Recognizing people? tips?

Hi,
Okay, sorry for the long post, I tend to be verbose.

So I noticed at the park yesterday, a woman with dark hair was looking at me like she knew me, she was chatting to a friend, and I would smile(just in case I did know her), and carried on w/my kids. Everytime I was near her, she would pause and shift her body weight in such a way that people do in anticipation of a person approaching. When I passed by her, not approaching, her body language relaxed, and she resumed her conversation. I saw a kid that I thought I *might* have known, he had brown hair, which is distinctive for here. But I found nothing to tie the two together so I wasn't sure if it was the lady I exchanged info with and invited to hang out with. I tried to remember her and her son, but all I remember is a tall shape and a small brown haired boy, their family story but no faces. Upon reflection, I think that was the lady I made friends with the other week.

I can recognize animals, the only way I used to recognize friends before was with what dog they were walking, and I used to bring my dog with me on outings, if he recognized someone, I knew we were friends based on their interaction.

Now I have to recognize friends based on their kids or their own faces, no animals to help me. I can recognize red-haired people, or curly haired people(but only if it's dark hair). And if the person wears sunglasses, forget about it, might as well put a bag over their head. I will forget them the moment I walk away. I try to memorize their facial features when they are talking but I just don't remember, and it seems like there is an unspoken expectation that if one hangs out for a particular amount of time, one is expected to recognize them or their kin.

So any tips on how to recognize or retain memory of people's faces?

The same thing has happened to me. Once I thought that a woman is trying to hit on me at a supermarket, turned out that I knew her . It was embarassing since I probably looked very annoyed.
I dunno what would help to remember people's faces better though.

This happens to me a lot too. I try to really focus, now, when I meet somebody new. I try to take in their face and repeat their name as many times as I can in my head. Sometimes it works. But, I have become a master at making fun of myself and just admitting to my silly "absentminded ness".

Having trouble recognizing people is a classic DID symptom. It was one of the first things that tipped me off to possibly being a multiple. Even so, my jaw dropped when I read three different posts on this thread that mirrored my own experiences to a T!! I absolutely, totally know what you are all dealing with. I don't have a lot of great tips, since I don't even know which cars my friends drive. I forget major life details about other people, like who works where and who has deceased parents.

My only real solution so far is to be friendly to absolutely everyone, so that I don't snub or ignore a stranger who may actually be a friend. This can be a problem, though, because I end up talking to a ton of strangers, which is not super safe. Plus I end up with even MORE faces to remember, LOL!

I also just tease myself if it is obvious to a person that I don't recognize him/ her. Don't you all just HATE that look of disappointment people give you when they realize you don't remember them?! I sure do!

I gave up trying to recognise people's faces when I was a child. I'd say, don't focus so much on their faces, but instead try to focus on recognising things about them that will stay consistent.

To recognise people, I look for clusters of different traits and try to memorise them as a group:

Do they have short or long hair? (if it's short, you are not going to see them with long hair again any time soon unless they get extensions but most people don't get those because they are expensive). What colour is their hair? Do they have a tendancy to mix up their sense of dress style (generally meaning that perhaps they may dye their hair) Do they have a tendancy to wear their hair in the same style each time you see them? Up styles or down?

What is their posture like? Do they slouch? Do they stand straight? Do they stand with their feet apart or together? If they are sitting, do they cross their knees or spread out relaxed on the chair?

What type of colours of clothing do they wear? Is it bright? Is it neutrals? Is it highly patterned? Is it more formal looking? or do they prefer a more grungy look?

What are their gestures like when they are speaking? Are they open and inviting? Do they fold their arms? Do they touch their face or fidget a lot?

Do they have any distinguishing features? Glasses? Tattoos? Prominent moles?

What is the pigmentation of their skin like? Are they fair? Pinkish? Tanned? Blotchy? Freckled? Do they wear makeup?

What is their weight like? Are they fat? Thin? Slender? Pear-shaped? Do they carry their weight around their middle? Or around their thighs?

What is the gait of their walk like? Do they swagger? Do they look swan-like and smooth as they walk? Do they limp? Do they walk with a really casual pace? Do they look hurried?

What jewellery do they consistently wear? Are they married and wear a wedding ring? Do they tend to wear accessory type of jewellery to keep up with current fashion, or do they wear proper jewellery from the the jewellery store? What type of watch do they have?

What is their clothing style like? Do they tend to keep well covered with skirts being knee-length and high-cut tops or are they wearing short skirts and plunging neck-lines? Casual jeans with distress marks or more formal style jeans? Tops with pictures and words or just plain?

Yeah, you get the idea. I can't recognise even people I know really well by looking at their faces. I'm looking at the other things allllllllll the time.... You get a sense of what patterns they might have in their dress sense, appearance and body language and this makes it much much easier to recognise them when you see them again.

Well, maybe this will make you all feel better: I do not have DID, and I still have really GREAT problems when I try to recognize people...
I don't have enough observation abilities as those described by salted lipstick, and even if I try to look at those things, I will forget them almost in stantly, or mix them op with other people.
I normally recognize people by their hair, fat or not, glasses or not, and the most general kind of clothes they wear (some of them are formal, some of them always wear black/leather, some of them have a horrible sense of fashion as to my likes and dislikes).
But, the hair is the most important thing I remember, so I have a lot of trouble when trying to recognize someone who dyed their hair or cut it in an extreme way. Only people I see really often for a long time are the ones I can recognize from ther faces alone (for example, if they went to school with me, and I saw them 5 days a week for at least a year). And, most of the times, if i stop seeing that person for an equally long time, I will probably not recognize them even that way, if they changed their styles.

So, as a last resource, with the poeple I've known for a medium amount of time, I use a combination of hair, weight, style, and voice (it really helps me, when it is somewhat special). People I've only seen ocasionally, I will probably not remember them, but I still wave at almost everyone who seems remotely familiar or looks at me in the street, to avoid failing to remember someone.
In some cases (only 3-4 times in my life) only seeing a person once is enough for them to leave a "feeling impression" on me, and I would then recognize them not by the looks, but by the way they make me feel just by being around them.

Thus, having that difficulty not neccessarily means DID, as you may see xD

Thanks everybody! Sometimes I cycle through apathy, and other times I think I can change it.

Don't you all just HATE that look of disappointment people give you when they realize you don't remember them?! I sure do!

I've had friends walk up to me, and say, why don't you remember me? I just shrug. I guess the worse ones have came up to me and yelled at me, "do you think you're too good for us?" or "what's wrong with you?" Like last year, I had a group of gals I hanged with for 1-2 years, it took me about a year to tell them apart mostly by their kids, so I was at a party at a school, and I saw one friend's child running around, so I knew the mom was there somewhere, it turned out she was a few feet away from me, I'd smile at her but not approach her to chat, so she got p*ssed. I was just like, you have issues, I don't need high maintenance people in my life. End of friendship.

I usually focus on hair(length, texture, etc), gait, and accent. But here people are changing their hair, sit around or stand alot chatting in circles, and similar accents, so I switched to faces. I never thought about how people stick to particular fashions or trinkets. :face palm:

Well today's Friday, we meet every Friday, so I'll try to remember her this time. I do have her info, but I don't like calling or emailing people and prefer to keep it a strictly park friendship. I got the impression she was very nice, she spent several minutes helping me locate various things I lost before I left,(phone, keys, my son's fish pen, etc.) we laughed about it, I told her I'm forgetful.

Lots of awesome advice and tips. Thank you!

I hope that recognising her went ok!

When all of the little recognising things fail, I resort to being friendly to everyone! lol.

I have the hardest time recognizing people. It's not just the time loss issue either. I just don't remember names or faces.

I have found that I can ask inside and see if anyone knows the person. That works quite well for me.

Mostly though I just wave at anyone that waves and act like I know those that know me.

hello, non did here
Recognizing people can be hard at times,, one trick I've learned is to associate something to them and there name. Maybe you can use their animals or any feature about them as a reminder... trick I read was to associate something to there face (animal) that is funny or outrageous. an example might be some has a hound dog.....there name is mick or Mike ..... you imagine the hound dogs ears on that person to look like Micky mouse....Try not to giggle when your doing this.... then associate the Micky to the name Mick or Mike..... It takes a little practice but you can really get good at it after a while....hope it works a little bit for you......