American actor Brad Pitt suffers from a very particular disorder, prosopagnosia.
The 58-year-old man made this admission during an interview with GQ magazine a few days ago.
This neurological disease is also known as “face blindness”.
Those who suffer from it fail to recognize faces, sometimes even familiar faces.
The comedian, who has not been officially diagnosed, says the disorder often causes him social problems.
He explained that he might not remember the people he met, especially at parties, and that he then seemed to many full of himself or snobbish.
Brad Pitt admits that he nevertheless tries to remember the people he meets, without success, which he felt ashamed of.
“Nobody believes me when I say that. I would like to meet someone who also suffers from this!” he said during his interview.
What is prosopagnosia?
This rather rare neurological disorder affects between 2 and 2.5% of the world’s population.
It can appear from a very young age and lasts a lifetime. This is then called congenital prosopagnosia.
There is also progressive prosopagnosia which evolves over time, often due to a neurodegenerative problem.
Finally, people who have had a stroke, concussion or brain tumor may suffer from “acquired” prosopagnosia.
In a 2019 study published by BMC Psychology, a woman told German psychologists that it “never occurred to her” that she might recognize people by their faces.