To not recognise anyone outside their natural environment

[Differentstarts]

I saw my neighbour in the supermarket today they spoke to me for about 10 minutes i had no clue who they where. This is a person who i say hello to everyday. My friend i was with knew exactly who she was and she's probably only seen her a handful of times. I'm like this all the time with teachers, drs, hairdresser, postman etc unless they are where their "supposed" to be i just don't recognise them. My friend on the other hand recognises everyone after meeting them once. She thinks I'm weird I think she is. Which is normal and which are you?

I really struggle when people are out of context. If I met you at work I’d struggle to recognise you in the supermarket!!

I’ve heard of face blindness but my mind is completely blown by people saying they haven’t recognised their husband / sister in the street! That must be so difficult to live with!

I once had a long conversation with Stuart the Finance Officer, in the Finance Office at work.

I then went straight to the Main Office, a two minute walk away, to do some photocopying. When I got there, someone was already using the photocopier. I vaguely recognised him, but couldn’t think who it was for the life of me. So I edged a bit closer, so I could read his lanyard.

Yes. It was Stuart the Finance Officer.

OMG this is me. I ignore loads of people, I now let people know I’ll ignore them unless they’re where I usually associate them with being! So embarrassing!

It's called prosopagnosia.

I agree that seeing a person out of context is very confusing. I find I often recognise people from their gait and mannerisms, more than from their face. I often twig who a person is when they smile. But though I then know who they are, or where I know them from, I still haven't a clue what their name is!

I am like this - if they are not in the place I know them from then I don't recognise people and wait hopefully for them to say something which might clue me in. I have lost count of the times I have been with another person who will then ask who was that and I have said - no idea.

I'm the same. I'm so bad that once I actually failed to recognise my own mother when I saw her somewhere I wasn't expecting to. To be fair,I did wonder if it was her,offered her a lift home,and she didn't respond/ hear me,so I thought that it maybe wasn't her. It was.
I'm far better with horses and dogs. If someone is on a horse or with their dog,I can recognise the animals and therefore the person very easily.

Prosopagnosia is the medical name. I did the test and scored 18%, dh got 92%

Suddenly everything made sense, now when I meet new people I tell them. It saves so much embarrassment a nd people thinking I'm a stuck up cow for ignoring them.
I once spent ten minutes chatting to man I thought was my husband 😀 Bless him, he looked terrified.

Same here op, it take me a while- embarrassing as I work at a checkout so don’t have the time to figure out who I’m chatting to😅

What is the test?!

This is me.
out of context then I’ve no luck figuring out who you are
i still think about a man I seen in Tesco about 15 years ago (this is pathetic I know). Still cannot figure out who he is and I know him 🤣

Face blindness.

I have this and the direction thing too. I am diagnosed with adhd.

I'm a super recogniser and it's equally socially unacceptable. I have to pretend I don't recognise people sometimes. I can meet someone once and recognise them again years later.

I did this; I was a super recogniser or somesuch! I’m fab with faces — but not so brilliant with names.

This is why I can’t keep up with modern tightly constructed dark crime drama. I completely mix up the characters. Beyond E2, I don’t know who anyone is. Especially given that in true noir, the characters all have to conform to a tight ‘norm’ to be believable.

It has been liberating to discover this, along with the revelation that there are people out there who do not have an internal monologue. Seriously. They walk among us.

I seem to offend people regularly by not recognizing them on the street.
At least at work they just tend to find it funny! (Doesn't help that we all wear identical uniforms and alot of the girls drastically change their hairstyles on a weekly basis.....a few months ago one of them took her wig off mid shift so i have no hope! 😂).

I have this and it’s not until recently that I’ve realised it’s a condition.

About 15 years ago while working as a beauty advisor I was chatting to 2 women putting makeup on them, i was probably with them for around 20 minutes. When they left I walked around the shop to ask if anyone wanted to try some make up on. I actually stopped the same 2 women who I had just spent the last 20 mins with. Safe to say they weren’t impressed and gave me the most confused look. They then told me that I’ve just spent time with them and I just replied “oh yes” i probably turned bright red. I still cringe now thinking about it.

It is a little bit more than this though… I often can’t even tell the difference between similar characters in the same movie. It’s not just being unable to remember. It’s being unable to decode and assess features of a face compared to another.

I have it too, very badly. It was such a relief when I realised what it was!!

I watched this on This Morning which made me realise.

You learn coping strategies and I tell new people at work or when I make a new friend that I won't recognise them and to please come over and say hi if they see me.

That's my old colleague! He was so awkward about it afterwards.

I have it mildly, he ran a few tests on me.....

I walked past my mother in the street once...
My best friend is amazing at remembering people. She even recognises people she hasn't seen since they were children.

I am like this. Usually I am pretty good at covering it up but occasionally people realise that I have no clue who they are. It's deeply embarrassing! I also struggle with following films when all of the characters look the same... especially the men, I find.

I also have no sense of direction.

I have wondered if it's connected to adhd, but that might be totally unrelated.

Yes, I agree. I like watching films with my DH or my daughter because they know to keep telling me which character is which!

I have this too, sometimes mildly but sometimes extreme!

I also have it with certain celebrities. For example Amber Heard, obv she was everywhere a year or so ago because of the trial with Johnny Depp but I still have to Google her to remember what she looks like. Apparently I've seen multiple films with an actor called Armie Hammer but no idea what he looks like.

I'm also terrible with direction. Often turn the wrong way when coming out of the toilets in a restaurant. It's actually a bit concerning!