New recruit from the Mask Singer program, the humorist Elodie Poux lives with an invisible handicap, which she spoke of with franchise at the microphone of TF1 in 50’In inside. This neurological disorder is called prosopagnosia. What is it?
Live with prosopagnosia, a question of adaptation
Since the actors Thierry Lhermitte and Brad Pitt revealed to have been affected by prosopagnosia, this disorder has become better known to the general public. Prosopagnosia, also called facial blindness, is characterized by the difficulty that a person experiences in identifying faces. Élodie Poux has learned to deal with what some people wrongly take for distance or coldness. People informed of his disorder take care to appear at each meeting, thus avoiding misunderstandings. Other clues help him on a daily basis: voice, silhouette, jewelry, approach or even clothing style.
“I may not recognize an uncle, a person I have been working with for ten years” she says. Long misunderstood by those around him, this deficit sometimes placed him in delicate situations.
“”I know that, in everyday life, especially in events where we are all gathered, I hurt a lot of people, who are not believe or say ‘yes but me, anyway’ ‘“She explains, relieved that the diagnosis finally put words on his disorder.
How to define prosopagnosia?
“”Like many scientific or medical terms, the word prosopagnosia is too often poorly used. He is used to designate people who find it difficult to identify faces and say they are little physiognomists’, which has nothing to do with prosopagnosia since this is nothing pathological “ Recalls Dr Catherine Thomas-Anterion, neurologist.
In Élodie Poux, prosopagnosia has been present since birth, probably caused by genetic anomalies or development. This is called developmental or congenital form. This disorder may however appear later, after a stroke or brain trauma. We then speak of acquired prosopagnosia.
According to a recent study, this disorder that was thought to be rare could ultimately affect almost 3% of the population!
How to diagnose this disorder and live with it?
The diagnosis of prosopagnosia is based on specific visual tests.
“”These are tests for which we have standards. They differ according to the age of the person. Concretely, the patient is asked to identify people in photos. We start with famous faces but we can also offer him photos of relatives provided by the family “ specifies the neurologist.
There is no curative treatment. But strategies are proposed, especially for people with progressive forms, such as those linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
“This is why prosopagnosia in a patient with Alzheimer’s often fits into an agnosic syndrome, that is to say that the person suffers from other types of agnosia: he does not recognize objects, smells, monuments or even sounds” details Catherine Thomas-Anterion.
Memory workshops can help memorize faces thanks to contextual elements. For the others, life with this disorder comes above all by adaptation, the information of those around them … and a little humor, as Elodie Poux knows so well.