Living With Face Blindness

I can relate to the article ‘Do I Know You?’ (October). I too suffer from face blindness. They say it can be hereditary – in my case it was: my father certainly had it, as do all of my siblings.

Someone will talk to me who clearly knows me and I have absolutely no idea who they are or how they know me. When we go to parties or get-togethers my husband has to greet people using their name so that I know who they are. If someone smiles at me, I never know if it is a friendly stranger or someone who actually knows me. To help me I have made notes in

Let us know if you are moved – or provoked – by any item in the magazine, share your thoughts. See page 8 for how to join the discussion.

my phone about people’s looks. I can sometimes be OK with people in context, for example, at the gym, but if I see them elsewhere, in street clothes and not activewear, I have no idea who they are. It’s also a struggle to follow movie plots because I don’t recognise the main actors in them.

Face blindness impacts my life most days. It is so embarrassing because people think that I am being rude when I don’t acknowledge them. JULIE PHILLIPS