17 Things People Assume Are Normal But Definitely Aren’t

It’s dangerously easy to amble onward in life without paying a second thought to things you might have going on with yourself that are far outside the realm of the ordinary. If you find yourself nodding your head in agreement with any of these, it might be time for you to get in for a doctor’s visit.

1. On migraines

“Ever since I can remember I got periodic weird sparkly things in my field of vision. Rainbow, jagged, circular-ish thing that gradually got bigger until my head seemed to pass through the ring and then it faded. Happened all the time. I would get really cranky, achy and tired afterward. Always happened when my mom would take me shopping for clothes or groceries (she used to get so annoyed when I wanted to leave after 10 minutes at the mall). In my twenties I mentioned it in passing ‘oh hang on I have a sparkly thing. Ugh I hate these because now I’m going to have a headache. Mom was like, wait what, yeah, I have chronic migraine with aura and fluorescent light is a primary trigger.” – u/xinaroo

2. On exercise induced asthma

“When I was a kid, I’d walk to school. When it was cold, I’d come home and my mom would ask, why are you wheezing? I’d shrug because I thought it was just what happened to people when it was cold. Found out several years later that I had exercise induced asthma, and cold weather was my main trigger.” – u/somegarbage2039

3. On constant apologizing

“Apologizing constantly, even for things that aren’t my fault. Turns out, not everyone feels the need to say sorry all the time.” – u/hatstronaut

4. On overanalyzing

“I used to think everyone replayed conversations in their heads and analyzed every word they said, but then I found out most people just move on without giving it a second thought.” – u/teatime

5. On constant counting

“Constant counting in my head. Turns out that’s an OCD symptom. Didn’t realize until I was an adult. I count everything. Constantly.” – u/deleted

6. On fabric sickness

“I thought it was normal that certain fabric textures make people feel physically nauseated and violently repulsed when touching them. No, that’s called autism.” – u/durkdurk

7. On intrusive thoughts

“Constant intrusive thoughts and imagining what if scenarios of horribly traumatic possible events.” – u/brinncognito09

8. On weird heartbeats

“Ever since I was little I would frequently feel my heart kinda flop around and skip beats. I always thought this was normal until a doctor noticed it during a routine physical exam. He asked if I was nervous about being at the doctor and I told him my heart always does that. Turns out I just have a lot of premature ventricular contractions. My cardiologist told me they’re very common but most people don’t actually feel them all the time.” – u/missanthrope

9. On the internal body clock

“Having an internal body clock that’s incredibly precise, its both a blessing and a curse.” – u/blessingcurse909

10. Disassociation on command

“Being able to dissociate on command apparently that’s a symptom of my CPTSD, but for a long time I thought everyone had the ability to just stop feeling all emotions and make the world seem fake like a video game that’s not the case I found that out at 24 when i finally found a good therapist.” – u/coralreefer1999

11. On Snow Vision Syndrome

“Snow Vision Syndrome. I see a bunch of dots in my vision constantly.” – u/currentvision1909

12. Dreaming while awake

“Dreaming while awake and orchestrating my sleeping dreams. Turns out I had severe sleep apnea for all my life with 86 apnea(stopped breathing) events per hour or about every minute and a half. I was treated with CPAP and my whole world changed for the better after the first 8 hours of real sleep.” – u/lastredwitchtoo90

13. On thinking of yourself as we

“When I think to myself, I often use we. If I’m getting up to get some coffee, I’ll think, let’s go get some coffee. It’s not a split personality thing. I think I distinguish between the parts of me that does/feels/thinks things and the meta part of me that observes myself.” – u/jtaulbee

14. On Aphantasia

“I am well into my 50’s, in the last 3 years I have discovered that most people can visualize and have the other senses in their head. I have none. Aphantasia is not visualizing. I realized most people have a narrator or internal monologue, I have none. My brain is so quiet compared to friends and family I don’t know how they put up with all that going on.” – u/toolset

15. On tinnitus

“I used to hear a full symphony in my head when I lay down at night. Most of the time it’s mellow with beautiful violins, oboes, French horns. It slowly builds and can be quite moving. It’s never songs I’ve heard or know. I have zero musical talent so in my head it all stays. I say, used to, because once I developed tinnitus the ringing has taken place of the music. Pretty crappy trade off.” – u/radioactivejellomold

16. On sounds causing sensations

“Sounds causing actual physical sensations. I don’t just mean the sound waves that everyone hears. I’m talking about actual shapes with textures and movements in and around my torso. It turns out I have tactile audio synesthesia. Almost everyone who has any type of synesthesia is surprised when they finally figure out that other people don’t experience the world the way that they do.” – u/goodluckluck

17. On mirroring other people

“Mirroring other peoples behavior and making a personality fitting for them. Results in me being super stressed when I meet new people because I don’t know how to behave. Social contact also costs a lot of energy. Turns out people don’t think of that and just kinda go as themselves. However that’s supposed to work. Also genuinely enjoying being alone. I told a friend that I will just lock myself in my flat for a few days to relax and he said that’s a bit extreme. For me it’s really nice and relaxing. I need my alone time and don’t ‘miss’ social contact as fast as other people.” – u/katerlater09