What is the physiological explanation of the “thousand-yard stare”?

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You know that look… when someone is staring into the distance, but not looking at anything in particular. Sometimes associated with deep thought — or a complete absence of thought! You wave your hands in front of their eyes: “anybody there?” — then they snap back to reality.

Why do humans do that? What’s happening to the eyes, exactly, that we recognize that “look” as such? Is there an actual term for it? What’s the relationship between the brain and the eyes in that context?

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Anonymous 0 Comments

Not everyone who spaces out has PTSD, some are just lost in thought and not living ‘in the moment’. I used to be like that (spacing out a lot, not paying attention to my surroundings) because I was an overthinker, and people would describe me as ‘distant’ or ‘not paying attention’ if we were talking.

I had to work really hard on that to focus on social situations, be an active listener and be situationally aware. It’s not a skill everyone is necessarily born with.

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