The thousand-yard stare is the blank, unfocused gaze of people experiencing dissociation due to acute stress or traumatic events. · the thousand yard stare generally indicates emotional disengagement, commonly associated with trauma or overwhelming stress. · a 1000-yard stare is the blank gaze of someone dissociating from trauma. Discover the causes of this condition, its impact, and possible treatments. An act of someone looking into the distance and appearing not to be noticing or emotionally…. It originated during world war ii, when soldiers who suffered from battle fatigue seemed to be staring off into space. Thousand - yard stare meaning: The phrase was originally used to describe war combatants and the post-traumatic stress they exhibited but is now also used to refer to an unfocused gaze observed in people under any stressful situation, or in people with certain mental health conditions. The thousand - yard stare (also referred to as two-thousand- yard stare ) is the blank, unfocused gaze of people experiencing dissociation due to acute stress or traumatic events. The phrase describes the unfocused or fatigued look a person who has experienced trauma or acute stress—for instance, due to military combat—might have. · thousand-yard stare is a psychological condition commonly caused by severe trauma. Originating from the military lexicon, the thousand-yard stare is used to describe the blank, emotionless expression of someone who has experienced significant trauma or psychological distress. It’s as if the person’s mind has temporarily disconnected from their surroundings, leaving behind an empty shell. · the thousand - yard stare is characterized by a distant, vacant expression that seems to look right through people and objects. · what is a thousand-yard stare? It reflects a person’s struggle to cope with past experiences and can signify mental health conditions such as ptsd. It is often associated with a state of shock or trauma and is frequently used in psychological and literary contexts. · the phrase thousand-yard stare signifies a vacant or unfocused gaze , implying that one is lost in thought or disconnected from the present. · what is the “thousand-yard stare”? The “ thousand-yard stare ” ― or 1000-yard stare ― is a term that describes the blank, emotionless expression that people sometimes experience with acute stress. The thousand-yard stare is a psychological phenomenon characterized by a vacant, unfocused gaze that appears to be looking into the distance.