Do you ever look in the mirror and not recognize yourself?

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MadHatterMatador
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31 Oct 2014, 1:05 am

I'm not talking about anything deep or philosophical. I'm talking about literally looking at yourself in the mirror, and thinking that the person you see looks different than what you feel like you would look like. Sometimes I'll see my reflection, and it doesn't feel like I look like I do, and it makes me feel really uncomfortable. I wonder if this is related to not being aware of yourself in social situations.


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conundrum
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31 Oct 2014, 1:53 am

I always look a little different to myself each time I look in the mirror. Not sure if that's what you meant.

It's true that most of the time I don't think about how I look to others.


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31 Oct 2014, 4:31 am

There's this old man that follows me everywhere around the house. He keeps staring at me while I shave.


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31 Oct 2014, 5:28 am

Yes. It bothered me but a few months ago there were some threads about people having trouble recognizing faces and it clicked that when I look in the mirror and sometimes don't recognize the face looking back at me, it's kind of perfectly normal for me......do you have problems with facial recognition?



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31 Oct 2014, 7:27 am

I recognize myself, but just keep hoping that the next time I look in the mirror I'll see someone much younger and a lot thinner. But no, it's always the same me. :(



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31 Oct 2014, 10:43 am

I have always had this. When I look in a mirror, the person looking back at me is never whom I picture myself as. I have heard that if you were to be videotaped and then the video tape played back to you, that you would not even recognize yourself. I think this would certainly be true for me. I don't know, maybe I will "recognize" myself when I am a few decades older.


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31 Oct 2014, 11:33 am

Every time I look in the mirror - I wonder, "Who is that old man I see?"


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31 Oct 2014, 2:52 pm

yes. i also have problems recognizing other peoples faces. sometimes in a mirror i'll take a good long look at myself thinking 'wow that's what i look like' but really as soon as i stop it all melts in my mind so i don't remember anymore. sometimes it can be surprising if you see your reflection when you're not ready for it, it takes a few seconds to realize it's me



IamRob
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31 Oct 2014, 5:31 pm

Yes,the earliest i remember it i was about 12-13.looking in the mirror,i felt like i didnt recognise myself,like is that really me...i guess so.i dont like looking in mirrors in general,maybe i feel like someone is looking back at me



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31 Oct 2014, 5:33 pm

It always occurs when I cut my hair, change hairstyle or wear clothes that are not my usual style. It makes me stare and trying to get rid of the unpleasant feeling of seeing a stranger face where should be a familiar one.
Fun thing is the same applies to seeing my shadow. Today (Halloween) I dressed up as a devil - with horns and wings. Many times I felt uncomfortable seeing my shadow. It was so strange. I had to keep reminding myself the shadow looks like this because I am dressed up.

Other times I don't give it much thought - I might recognize myself or not but when I look in the mirror I know I am looking in the mirror and I know I am going to see me so as long as there is nothing unusual I am fine. However sometimes I wonder who is standing next to me when I pass a hidden mirror or a shop window in the mall. At times it might take a few seconds before realize it's just my reflection.



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31 Oct 2014, 10:41 pm

I remember a lot of times where I saw my reflection as a kid, and I'd see it and I'd suddenly feel very strange for a second or two, thinking "Is that really me?" So yes. It still happens occasionally, but not as much.

Kiriae wrote:
Fun thing is the same applies to seeing my shadow. Today (Halloween) I dressed up as a devil - with horns and wings. Many times I felt uncomfortable seeing my shadow. It was so strange. I had to keep reminding myself the shadow looks like this because I am dressed up.


I remember one time as a kid, I actually got scared and ran from my own shadow. It just looked so wrong for some reason (I think it was because the light source was a flickering campfire). I even knew it was my shadow, it just freaked me out and I didn't want to see it anymore :lol:


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anthropic_principle
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31 Oct 2014, 10:55 pm

no



ajpd1989
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31 Oct 2014, 11:40 pm

MadHatterMatador wrote:
I'm talking about literally looking at yourself in the mirror, and thinking that the person you see looks different than what you feel like you would look like

All the time. My mental image of myself changes from time to time though, and is largely dependent on my obsessions.

I don't like looking in mirrors. I find it unsettling, maybe because it feels like I'm looking at someone else.



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01 Nov 2014, 6:02 pm

Not really except after I got a haircut


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01 Nov 2014, 6:59 pm

Yes. I can't believe the person in the mirror is that fat. Or has such stupid-looking hair. And such ugly hairs on her chin (both of them) and upper lip. And eyebrows that look angry all the time. Like most women if you asked if there was anything I do like about my physical appearance, I'd have to think about it (my eyes and teeth, maybe.). Unlike most women however, I think covering up such flaws with makeup or cosmetics are not worth the effort at all.

Apparently most people don't think it's possible for a women to be at my weight and not look like Jabba the Hut. Whenever I've read about women who beat their weight problem the weight where they were at their heaviest is always much less then mine unless they were one those women on talk show got so huge from food addiction they had to remove an entire wall to get them out. Those other ladies must have all been really short and small-boned. :?

But I digress. Sometimes when I was younger (not so much now), I would sometimes stare into my reflection after getting out of the shower and wrapped up in a towel, and start to feel really strange or uneasy. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's like I'm reminded that I'm a real live person in a real world but why am I me and not someone else. And what is it like to be someone else? Or maybe I'm real, but the world I'm in is not and it was all created by my brain or something really creepy like that. But if that were true I'd think my brain would create a much nicer world.



DarkAscent
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01 Nov 2014, 7:02 pm

I do recognise myself but it takes a split second for me to do so. My face changes a little each time I look in the mirror.