Many patients with the disorder are not able to recognise the faces of their family members, partners, neighbours or friends.
After these actors have revealed their condition, many have been now wondering about the disorder and how it affects their daily life.
Actor Shenaz Treasury has revealed that she suffers from prosopagnosia, a medical condition causing face-blindness. Posting a series of Instagram Stories on Tuesday, Shenaz wrote that she was recently diagnosed with a cognitive disorder and that explained her inability to remember people’s faces. The actor added that she always felt “ashamed” of her inability to recognise the faces of people, even close friends. Recently, Hollywood actor Brad Pitt had also opened up about suffering from undiagnosed face-blindness.
After these actors have revealed their condition, many have been now wondering about the disorder and how it affects their daily life. Here is a detailed explanation of the diagnosis.
What is Prosopagnosia?
According to the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), face blindness or prosopagnosia affects a person from their birth and is usually a condition that stays with the individual throughout their life. Prosopagnosia can have a severe impact on the day-to-day life of the patient
How do they recognise people?
Many patients with the disorder are not able to recognise the faces of their family members, partners, neighbours or friends. They may cope by using alternative strategies to recognise people such as remembering the way someone walks or their voice or hairstyle. But it is not a long-term solution. Shenaz explained this on her Instagram story and said, “When someone gets a haircut, you may not recognise them when you see them again. Many people with face blindness use hair as a way to remember people. When a person’s hair changes, that memory cue is lost.”
- Symptoms of Face Blindness
The most common symptom is the inability to recognise or discriminate between faces. An individual may have poor recognition ability of familiar individuals, in person or in photographs. They may also have confusion regarding plotlines in movies or plays with numerous characters. They might refuse to greet individuals by name. - Is it treatable?
There is no cure for face blindness. The treatment focuses on helping people with the condition find coping mechanisms to better identify individuals. - How does it affect a patient’s life?
This condition leads to anxiety, depression, or may have any other psychological and social impact. Both Pitt and Shehnaz have talked about feeling ashamed because of their inability to recognise people’s faces.
