the chemicals are being released (?) not sure if thats the same with you?