So do I have another Psychological Disorder or not?

[4everlost23]

So yesterday I was on and off wildminds for a while. During which time I read discussions and blogs by other members who have other conditions as well as MDD. For some reason this got me to thinking about something else that I have been doing for years. So I googled something like..."people who see shapes, patterns, figures in objects", and pressed enter. What do you know two terms actually came up in the search..."Pareidolia and Apophenia." I only searched a little yesterday and a little today so far, but I can not pinpoint which one I have??? They seem to be similar, almost like they are one in the same, hmm...I need to do more research.

So anyway they often use the example of seeing religious faces in toast etc. I do see faces, shapes, people, and even(ok this is where it gets weird), fashion/pattern(clothes and colors) and such. This may be the very reason I can come up with really cool fashion ideas, and how to pair certain pieces of clothint together. I can also see scenes in objects. Example, like I might look down at a carpet and see people sitting together at a table, or two people hugging or posing. It's really weird to me. Of course its not moving objects, but its like a full scene with colors and people frozen in time like a painting. This is the best way I can describe it. I also see shapes in clouds, but who doesn't I think eveyone can see shapes and figures in clouds. 

According to wikipedia Pareidolia is defined as...a psychological phenomenon involving a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant, a form of apophenia. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds, the man in the moon or the Moon rabbit, and hearing hidden messages on records when played in reverse.

While Apophenia is defined as...is the experience of seeing patterns or connections in random or meaningless data.The term is attributed to Klaus Conrad by Peter Brugger, who defined it as the "unmotivated seeing of connections" accompanied by a "specific experience of an abnormal meaningfulness", but it has come to represent the human tendency to seek patterns in random information in general, such as with gambling and paranormal phenomena. So which is it pareidolia or apophenia??

[4everlost23]

Ha ha ha, I love that! Portland seems like the place for me because I am one weird girl.

[Cordellia Amethyste Rose]

I have a solution!  Move to Portland.  Here, you can stare at anything you want, and the weirder you are, the better.  Problem solved!  :)  

[4everlost23]

Oh you could be right they might not be psychological. It doesn't really trouble me, only thing is that it is embarrassing to me when I see something  because I stare at it, like space out just really focusing on the image and colors. So if someone sees me gawking like that...yeah it could be embarrassing. Besides that it doesn't bother me, it actually fasinates me and I love seeing the things that I see. It gives me ideas for fashion, all the patterns and colors. I even see emotions on faces in objects. Yeah I am amazed at the things I've seen. That's really nice of you to say that it seems like a gift :) I feel that our MDD is a gift, but I know many MDDers don't feel this way. Great insight and creativity? It does spark ideas for my artistic endeavours! I feel good about it, I have never felt bad about it just strange and weird, but no guilt or anything like that. @Cordellia Amethyste Rose thanks and I appreciate your valuable insight :)

[Cordellia Amethyste Rose]

I don't know which is which, but they don't sound like psychological disorders per se.  A lot of things have names that aren't psychological disorders.  Misophonia and Skin Picking Disease are real and have names, for example, but aren't psychological disorders.  Does what you do trouble you?  If so, ask a professional about it.  It seems like a very interesting phenomenon that could be a sign of great insight and creativity to me.  I'm sure many great artists saw things like that in the world.  It seems like a gift to me, but it's up to you how you feel about it.