Prosopagnosia means you have difficulty distinguishing faces. It’s a brain condition that wasn’t researched much until about forty years ago. If you have trouble remembering people, or you get them mixed up a lot, or struggle to follow movies/TV shows because you can’t tell who’s who, you might have it. Here are some more clues that you might be a proso, as some of us call ourselves. (Prosopagnosia is also called “face blindness,” but I don’t like that term because it suggests that faces look to us like smooth egg-like surfaces, which they do not.)

Each of these statements was posted by someone in the Facebook prosopagnosia group I’m in. They gave me their permission to use these anonymously. I’ve only changed the punctuation on some of them to make them easier to read.

• You might have prosopagnosia if you have ever joined an organization simply because members wear name tags when they gather….or if you don’t join a group or attend an event because they DON’T wear name tags.

 

• You might have face blindness if you feel very, very lucky that the good-looking man you were admiring turns out to be your husband.

 

• You might have face blindness if you have ever happened upon an intruder in your home only to realize a moment later, you just walked by a mirror and didn’t recognize your own reflection….or said “excuse me” to someone in a store only to discover it was you, in a mirror.

 

• You might have face blindness if you’ve ever turned away from someone you’ve been talking to and immediately thought “cr@p I forgot to make note of what shirt they’re wearing!” Double points if this has happened while out someplace crowded and the person in question is your significant other.

 

• You might have face blindness if you know all the dogs at the dog park, but you never recognize any of the people.

 

• You might have face blindness if you can’t watch a movie without a companion to tell you who is who. Or you don’t really like popular shows such as Mad Men because everyone looks the same. It’s like… the women look alike except the redhead, and the men all look alike except the one who has silver hair.

 

• You might have prosopagnosia if choosing to dine alone means giving up any hope of being able to pick out your server when you need something.

 

• You might have face blindness if you have ever warmly hugged a stranger and called them “mom.” Bonus points if your actual mom was standing RIGHT THERE.

 

• You might have face blindness if you ever had to explain to a coworker why you have a post-it note on your computer monitor that reads: “Susan P: heavy set, red curly hair, Sara W: blonde straight hair, Rachel B: glasses, br hair, Mike W: almost bald, Chris F: br hair, wears bow ties…”

 

• You might have face blindness if you avoid large community gatherings because the most common complaint friends have about you is that you are such a “snob” because you sometimes “completely ignore” friends you see in public. By skipping the special events, you avoid the social faux pas and resulting resentments caused by your not properly recognizing and warmly greeting pals you happen upon outside of their usual setting.

 

• You might be a proso if you introduce yourself to your aunt at your grandmother’s funeral.

 

• You might have face blindness if you think the worst thing about getting in an argument with someone is that afterwards you feel paranoid because you aren’t always sure when you are in that person’s company or not.

 

• You might have prosopagnosia if you’ve argued with your significant other about your inability to distinguish between people, and s/he thinks it’s just carelessness, inattentiveness or being dumb.

Yes, these are all real things that happened to people who struggle with prosopagnosia, and the last one is mine. So if anyone ever tells you they have it, please take them seriously and maybe even ask how you can help them out.

Ways you can help someone with prosopagnosia:

• Try not to be offended when you see the person in the future and they ignore you or ask how they know you or introduce herself/himself to you all over again.
• When you see them in the future, give your name and say where you met. That is VERY helpful.

We thank you in advance.

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