Facial Blindness

Anyone just watch that episode on 60 minutes about facial blindness? I find it very interesting because for a long time now I've thought I've had it to a degree. It's the inability to recognize faces. Some people say, "I'll forget your name, but I never forget a face." That's not me at all. I don't recognize people outside of the normal circumstances that I would see them. This really just applies to people I know, but maybe don't hang out with regularly. Let's say I see them at church every week and say "hi" in passing. I use context clues to help me figure out who they are...#of kids, long hair/short hair, other people they're hanging out with, etc. If I see that same person, maybe at the grocery store the next day, I may think they look familiar, but I couldn't tell you how I know them.

Here's an example from when I was in 1st grade. I had a really good friend named Adam at school. He's the only kid I still remember. We played on the playground together, ate lunch together...you get the idea. I also had a friend in my Sunday school class at church named Adam. I did not learn until someone told me that they were the same person!

On the show, they talked about this abnormality causing anxiety. I never go up to someone that I think I might know because I can't quite tell. I often go along with it when someone talks to me like we know each other because I should know them, I just can't figure it out. Justin often helps me remember who it was I was just talking to. Just imagine the difficulty when someone cuts or colors their hair!

It's weird, because, like I said, it's not with everyone. People closer to me are not hard to recognize outside of the normal context in which I see them. Just those that I know, but don't hang out with a lot. Anyone else experience this?!