[Domico]

Hello!
I wasn't really sure where to put this as I'm not exactly sure what's going on myself, I hope this is the right thread to post in!

So. Starting from my late teenage years (I am currently 21 years of age), I started having these moments where I had a lot of trouble recognizing things, even though I knew what they were. Urgh, this is difficult to describe, it's completely paradoxical. Otherwise I'm healthy (at least I am physically!) and generally well-adjusted.

For example, I saw a friend come through the door; a part of me recognizes this person, but then an overwhelmingly larger half is very confused and has no idea who it is. In my head, it's sort of like; "Oh hello J. WHO IS THAT. It's J. WHO IS THAT I DON'T KNOW WHO THAT IS." It's not just people this happens with; the other day I was trying to identify milk, similar internal monologue. It's absolutely bonkers but it happens. So far, I get the feeling that it happens more with things I am most familiar with; family, pets, every day objects. It doesn't happen often though, so I can't say for sure; once every two or three months would be a good estimate.

I'm not able to afford a mental therapist at the moment, though I do intend to visit someone once I have enough money and time to spare. For now I'm really just trying to figure out if there's a name for this thing; Could anyone point me to a possible category or illness I could look into?

Thanks for your time.

[TheWell]

I'm sure you will get some good responses. I have a serious problem with remembering names...even of people I've known for a long time.

Anomic aphasia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[SnakeCharmer]

What you're describing sounds like a psychological/neurological phenomenon called jamais vu. It's the opposite of deju vu. I experience both jamais vu and deju vu frequently.

In psychology, jamais vu (/ˈʒɑːmeɪ ˈvuː/; from French, meaning "never seen") is the phenomenon of experiencing a situation that one recognizes in some fashion, but that nonetheless seems very unfamiliar.

Often described as the opposite of déjà vu, jamais vu involves a sense of eeriness and the observer's impression of seeing the situation for the first time, despite rationally knowing that he or she has been in the situation before. Jamais vu is sometimes associated with certain types of aphasia, amnesia, and epilepsy.

Jamais vu is most commonly experienced when a person momentarily does not recognise a word, person, or place that he or she already knows,[1] and it is more rarely experienced with people and places.

Jamais vu - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The place to start investigating this would be with a physician before a therapist. It may be something simple and not to be worried about. It happens to me when I get overly tired or excited.

Here's an article from Psychology Today that might be helpful.

A Theory of Deja Vu and Jamais Vu | Psychology Today

P.S. I just read through the entire Psychology Today article and it doesn't seem that helpful, at least not in relation to what I experience, but it might be helpful to someone else, so I'll leave it.

[Domico]

Thank you for the kind words, Well!

And wow, that sounds very much like it, SnakeCharmer - Thank you! I'll certainly look into it.