Wendy Zuckerman (Science Vs host) / Radiolab clips narrator (also uses Radiolab voices)

So according to neuroscientist Joel Pearson.

They do seem to be correlated.

And it's not just schizophrenia.

It broadens beyond that.

This is clinical psychologist and neuroscientist Emily Holmes.

People who are highly disposed to thinking images may be slightly more anxious.

She brought up certain anxiety disorders, things like phobias.

For example, if you were afraid of spiders, you might experience bits of imagery of spiders with terribly big teeth and fangs.

And also... Perhaps the hallmark disorder is post-traumatic stress disorder in which people relive vivid mental imageries of events that have been traumatic in the past.

Now, of course, having strong imagery doesn't mean you're going to have any of these disorders or not having it doesn't protect you from them.

Right.

Okay.

But it does seem that being able to make really vivid pictures in your mind makes them more likely.

The people at Hyperphantasia that I spoke to, they also told me about these other ways that mental imagery actually makes their life harder.

Hmm.

So whether it's looking back in sort of like PTSD or looking forward in anxiety, like a potential worry, it's just so visual that it kind of like drums up the body's emotional... Yeah, exactly.

Like imagery can really turn up emotions.

It is.

I mean, it's like it's the whole blessing and a curse or like a gift, but not without a cost.

Like you get an escape hatch like Derek can just fly off into space.