Pareidolia, the strange symptom to which young mothers are subject after childbirth

Since becoming a mother, many things have changed in your daily life. But perhaps you have noticed a curious detail: you now have the impression of seeing faces on all the surfaces around you. Tiredness ? Not only. This optical illusion which has a name, pareidolia, generally occurs during the postpartum period, we explain why.

A common illusion shared by new mothers

Pareidolia is the fact of distinguishing a face, in particular a mouth and eyes on numerous surfaces which have no connection with a face: an electrical outlet, a slice of toast, the bark of a tree, the moon… If you were already used to guessing faces in the clouds since childhood, for example, an Australian study showed that this ability reached its peak in women who had just given birth.

The researchers conducted a study with 380 women, 79 mothers who had just had a baby, and 84 pregnant women. They showed them more than 300 images representing inanimate objects, of which, out of 256, human features could be imagined. The young mothers confirmed seeing 256 faces in optical illusion. The other women evaluated (pregnant women and women who were neither pregnant nor new mothers) had much lower scores.

Why do we see faces?

But why do young mothers see faces everywhere? What are the causes of this pareidolia at this stage of life?

The researchers put forward two hypotheses.

• Oxytocin levels are higher in women who have just given birth. However, this so-called “love and empathy” hormone would make it possible to better distinguish emotions on human faces… Even if it means seeing them almost everywhere.
• The other hypothesis would be based on the level of anxiety or stress that impacts young mothers, plunging them into a sort of hypervigilance.

Either way, seeing faces in electrical outlets is not a big deal and should not worry you. And you now know that you are not the only one!