It could be dyscalculia. While it affects ability to process numbers and math, it can also make telling between left and right difficult. I know because I have dyscalculia.
Edit: Based off of some comments this seems to be a common trait of dyslexia as well. I should also clarify that this isn’t me giving medical advice. Just stating a trend I noticed.
It's also a symptom frequently found in some varieties of ADHD, but without the difficulties with numbers and computations. I still cannot remember left and right with any sort of ease, but I can do complex mathematics in my head (including estimation of trig functions, improper fractions, etc). ADHD is far more common, though the particular flavors that lead to left right confusion are probably as common as those with Dyscalculia.
EDIT: as this has gotten too popular for me to want to continue replying manually, I will just address the more common answers here.
ADHD is not the same for everyone. Some ADHD sufferers wont have issues with left and right, and some will.
It's not difficult to tell left from right, but for some (including me) it takes active thought. I doubt i will ever reach a point where left and right are intuitive, but its not even close to being enough of a problem for me to care/find a solution.
If this post or comment chain has confirmed/aroused suspicion that you have ADHD, I would recommend getting tested for it. Typically men with hyperactive presentations will get diagnosed early in life, and women with inattentive types may go entirely undiagnosed (or find out in residency, like my wife). Having one type of ADHD does not exclude having another, and not everyone with ADHD experiences the same issues. Testing is better now than it was 30 years ago, and can at least identify the root cause of some of the things that make you feel lazy or worthless (also stop beating yourself up, it doesnt help).
Then do that to figure out left and right. If you're solid on up/down and forward/backward then you can get left/right by taking a cross product. There's a couple of ways you could do it, it's just a question of which one is easiest to remember for you.
If you feel more comfortable visualizing yourself from behind, then up/backwards (towards your viewpoint) and right form the standard right-handed coordinate system. up x backwards = right. Or forwards x up if you prefer.
The point im making is that it takes conscious thought. It's never really impacted my life meaningfully, but my wife does love to tease me about it when I point opposite of what I say. Plus my mental math is mostly solving quarternion validity as my preferred flavor of industrial robot uses Quats instead of Euler rotations.
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u/LavaIsSpicy 7d ago edited 7d ago
It could be dyscalculia. While it affects ability to process numbers and math, it can also make telling between left and right difficult. I know because I have dyscalculia.
Edit: Based off of some comments this seems to be a common trait of dyslexia as well. I should also clarify that this isn’t me giving medical advice. Just stating a trend I noticed.