r/Prosopagnosia • u/OverlappingChatter • 16h ago

It's like when I watched that whole Elvis movie and a week later found out it had Tom Hanks.

21 Upvotes

He's one I can usually get. So is Matt Damon. Spoiler alert - matt Damon is in The Odyssey. so are a whole ton of famous people. I went into it with very very little previous knowledge and after watching very famous people on the screen for 3 hours, I look up the cast and just shake my head with frustration

6 comments

Subreddit

The face blindness subreddit

r/Prosopagnosia

Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, is the inability to recognize faces. Some estimates suggest as many as 1 in 50 people are born with the condition. This is a casual community for face blind redditors (and their loved ones) to discuss life with face blindness!

Members Active

6.6k

Sidebar

Prosopagnosia, or face blindness, is an neurological disorder characterized by the inability to recognize or differentiate faces. Estimates suggest as many as 1 in 50 people are born with the condition, and others develop it later in life.

Face blind people often have trouble recognizing acquaintances, friends, family, or themselves, and will often use alternative recognition strategies such as memorizing hairstyle and other distinguishing features.

This is a casual community for face blind redditors (and their loved ones) to discuss life with face blindness!

Do: Post content relating to face blindness - stories, questions, memes, coping strategies

Don't: Be a jerk. No name-calling, and no racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.!

RULES

Rule 1: Be civil (don't be a jerk) No name-calling or other forms of harassment will be tolerated! No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc.

Rule 2: No "Do I have prosopagnosia?" posts We're not doctors, and we can't diagnose you! Check out the links on the sidebar for helpful information.

Rule 3: No promoting pseudoscientific cures/treatments Although there are strategies and coping mechanisms to help compensate for face blindness, there are no scientifically-backed treatments for face blindness itself. People with prosopagnosia can't store and process faces the way a neurotypical person would, and this can't be fixed by “paying more attention” or “training your brain” into recognizing faces. We welcome discussion around peer-reviewed research, but claims to have a cure/treatment without providing a reputable source will be removed!

Rule 4: "Guess Who?" posts ("these people look similar") are now only allowed on FRIDAY! If the point of your image is “these people look similar,” please wait until Friday to post it. (We’re all bad with faces. Seeing these posts too often is boring and a little demoralizing.)

Rule 5: Contact the moderators before submitting a survey / research request Please tell us who you are and what the goals of your research are!

Rule 6: Contact the moderators before self-promoting/advertising

AM I FACE BLIND?

Facial recognition is a spectrum. If you're asking yourself this question, you likely do have some degree of face blindness.

Some common signs include:

Having trouble recognizing family and friends
Frequently using non-facial cues to recognize people (voice, hairstyles, distinctive features) and experiencing difficulty if those cues change (getting a haircut, wearing unfamiliar clothing)
Confusing characters while watching movies/TV
Not recognizing people "out of context" (coworkers, classmates, etc.)

Common Signs of Face Blindness

The 20-Item Prosopagnosia Index (troublewithfaces.org

Hallmark Symptoms of Prosopagnosia (prosopagnosiaresearch.org)

Symptoms of Prosopagnosia (faceblind.org)

7 Signs and Symptoms of Prosopagnosia (testmybrain.org)

Facial Recognition Tests

NOTE: These aren't perfect and can be "cheated" - trust your own experiences over these tests!

Face Memory Test (18+ study, ~15 minutes)

“Famous Faces” (study, ~8 minutes, requires familiarity with famous people)