Thousand-yard stare

The thousand-yard stare (also referred to as two-thousand/hundred-yard stare) is a phrase often used to describe the blank, unfocused gaze of people experiencing dissociation due to acute stress or traumatic events. It was originally used about war combatants and the post-traumatic stress they exhibited but is now also used to refer to an unfocused gaze observed in people under a stressful situation, or in people with certain mental health conditions.^[1]

The thousand-yard stare is sometimes described as an effect of shell shock or combat stress reaction, along with other mental health conditions. Still, it is not a formal medical term.^[1]^[2]^[3]

^ ^a ^b "Peleliu as a paradigm for PTSD: The two thousand yard stare - Hektoen International". hekint.org. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
^ Mills, M. Anthony; Mills, Mark P. (2014). "The Invention of the War Machine". The New Atlantis (42): 3–23. ISSN 1543-1215. JSTOR 43152788.
^ Kudler, Harold (2017). "Combat Stress and Related Disorders". Principles and Practice of Hospital Medicine. McGraw-Hill Education.

[:0-1] "Peleliu as a paradigm for PTSD: The two thousand yard stare - Hektoen International". hekint.org. Retrieved 2024-01-22.

[2] Mills, M. Anthony; Mills, Mark P. (2014). "The Invention of the War Machine". The New Atlantis (42): 3–23. ISSN 1543-1215. JSTOR 43152788.

[3] Kudler, Harold (2017). "Combat Stress and Related Disorders". Principles and Practice of Hospital Medicine. McGraw-Hill Education.

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