Valkyrae Has Aphantasia!

In a discussion with OfflineTV member Yvonne “Yvonnie,” YouTube gaming sensation Rachell “Valkyrae” stated that she has aphantasia and went into great detail about the problem.

Yvonnie revealed that she had undergone LASIK eye surgery as streamers walked the busy streets of South Korea. Valkyrae retorted that because she had a strong vision, she was not obligated to finish the treatment. When she closes her eyes, she is unable to visualize anything. Co-founder of 100 Thieves explained: “I have aphantasia. When I close my eyes, I can’t visualize things, but I can see really well too.”

The majority of this month has been devoted to travel through many picturesque Asian locations by the Queen of YouTube Gaming. She visited Tokyo, Japan, for more than ten days, and she is currently in Seoul, South Korea, with a number of other content creators. 

On July 24, Yvonnie conducted an in-person stream in which the streamer community looked into South Korea’s night. Yvonnie explained that she had undergone LASIK surgery and was forced to wear the unique prescription glasses for a day as they traveled throughout the city. As the discussion on the subject went on, Yvonnie inquired about Rachell’s vision, to which the latter responded: “Uhh… like… 18/25? My right eye is better than the other. I have a stronger eyeball, I have really good vision but I traded that with bad memory. What’s the point of seeing if I can’t remember, right?”

The Los Angeles-based streamer then said that she suffers from aphantasia and that this prevents her from seeing items while her eyes are closed. 

When Valkyrae heard this, Yvonnie inquired as to what she would reply if someone asked her to picture herself relaxing on a beach. The latter stated that although she could picture how a scenario would play out in her head, she could not actually see it. She uttered: “I can imagine what that looks like but I can’t literally see it in my brain. Like, I can’t imagine it.” 

Rachell went on to speculate that aphantasia might be the cause of her inability to sketch things accurately: “And I can’t… I think this is also why I am really bad at drawing because I can’t see it in my head before I draw it. My handwriting is really bad too.”

For context, aphantasia is a disorder in which a person lacks the capacity to mentally visualize things and events. It affects between 1 and 3 percent of persons worldwide.