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The Disorder That Makes Monster Faces Out of Everyone You See

Dr. Patricia Farrell
BeingWell
Published in
4 min readAug 2, 2024

A rare neurologic disorder turns ordinary faces into disturbing monster-like ones, and research is searching for the answer.

Photo by Pat Moin on Unsplash

Imagine what would happen if suddenly everyone's face that you saw became an unfamiliar and very disturbing one. What would you do and could you tell anyone that this was happening without having them think you were mentally deranged? This particular type of visual distortion does happen, however.

People with prosopometamorphosia have a rare eye distortion that changes how they see faces. Its exact cause is unknown, but it is generally linked to neurological disorders like migraines, epilepsy, and abnormal findings on CT scans and MRIs of the head. It has also been associated with Epstein-Barr virus.

The British neurologist Macdonald Critchley coined the word prosopometamorphopsia to describe a type of metamorphopsia in which people see people’s faces or parts of faces distortedly. On CT studies and MRIs of the head, metamorphoses are often linked to diseases of the eyes or brain.

The disorder should not be confused with another facial recognition issue, prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness. In this more common disorder, people are affected in different ways. Some people might not tell the difference between strangers and people they do not know very well. Some people might not recognize their own faces or the faces of their family and friends. The actor, Brad Pitt, has admitted he has the disorder and frequently cannot recognize people he knows.

Credit: A. Mello et al.

Different people have different symptoms that can change the size, shape, color, and placement of facial features. The problem can last days, weeks, or even years, another thing that can change about PMO.

A new study of one person gave us new information about this case of the problem. Faces do not look twisted to the 58-year-old man with PMO when they are seen on a screen or on paper, but they look “demonic” when he sees them in person. Why would it only happen when he’s with the person? It almost sounds like there’s an element of emotion involved. But…

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BeingWell
BeingWell

Published in BeingWell

A Medika Life Publication for the Medical Community

Dr. Patricia Farrell
Dr. Patricia Farrell

Written by Dr. Patricia Farrell

Dr. Farrell is a psychologist, consultant, author, and member of SAG/AFTRA, interested in flash fiction writing (http://bitly.ws/S94e) and health.

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