Brad Pitt, the famous actor, recently said in an interview that he has prosopagnosia, a brain disorder that is sometimes called “facial blindness.” Pitt’s open admission shows how hard it is for people who have this rare sickness.
As reported in a story by Dani Blum in the New York Times, behavioral neuroscientist Borna Bonakdarpour of Northwestern Medicine says that prosopagnosia usually shows up as not being able to see faces. This isn’t the same as being colorblind or having trouble seeing in general. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke stresses that the illness is not linked to memory loss, vision problems, or trouble learning. Blum says it’s important to tell the difference between the illness and occasional problems with remembering things or recalling terms. He stresses how different it is.
Different people with prosopagnosia have signs that are different levels of bad. Others may have trouble recognizing their close friends’ faces, while others may have trouble recognizing their own image. Some people might also have trouble telling faces from other things. Blum says that people who have prosopagnosia often feel alone and scared, which can make them anxious or depressed all the time.
Even though Pitt has never been officially labeled with prosopagnosia, he has known for years that he has trouble recognizing faces. In a 2013 interview with Esquire, he talked about how hard it was for him to be around other people. He said that he often felt like he had to leave events because he couldn’t recognize anyone.
Prosopagnosia can be either learned or born with. It is thought to affect up to one in fifty people. When someone is born with congenital prosopagnosia, there are no clear structural problems with the brain. On the other hand, acquired prosopagnosia can be caused by head injuries, strokes, stressful events, or diseases like Alzheimer’s.
At this time, there is no known way to fix prosopagnosia. Still, people often come up with ways to deal with it, like focusing on unique physical traits like voice or walk to tell faces apart. Neurologists use thorough memory and face recognition tests to make sure that a person doesn’t have a more serious neurological problem.
A lot of people with prosopagnosia, like Pitt, may never get a formal diagnosis, even though it has a big impact on their daily lives. The Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Andrey Stojic talks about the problems and issues that people with the condition have in common, pointing out the different levels of disability that are linked to it.
Many people have wrong ideas about prosopagnosia because Brad Pitt’s statement shows how hard it is to live with the neurological disorder.