Actor-turned-travel vlogger Shenaz Treasurywala recently revealed that she suffers from a medical condition called prosopagnosia. Prosopagnosia is also known as face blindness where you cannot recognize people's faces.
Talking about her illness on her Instagram story, the actor wrote, "I have been diagnosed with prosopagnosia. Now I understand why I've never been able to put faces together. It's a cognitive disorder. I always feel ashamed. I can't recognise faces. I recognize - voices."
Explaining the symptoms of face blindness, Shenaz wrote, "You have failed to recognise a close friend or family member, especially when you weren't expecting to see them. Yes, that is me. Takes me a minute to register who the person is. Sometimes even a close friend I haven't seen in a while."
She added, "You have difficulty recognising neighbours, friends, coworkers, clients, schoolmates. People you know expect you to recognise them. Failing to recognise someone might make you seem aloof. Many sufferers report losing friends and offending coworkers because they have failed to recognise them. This is me!!! And I thought I was just dumb. Went through my whole life wondering why I can't recognise anyone - Now I realise I have this cognitive disorder."
Shenaz also wrote, "So you confuse characters in movies or on television more so than other people? Yes, I do. I can't tell the difference if two characters have the same height and build and hairstyle."
She wrote: "When someone gets a haircut, you may not recognize them when you see them again. Many people with face blindness use hair as a way to remember people. When a person's hair changes, that memory cue is lost. So now please understand that this is a real disorder and not me being aloof or snobbish."
"I've always felt so ashamed that I mix up people and can't recognise faces of people — even close friends after a few years – I can't recognize them. This is a real brain issue. Please be kind and understand," she concluded.
Shenaz Treasurywala was a model and MTV VJ before making her acting debut in Telugu film Eduruleni Manishi in2001. She is best-known for her work in 20003's Shahid Kapoor starrer ‘Ishq Vishk’ and 2011 film ‘Delhi Belly’ opposite Imran Khan.
