My sense of direction is poor to the point of being ridiculous - far beyond what most people mean when they say they have a poor sense of direction. I have to do even the shortest journeys 10-20 times before I can remember the way, and I can easily get confused going from one room to another in a large house. Directions are to me what words are to the severely dyslexic. Is this a scientifically-recognised problem?

Joanne Sheppard, Salford, England

• I can't answer this but I have the same problem as you. It is beyond a bad sense of direction - and people find it hard to believe that I can be so bad! (especially my husband who is a cartographer and never lost). I always describe it to people as similar to dyslexia but with directions - almost feeling like I am lacking a 'magnetic centre of direction' in the brain - so you could be on to something. In my case, it runs in the family too.

  Liz, Heath and Reach

• I am no expert, but having worked with children with all kinds of special needs, I would suggest that you may have a very mild form of dyspraxia, a condition which normally implies inability to plan complex actions, or form that kind of memory of a complex action which allows you to do it without thinking.

  Just as persistent inability to get 'i' and 'e' in the right order might be considered part of a dyslexic spectrum, inability to use directions or remember a route might be part of the dyspraxic spectrum.

  Gary Dunion, Edinburgh, UK

• Lordy! I just found people with my problem. My girlfriend is just as unforgiving when it comes to my utter uselessness with directions. I am very spatially aware when it comes to sports and hand-eye coordination, and I'm brilliant with a map and compass, but I cannot for the life of me keep directions in my head. I truly believe it is largely to do with what is important to you - for 2 reasons. In my case I spend my time thinking about and analysing, for instance, people, rather than roads, lefts and rights. Directions are not important to me. The flip-side of that is that it can then be too important to you to make up for a past record of being rubbish with directions, and actually end up building an anxiety around the subject which makes it all the more difficult to focus on.

  Seamus, Chinnor UK

• All the problems listed above affect me. I can get lost at the airport if I wander off to shop or use the loo, and I can find myself terrified with fear.

  Madeline Haworth, Blackburn, England, UK

• Sometimes it seems to be familial. My wife, her mother, her son & daughter, twin granddaughters, her daughter's children all have it, whatever "it"is, Always are uncertain which way to turn at intersections. Seem to be of above-average intelligence in other areas and extreme motivation in all areas; work, athletically, creatively.

  Albert B Siewers, MD, Staten Island, New York, USA

• I have the same problem it is called 'Directional Dyslexia' or 'Geographical Dyslexia'(Dyslexia= Inability to learn, in our case its roots and landmarks) There is no cure for Dyslexia,the only thing we can do is to support each other...yeah we need a support group.

  Neha, Banglore, India

• I feel much better knowing that I'm not 'abnormal'. It was extremely embarrassing when bringing friends home and being unsure where to turn at intersections. And I'm talking about going home to where I have lived for 20 years!

  Capri Lee, New York, USA

• You mean there is a real term for all the times I felt like an idiot for not knowing my way around...to the point of getting lost coming back out of the restroom at a restaurant??! I do believe there is some truth to being the type that is always deep in thought while driving so not logging landmarks as I go but it goes beyond that. There really should be a support group for this "disorder." My reliance on a GPS seems to be making matters worse -now I really don't try to know where I am.

  Frances, Louisville, US

• Phew!!! So there are others... simply great to know! I feel so dumb when I sometimes forget my way on routes which I take on a regular basis. Of late I've been trying to consciously memorise the intersections, turns etc during journeys but sometimes if the journey is too long I can hardly remember half of it at the end... :(

  SM, India

• I have problems with parking a car as I sometimes can't distinguish between turning left and right. Sometimes, I get confused with putting on shoes as well. I have no problem with words. I give excuses for not driving as I feel embarrassed. Anyone else?

  Georgina, Singapore

• Having read these posts..I am so glad I am not alone. I have always had these problems too..and now having passed my driving test and moved to a new town..it is a nightmare. I have driven to the most shortest journeys..done myself maps and still panic the next time knowing I haven't a clue where I'm going. Even going to the shop round the corner gets me confused. If I know I have to use the car..my stomach is in knots all day worrying about getting lost. I too can never find my way back from restrooms and it is all getting to the point of ridiculous. So glad I am not alone..but if anyone has a cure..please share it. Also my new house isn't that big..but still get confused coming out of the bedroom and turning left instead of right to use the bathroom arghhhh..

  paula , England

• I am 32 and have so far been too afraid to learn to drive due to my constant confusion with direction and which is left and right. I find department stores to be like labyrinths and have accidentally wandered into stock rooms on numerous occasions. I went travelling round Peru, Bolivia and Brazil for 6 weeks with a friend 3 years ago and she was astounded at my inability to remember my way around suggesting it was because I did not pay attention and relied on others, I will admit that I am sometimes guilty of this but only as a result of having been wrong so many times before when I have paid attention and tried my best to take it all in. I have trouble with short term memory but combat this effectively with diaries and phone reminders, my long term memory on the other hand is shockingly good - I even remember the words to songs from primary school and what type of shoes people wore on the first day of secondary school and people have often said I bring up things they have said and done that they don't remember whatsoever. I asked to screened for dyspraxia last year and was told I do not have it however no test was carried out relating to sense of direction or remembering sequences of instructions (another thing I have always had difficulty with). I seems to me that there might be a link between poor short term memory and good long term memory (btw once I have somewhere stored in my long term memory I will remember it forever)

  Julia, Carlisle UK

• I, too, have the same long term to short term memory imbalance, and I think it contributes significantly to my lack of directional sense. Although I can tell my left from my right, it takes a tremendous amount of brain power and repetition to consciously figure out how I am oriented with respect to where I want to go. I think it's because I'm trying to memorize the sequence of lefts and rights to get from one point to another. If I don't actively do this to orient myself, then I will be hopelessly lost even when I'm outside and driving where I can see landmarks. I'd probably have to memorize some sequence of landmarks if I didn't want to rely on "left" and "right", which may be marginally better since landmarks never change. My directional dyslexia is especially terrible when I'm inside a building, even if it's a school building where I spend >75% of my time! I had to determine (largely by trial and error) which direction to turn after exiting a lecture hall to reach the appropriate exit so I wouldn't have to backtrack once I got outside the building. It's so embarrassing but I'm glad I'm not alone!

  Jenny, Boston USA

• Just googled this today and came across this site - finally, other people understand!!! I get lost in shopping centres, parking lots, can't find my way from one place to another if it is outside my regular route...

  Ann, Canada

• This is me. I do not buy the dispraxia argument. I have a very good sense of space with things in-front of me. I can draw and visualise. I can walk into a room but to leave I need to make a conscious effort to find the way out. If things look similar from street to street or rooms look the same I can't navigate at all.

  Simon, London UK

• I feel so at home to find I'm not alone. I get made fun of all the time. I am 40 & still have never mastered the whole left and right thing. No one understands the difficulties I encounter due to this challenge.

  Anna, Aguanga Usa

• Yes, that's me. I'm finding it's getting worse as I get older, too, though maybe I'm just less confident. Driving is hopeless, and walking is almost as bad although at least on foot you don't have to find a side street to turn round in (and then get disoriented by turning round and go the wrong way out of the side street ...). I feel as if the magnetic direction-sensing gizmo everyone else seems to carry inside them is broken in me, and it just spins helplessly whenever I change direction. I currently live in New Haven (CT) where the city is constructed as a grid around a central square, which should make things easy but I swear the square spins round as soon as my back is turned. I took a short cut home the other day and ended up back where I started. I think I don't take enough notice of landmarks, partly because of a lifetime of allowing myself to be guided by others whenever possible, and partly because to some extent things look different each time I see them. Just like the square in New Haven, I suspect them of having moved when I wasn't looking. Hopeless. Very very glad to hear the stories of all you other lovely people and know I'm not alone!

  Sue Edgar, Banbury UK

• I have the same problem. Memorizing the route before leaving helps but if I miss a turn I am lost. While coming out of a shopping complex for example, I have no idea which is the way back home. I use the GPS and once I am on the right road I remember the route so maybe the situation is not so bad.

  Suraj, Gangtok, India

• It' so good to know that I am not alone in not knowing my sense of direction. I too cannot find the exit in big shopping malls and has countless times of wandering around in car parks finding my car. Even when I have used the route many times, I get confused when I drive in the reversed order. Now I realise that my sense of direction also affects my line dance skills. Any dance that requires me to change direction - 180 degrees turn, full turn, left and right turn I get confused, panic and totally cannot follow the steps. My poor sense of direction is worst at night.

  GraceWong, Ipoh Malaysia

• I honestly did not think that there was anyone in the world with my same problem! I have had this problem since as long as I can remember, I get so embarrassed when I get in the car with someone and they ask me for directions and I do not know them. I cry about it from time to time because I'm 20 years old and I thought that I should know my whereabouts but sometimes they just don't click. I have no idea what it is that I'm focusing on in the car but directions just don't stick! I'm getting better and I have gotten better since I started driving earlier this year but still it's a problem that I've honestly been trying to fix.

  Nita Sykes, Lakeland, US

• I'm so so glad I found this site. I have lived in the same small town for almost 7 years and I can never find my way around! I was about to go to pizza hut so I turned on my gps (like always) but I couldnt even make sense of it and I just pulled over and cried really hard for a good ten minutes. I'm an intelligent person and talented in many areas, always A's and B's in school in college- but put me in a car or a big building and I'm done for. I thought I was stupid or something and have always been made fun of for it and it really hurts. There is literally nothing I can do to help with this directional dyslexia and it is mentally and emotionally exhausting. However I am very glad to know I'm not the only one. I hope someone can find a way to help people like us some day. Until then I guess I will have a panic attack every time I'm traveling to a new place or just my hometown pizza hut. Thank you for sharing everyone.

  Hannah , USA

• Glad I came across this site. I have the same problem and it's pretty bad. Although I've never told anyone this, it's one of the main reasons I didn't go to college.I knew I could never find my way around and it would just be too embarrassing. I'm 31 and I still have trouble finding my way around the local mall! and it's a rather small mall. I find I have to try and memorize what stores are next to what instead of just automatically knowing which direction they are in. I live in a small town so I do know my way around here but when it comes to bigger cities I just get disoriented. GPS really doesn't help a lot because I also have trouble judging distances and all the roads just seem to "jumble up" in my head. I also have trouble with math as i said before the "jumbled up" feeling also applies to numbers. I often wonder if it is somehow connected. I don't ever talk about it because someone without the problem isn't going to understand it or be able to relate. So I'll continue to do my best to try and hide it.

  Rhonda, Maryland USA

• I've always thought there must be a reason why i can't remember directions, when my brother seems to be able to find his way to places we've never been to, and always has been able to.  I remember going to a party with him after parking at his friends house, years ago.  He'd never been to this house before I should add. We got a lift through the town, after many beers, to a house party. Come 5 the next morning my brother managed to guide us straight back through the town, on foot, after a couple of hours sleep, with a hangover and straight to the car! When I exclaimed 'that's ridiculous, how have you managed that you lucky git?" he just laughed it off, saying "What! It just felt like the way to go! We were only across town!!" That, to me, felt like witch craft, and still does :0) ! I'm currently learning to drive and just failed my test, for the 4th time! I have ABSOLUTELY no problems with the mechanics of driving whatsoever, my first instructor said "you must be a natural!" I learned so quickly. It soon became apparent however, that asking me to drive from point A to point B, even without changes in the route, without help was an exercise in futility. It doesn't seem to matter how many times i drive a route, it never seems to cement in my mind, there's always an element of it that feels like the first time I'm seeing it. As soon as I'm in a position where I have to make decisions based on route finding, or using knowledge of my position relative to other things... I realise i don't have that knowledge at my disposal. It's very scary and frustrating and i have all the empathy in the world for you all.  I earned myself a 1st in my degree and a Distinction in my MA and so otherwise consider myself to be very capable, like many of you also seem to be. I just can't find my way through the town I live in when I need to in order to pass my driving test. And yeah, i feel like an idiot too, but know I'm not and neither are any of you ;0)) Hang in there all!

  Paul, Huntingdon England

• I'm holding back tears as I've been reading the comments. It's comforting to hear my story but no less frustrating. I just now went through an episode in what should be a familiar route. I'm a field technician and travel the NYC area. I plan on showing this to my work partner as I'm sure, as patient and understanding as he is, it is "getting old" having to tell me: "make a right, no, your other right" over and over again.

  Maggie, New York

• I am also so relieved to know that I am not the only one to suffer from a terrible sense of direction. It really affects my confidence. I worry if someone expects me to give them directions. If I go in a shop, when I come out I always go in the wrong direction or if I go to the toilet in a pub or hotel I have to keep repeating to myself whether to turn left or right when I come out. If in unfamiliar surroundings my head just seems to go all fuzzy and I have no idea which direction I have gone and how to get back. I was hoping there would be some way of improving my sense of direction but from all the other comments it seems not.

  Sally, Uk

• Can't believe no one here has mentioned the possibility of Adult ADD (or ADHD). I was diagnosed in my early 50's as the primarily inattentive "type" and when on my ADD meds found my sense of direction and focus much improved. I'll never be a navigator but the meds certainly help.

  Lin, Cincinnati, oh USA

• I am so glad it's not just me! I have suffered with this all my life, from getting lost finding classrooms at school, to be unable to give someone directions to drive me home! Friends don't really understand, and think you just don't pay attention, but I've always felt it was a real disability like dyslexia. Because of it, I have never learned to drive as I feel I would never to be able find my way around. It was good to read the comments on this site as I've never actually met anyone else with the same problem!

  June, Lytham, Lancashire

• Me too but additionally i have depression also and more. I think it is related to brain accident, so there is no cure but practicing it could be helpful.

  Amal, Khartoum, Sudan

• At last I have found people who are the same as me. I am severely dyslexic, it wasn't recognised until I was 40! I always thought I was different to other people. Dyslexia isn't just spelling and reading it is the inability to receive and process messages to the brain. These messages take longer to be processed and take unconventional paths. I get lost every day, lose my car in the under ground car parks, and frequently have to ask directions. I lose my purse at least once a day and have difficulty answering questions directed at me quickly meaning I often hesitate while my brain catches up.

  Katy, Loughborough, UK

• Wow!!! It is a relief to know that I'm not 'stupid' which is how I feel when I ask someone for the direction to the exit and they point behind me and then suddenly, I can see the huge sign saying exit! I once sat on a bus on a winter night for over 2 hours going from one end to the other end of it's route just trying to locate the correct stop...I never use big libraries and like one reader said, I dare not wander off in an unfamiliar area. Familiar means living in the area or have visited it at least 10 times with a companion in the past before I'd venture there by myself. I cant even concentrate on driving lessons so cant drive! I really excel in projects I'm genuinely interested in but fail to be anything but motivated in those of no interest regardless of high financial rewards!

  Kate, Bristol UK

• Its really shame for me, when going for interview etc keeping calling them for direction, in mall which i visit regularly can't find the way, and most unbelievable thing if see a place from different view like if i came north side and was talking south usually then it takes time to recognize the place, so guys is there any remedy for this. Only suggestion from me which helps is keeping remembering landmarks like shop name or anything.

  Vazabb, Lucknow India

• I read somewhere on the Internet that more women suffer from poor directional sense than men do. I'm not so sure that this is backed by research, but I would like to see a study that compares the sexes’ ability in finding their way around. My directional sense is pathetic! For instance, if locating a certain room in an office building requires two right turns, then a walk down a hall, and a left turn into my doctor's office, I must carefully remind myself that, in order to exit the building, all of these turns must be reversed – a right turn, then down the hall, left, then left again. If I forget to memorize these turns, I will ALWAYS go the opposite way. I will turn Right, Right, Left, just as I did when I entered the building and, of course, I will soon be lost. Not only do I have trouble when I leave a doctor’s office, I even get lost INSIDE his office. I will leave the examining room and invariably turn down the wrong hall, and maybe even into a closet, or into the doctor’s private office. “Coming out of the closet” has an entirely different meaning for people like me! I slink sheepishly out of all kinds of areas, hoping that no one saw me emerge from the coat closet or the employee's private restroom. Any family member knows better than to ask me which way to turn, if they aren’t sure. They laugh and say "Tell me which way you THINK that we should turn, and then I'll just go the opposite way." I once spent over an hour walking San Antonio's river walk in total frustration, not being able to find my meeting point with other family members. On another occasion, I thought that I was heading into Michigan's Upper Peninsula, when I was actually approaching Chicago. (No, I'm not mentally challenged; like several of you who are equally goofed up, I have a Master's degree. However, I AM severely directionally challenged!) Some of you also have admitted to having a problem with losing things. I do that constantly! I leave things in shopping carts; I once left my wallet containing $1200 on the back of a toilet tank; and I lose my keys nearly every day. My roommate predicted that I would someday be an absent-minded professor, and that prediction wasn’t too far from reality. I wonder if our problems stem from a lack of concentration, from thinking ahead to what we’ll be doing next, or from a short circuit in our brains. At any rate, we all know how frustrating life can be under these conditions. Thanks for sharing your stories!

  ME Hess, Small town USA

• I have this problem with direction also. Not only with compass directions, but I was once hiking and trying to get to the bottom of a mountain and ended up going back up to the top and it was a while before I was aware of it. I think the anxiety, stress and frustration this type of thing causes just compounds it. If you get mixed up and the anxiety or frustration kicks in, then it gets even worse and becomes a vicious cycle. I was always wondering if it had anything to do with lacking true depth perception. I was born with "strabismus", so I lack binocular vision and therefore have have almost no "true" depth perception. Does anybody else with this terrible sense of direction lack depth perception???

  mark, guilford U.S

• Hi all, I am 50 and have had this problem all my life, I never learnt my way round school sometimes getting so lost and late for classes I would just walk home in tears knowing I was going to be in trouble and sometimes even getting lost on the way home. I do drive but tend not to leave my small village. I always find a friend to go any where with I have trouble with reading, righting and with numbers I never did learn my times tables I have absolutely no self confidence and as a result have done very little with my life I know there must be something wrong with me I just feel so stupid, thanks for listening. cheers H

  heather, kyle scotland

• I am 19 and just got my licence last year. I have been living in Tacoma all my life and still don't know my way around. It usually takes me several times going to a simple place before I can safely remember my way there by myself and even then I still don't remember my way back from there. My dad and his twin brother was diagnosed with dyslexia so I wondered if maybe that has something to do with it. I was told reading improves memory so I've been doing a lot of reading so hopefully it will help with remembering directions.I've also downloaded an app with exercises to help improve brain functions spatial included.

  DeAngelina, Tacoma WA

• so sorry and glad that others have this issue. I could never understand this problem I have because it doesn't fit with my abilities. getting somewhere without a written set of "left/right" directions and a written reverse set I will get nowhere outside my very small town. my little girl has had to tell me which way to turn to get to the dentist in town!! chess/checkers ummm no. N S E W. ummm no. highways NO!! feel spacy and dopy and disoriented. must concentrate Intensely to remember landmarks and still unsure. have made it most places by sheer luck!! thank god my Angels have a better sense of direction then me! walking with a friend around the neighbourhood ... lost. if someone were to drive me somewhere I wasn't familiar with and drop me off I think i would die. clouds in my brain? horrible feeling

  Melissa, ontario canada

• I cannot believe I ran into this site. My entire life has been a boggled mess when it comes to directions and finding locations without extreme panic attacks. I could never understand why I was stricken with this problem, considering how well rounded I am with most other things in life. I can pick up and play any instrument by ear, remember entire movies after watching them only a couple of times, but when it comes to directions...even in my own neighbborhood, forget it!!! Is there a support group for this and if so, please inform me. I am also left handed, so for a long time I tried to connect that with my problem. I am constantly thinking non stop and am completely inquisitive about things in general. Always looking for answers, emotionally driven in a way that is almost unheard of, but again, my sense of direction is completely ludicrous. Someone please let me know if there are support groups regarding this subject..I need help!!! lol

  Dawn, Holland Michigan

• How can we get a support group started? Let's try to help each other! Someday something will happen and I will have to find my way around like when my husband had to be rushed to the hospital two hours away and I cold not ride in the ambulance! If it weren't for a good friend I could not have gotten there to be with him! That is so sad. I am in my 60's and have had had this problem since my parents let go of my hand. You just can't understand how it feels.

  Dorothy G, Lynchburg USA

• I get hopelessly lost all the time! I have no concept of cardinal directions. I have to retread old routes over and over, even if they are inefficient, to get where I'm going. It took me nearly a decade to understand the geography of my prior home, Austin, Texas. My sister makes fun of me when I'm driving, and it is so frustrating! People who don't have this problem can't seem to fathom how anyone could be so directionally impaired. Glad I'm not the only one.

  Hannah, Los Angeles USA

• I don't have an answer. How I wish I did. When I go out of a building I always think ...left ....or right? My particular slant on the problem, is the effect this is having upon trying to find work, now I have been made redundant. I have a car and I drive but I can't find new places, it has taken years to establish a set of places that I can drive too, my family call them 'the places on my rail'. I can't drive on motorways because they take you too far in one direction, so what happens when I suddenly get disorientated and don't know where to get off it or if I get on the right motorway in the wrong direction? Also at motorway speed I cannot afford to hesitate, get confused or find out that I am in the wrong lane and miss my intersection. So if it is more than a max of 4 miles away and on my existing 'rail' I can't risk look for work there! Recruitment agents and employment office clerks do not accept my excuses and say things like...."but its just up the road"...my spatial sense is also not good so if I get somewhere parking is extremely hard unless I find a space big enough for a bus! After all if I miss a space and need to go around the block again the stress would be debilitating! If I left the car somewhere new I would never find it again anyway! I am on the verge of saying I can't drive. But if its on my 'rail'... Its OK! We all need Star Trek style transporters so Scottie can beam us to our destinations. I lose things too... Glasses in particular...it's costing me a fortune!

  Jane, Farnborough UK

• You write: I can't answer this but I have the same problem as you. It is beyond a bad sense of direction - and people find it hard to believe that I can be so bad! (especially my husband who is a cartographer and never lost). I always describe it to people as similar to dyslexia but with directions - almost feeling like I am lacking a 'magnetic centre of direction' in the brain - so you could be on to something. In my case, it runs in the family too. Liz, Heath and Reach Liz, My son, who is 37 now, can drive to McDonalds, and when we leave 10 mins. later he's ready to go home in the opposite direction. And when we ARE headed in the right direction he will get in the wrong lane to turn onto the next road going home. This has been happening frequently since we came back to the U.S. from Belize. What caught my eye in your response was the mention of dyslexia. He was diagnosed with it when he was in 1st grade. He still has it but in a milder form. We've both been turned around in The VA Hospital. But I rarely get going in the wrong direction going home from a drive.

  Jim C, Placencia, Belize

• I thought I couldn't remember direction because I never paid attention but not true I've paid attention and that still don't work. I find myself forgetting 20 mins into the trip. I hate when my husband call and ask "Are you almost home" I say yes" then he ask where are you?" I can't even answer I say anything just not to seem dumb! I had to travel a hour away to see the doctor when I was pregnant the entire 9 mins I finally learned the way there but can't drive to a restaurant of my choice I have to eat at whatever I see in sight. Then can't remember how to get back on the main road to get home! This really sucks, I feel like this condition wont let me live a happy life! :(

  natalie, belzoni, ms us

• After 40 years of life I am glad I am not alone. Such a relief.

  Wagner, Kampala Uganda

• I don't have an answer but maybe you do, my directional problem seems worse then all the people that wrote on this page, I may be wrong but seems like it so here is my issue, my brain can't tell the difference between north south east or west at times especially at work. I work near the coast off California and the way the waterline goes is from east to west and my brain tells me that I'm going north to south which would put my brain telling me the sun sets in the north and rises in the south. If for some reason my brain starts to wonder and tell me by making my sight look in the correct direction then I instantly go into anxiety and maybe even have a panic attack. any suggestions what things could be going on??

  Jeremy, Ventura USA

• I read through around three fourths of the replies above and had one thing in my head: Me too! Me too! I have faced this problem since childhood in the most familiar surroundings, my own house and in new places. My earliest memory of being lost is, when I moved into a new neighborhood at the age of 6 and in the first week I tried to walk my little cousin back home a few blocks away. I was so thoroughly lost that I was nearly in tears after walking around for half an hour. Surprisingly, my 4 year old cousin was able to walk us back home in a few minutes. From this time on, I was always very cautious when going anywhere. And I always made a note of every instance on which my internal navigation system failed. I did this in the hope of correcting the problem with more focus and attention. But this has not worked at all. I went online today looking for help because of a similar incidence and stumbled upon this page. Today I was driving with my driving instructor and as part of preparing me for all the possibilities in the eventual driving test, my instructor told that we had to go back. Meaning I had to look for an appropriate place to turn into, reverse and head back onto the main road I came from. I reversed the car and then began proceeding to the left instead of proceeding to the right, to the absolute frustration of my instructor. (note: I am 29 years old and recently moved to Germany (left hand driving) from India(right hand driving) and this has opened a whole new can of directional challenges for me.) if I am used to being in a neighborhood only in day time, if I end up there in the night time, I panic. When I started working in a new office, it took me 1 year to finally figure out the routes which a taxi or auto rickshaw would take from the train station to the office building. I find GPS useful at times, but even with this, its not always fine. No one in my family has this problem as far as I know. I really wish there was something that could help us 'directionally'-challenged (a term i made up) people.

  preeti, Mumbai, India / rinteln, Germany india/ germany

• Hi everyone first and foremost I am extremely stoked at the fact that their are others with the same disability as me and I no longer have to feel ALONE. Now I know the name of this disability and I no longer have to feel completely stupid like I've felt for Twenty Years in my own hometown like every other obstacle in life I will defeat it! :)

  John Doe , Wpb,Fl US

• Wow, I always thought I was a bit of a freak because I have NO sense of direction. I have no idea about North, South, East & West! People talk about 'Northerly aspect' or a 'Northerly wind' & I'm like "Huh"??? I am almost 50 & I still have have to look at my hands to know left from right. (I have a freckle on my left thumb!) I rely on GPS which works for me but if I'm in my hometown, for example, and I'm going from A to B but then decide I also want to go to C, I have to think in terms of how to get to C from A & then work it out from there, even though I've lived in Brisbane all my life. When I'm in a building, particularly a new one, I am completely disoriented & need to look outside to see where I am. I avoid using left or right when giving directions by changing it to 'up' or 'down' the street & using landmarks. When I went to the UK on holiday, I used Google maps on my iPhone when I was walking anywhere. Unfortunately this is problematic because not knowing the place when starting out meant that when there was a T intersection & the phone told me to go in a westerly direction, I had no idea, so I just had to start walking & see if I was going towards the dot or away from it -_- I also always stayed above ground so I could see the landmarks. Taking the underground got me hopelessly lost & if I was on the wrong platform it was a nightmare & I'd have to ask for help over & over because I'd keep getting lost. I feel like I don't have a compass at all. BTW I can relate to the person with the fantastic long-term memory. I have the memory of an elephant & remember stuff from my first day in primary school etc. & once something is stored, I never forget it. Finding this page is very reassuring :)

  Angela N, Brisbane, Qld, Australia

• My Mother, myself and a Son with this problem having to memorize the directions where ever we resided. When I go into stores I pay attention to what is inside that door so when I leave I know which door to come out not to mention lost in all those walls they have in large dept. stores or rest rooms that have off set walls and doors good grief all I have to do is turn around and I am lost. I guess others are used to me being a lost soul!! I thought it was caused by some disconnection somewhere so glad to know what its called. I used to work at a very large plant and parking was several places people ask can you help me find where I parked my car I certainly was wrong person to ask that question.

  Marylou, Seattle USA

• What a problem, and others have no clue how hard it is. I had to be picked up several years ago and someone there said don't call I will take you home but on way soon asked what's the best road to overpass under Freeway and I had to lie and say don't know as we never go this way when the truth was it was the only way to cross under Freeway in that area driver had a short stem and I have no idea what he was thinking but I couldn't wait to get out of that car.

  Marylou, Seattle USA

• I am one of you! When I learned to drive, I was less than three miles from my school and there was only two turns I had to make. Left out of my driveway, and left again at the bottom of the hill. I would constantly find myself pinching my left finger, because I had no spatial understanding where my school was. It could have been in the next state. I am no worse and no better now in my late sixties. However, I have found all my life that the condition seems to have a shadow twin in remembering things like phone numbers, lists of things, and many other numeric lists. Good luck to all. It has been and continues to be such a struggle to me that I no longer drive unless necessity spurs me! So I know what you all are going through!

  Elena, Palm Harbor USA

• www.gettinglost.ca

  Bridget, NJ USA

• Oh my god.. I thought I was the only special one!! As a child, I always used to go to my mom, who was teacher in same school, and ask her which way to go back home? Right or left? Patiently she used to guide me and the day I avoided asking her, I reached home in the evening!! With my mother worried and hunting for me every where.!! Now I am 50 and still struggling to remember roads and my friend call me a 'geographically challenged' person. I liked the term directional dyslexia as I have mild dyslexia also. Like I will write 'aslo' for 'also,' or 'adn' for 'and'... though this is very very mild. I think science should pay at this serious and at times harmful and dangerous pathology and should come out with a special GPS for special people like us. Please share if anyone gets some helpful information.

  Kinnari, Muscat Oman

• I am feeling relieved to know that it is a common scenario to many. I can follow maps perfectly, but when I come to the scene, I am lost - I cannot tell whether I am heading north, south, east, or west.

  Grace, Sarawak, Malaysia

• I get directions and a moment later I get them confused. Or someone will give me instructions and I reverse them. When I'm bulding something I have to look at the plans millions of times, and then sometimes then I even get a dimension wrong. I make many mistake this way. It is very frustrating. It sound like I'm not alone.

  Clark, Brigam Utah

• I have always wondered why I had such a bad sense of direction. I constantly get lost in malls, had a major problem navigating the numerous buildings in university and I am completely hopeless with a car. I have accepted this shortcoming but I want you all to know that you should not be upset with this form of spatial dyslexia. I graduated with distinction from Harvard and the London School of Economics. My cousin who attended Cambridge also has the same problem. Just accept the fact that you have intelligence in other areas. Think of it as your mind being wired differently. As long as you are aware, you can make the conscientious decision to mitigate your risk to situations that require spatial intelligence. Personally I would steer away from driving a car without a GPS or navigating large areas without Google maps.

  Sameer, Vancouver Canada

• "My sense of direction is poor to the point of being ridiculous..." That's exactly the way I feel about myself. A simply trip to a malls can be a stressful experience for me. Tests show I'm a light-to-mild dyslexic and I think it's related.

  Nelson, Jacksonville USA

• Hurrah! There's lot's of us! I can remember passing my driving test in my small home town and my mum saying that now I could drive myself to the shops. I had this overwhelming panic and remember asking: "But how will I know how to get there?" I live with my non-existent sense of direction and just think of it as a quirk and allow an extra hour to go anywhere that I haven't been to 100 times before.

  Emily, Swindon, UK

• Me too! All the same problems like getting lost in the airport and not knowing a route unless I've used it for days, and then forgetting again when I don't use it for a bit. I've lived in a lot of places and have trouble visualizing the places/homes I've lived in. But am really good with words, languages, and even big picture life decisions. And now I know am not alone!

  Sharkh, California, US

• I am so glad to finally meet people like me. Thank God for GPS. I don't know how I can get anywhere without it. A friend if mine was trying to give me directions on how to get to a meeting in a building next to the library. She even drew a map. After trying for several minutes to explain to me how to get there, she threw up her arms in frustration and told me did not know how to help me. It took me more than 15 minutes to get to a place that should have taken me one minute. I try very hard not to let a lot of people know I have this condition by giving myself a lot of time to get to places.

  Dora, Texas USA

• I walked into a mirror in a bar once, is the worst my problem ever got! And my problem is bad. Just started college and can never fund the loo or exit, so embarrassing. Lobotomised gibbon indeed Tom Baker!

  Alex, London UK

• I thought I was the only one. I never thought I was dumb, i know I am really smart, it's just that I can't take or give directions well. I always remember directions backwards. Like a place I have been many times and can visualize, I visualize it backwards. If I am at a big mall, and I walk into a store and come back out, I will walk the way I already came and realize that and turn back the other way. When I think about places I have been, I visualize the place, but it is the wrong direction. I have developed a fear of driving because I worry that if I have to make a turn, even though I know my right and left, I will make the wrong turn anyway. I can also remember the smallest details of things that nobody else does. I am left handed too, so i wonder if that has something to do with the way I process stuff. It is beyond frustrating.

  Zuri Weeks, Atlanta, US

• Lot of people are facing this day to day. I have seen my friends coming to my home and saying its east-facing window etc-while i didn't know how they do it without compass or sun beating at them .. one diversion on the road had left me roaming for 3 kms today.. so yes many people have it..but what is the solution to this ? how do we develop that part of the brain.

  khamboj, Chennai india

• I knew this had to be a thing more people suffered with. And although I feel sorry for people who have this problem, I am relieved to know I am not alone. I have struggled with this all of my life. Some situations are comical (like turning the wrong way out of a room), and some are terrifying and debilitating. Today I had a job interview at a place I had never been, and it was on the most popular street, Michigan Avenue in Chicago. I used a gps, and still got lost. I got so hopelessly and helplessly lost, even though I was in the neighborhood. I was so late, and got so worked up, and all of this caused me a great deal of anxiety. I had a panic attack and had to reschedule the interview. It is embarrassing and unacceptable. Once I returned home after completely blowing my interview, I spent the rest of the day in bed beating myself up for this. Other people (friends, family) find it funny/strange/cute, but don't understand that it's a real issue that can't be controlled. It's awful, and impacts my life in major ways.

  Eliza, Chicago USA

• Like many here, I have this and thought I was a minority. I find it very restrictive and large cause of anxiety. A label would help. I don't know why. But it would!

  Leah, Bedfordshire Uk