I Really Didn't See You There...(Prosopagnosia, for real!)

     I have been aware of this impairment for many years and suffered many moments of embarrassment and confusion prior to self-discovery. It's seems that although there are not a massive amount of people with the same type of 'brain glitch', there are documented clinic cases and studies showing two types of face blindness: acquired (usually caused by brain injury) and congenital (unknown deficiency during the developmental stages of the brain, either during birth or early childhood). And the name of this wonderful impairment is: Prosopagnosia.

Polygon data were generated by Database Center for Life Science(DBCLS)[2]. - Polygon data are from BodyParts3D[1]…

 

   And this little 'brain glitch' comes with it's set of social and emotional issues. Your confidence takes a major hit, on a daily basis when you are misunderstood as you don't acknowledge people in public because you genuinely didn't see them. You walked past your own parents because you didn't recognize them and you just left their side around the corner not even two minutes before. You would look at pictures of your self several times over and compare them in the mirror because you just don't recognize yourself. Your now ex-husband would think you being 'dumb' because you couldn't find him in a crowd, ever.
     These kinds of misunderstandings and negative reactions to my misread actions were only amplified with a developing social anxiety that turned this "out-every-night-with-group-or-not" into "Hermit-Of-The-Year" candidate.
     Hence, the need to voice the experience that over 2% of the global population suffers from, either from the time they are born or due to some workplace accident, ski slope tumble, etc.
     This is not temporary amnesia, nor a curable affliction. The brain is a very curious instrument that we haven't even begun to understand, although we have made some progress in mapping it.
     I just wanted to have the knowledge out there on a more social platform so others know: I'm not a bitch because I didn't wave back, it's the fact that I don't recognize you; I avoid gatherings because I can't find anybody in a large crowd; I might have met you more than once, it won't change the fact that I don't remember who you are, even if you are famous.
     So there it is, it's real and it has made life very difficulty as this has cost me work, acceptance, social contact, and most of all, alienation from my own family as I've always been perceived as weird when in actuality, I just don't see things right, seriously.

#BrainInjury #Prosopagnosia #SocialAnxiety

©Dominique Clark 2016