# How long does it take the newly blind to develop an unfocused stare? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-the-newly-blind-to-develop-an-unfocused-stare/255926 "2004-07-20T02:02:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-the-newly-blind-to-develop-an-unfocused-stare/255926/1 "2004-07-20T02:02:16Z")
I was watching a TV show earlier today, and one character was a woman in her 30s who had become blind recently due to an accident – the show didn’t specify, but I got the impression it had happened within a month of the show’s setting. She had the unfocused stare that most sighted actors portraying blind people adopt, and it made me wonder: how long does it take in ‘real life’ for someone who has just become blind to stop trying to look at what they hear? I’d think that the unconscious habit/reflex (?) would persist for longer than a month, but then again I really don’t know. Hence, my very first SDMB thread. 🙂 If the answer to my question is “it depends on how long the person was sighted, their age at loss of vision, etc.” please use the TV show’s character as an example: a woman in her 30s who suddenly loses her sight due to an accident. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-the-newly-blind-to-develop-an-unfocused-stare/255926/2 "2004-07-20T23:31:55Z")
I’m not a doctor, but I am very nearsighted. People tell me I have an unfocused stare as soon as I take my glasses off. If you’re blind, you have nothing to focus at. I’d think it would happen immediately. Why wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-the-newly-blind-to-develop-an-unfocused-stare/255926/3 "2004-07-22T19:34:01Z")
It’s a reflex or instinct (or something) for sighted people to turn their eyes in the direction of what they are concentrating on, so I just figured that someone who _just_ became blind would keep trying to look at things for _x_ amount of time, out of habit if nothing else. Have you been very nearsighted for a long time? Have you _always_ had an unfocused stare as soon as you take your glasses off? I’m very nearsighted, too, but I guess I’ve never had my glasses off/contact lenses out for long enough to develop an unfocused stare (it seems like an odd thing for anyone who isn’t legally blind to develop, but so be it). Even if I take my glasses off at work to rub my eyes or something, I still look around at the people and objects that I can’t focus on…not being able to focus on them isn’t the same thing as not being able to see them. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-the-newly-blind-to-develop-an-unfocused-stare/255926/4 "2004-07-22T21:25:22Z")
I’ve been nearsighted for as long as I can remember. It was not diagnosed until I was in about 4th grade, though. When I got my first pair of glasses I was astonished at the details I could see. When I was in high school I decided the glasses were unattractive and I tried taking them off sometimes. My friends begged me to put them back on, because without them I looked weird, like I was just dazed or something. I can see shapes and so on, and the big “E” on the eye chart. For example, without them, I can see that there’s a person on the other side of the room, and what color their clothing is. If I remember that Janie was wearing a red dress, and there’s a red blob over there, I can deduce that’s probably her. But I can’t distinguish her facial features. Yes, I would imagine that a formerly sighted person would turn toward the source of a sound and do other things out of habit, but that’s different from focusing, at least the way I’d interpret the word. Perhaps I misunderstood your question. And of course, non-sighted people would still turn toward a sound in order to use his hearing better. Actually now that I am old I am getting better distance vision. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-the-newly-blind-to-develop-an-unfocused-stare/255926/5 "2004-07-22T22:53:14Z")
I’ve seen people get stoned and have an unfocused stare in 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-the-newly-blind-to-develop-an-unfocused-stare/255926/6 "2004-07-23T01:26:51Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I’ve been nearsighted for as long as I can remember. It was not diagnosed until I was in about 4th grade, though. When I got my first pair of glasses I was astonished at the details I could see. Sounds like me, except I started wearing glasses for nearsightedness in 2nd grade. 🙂 It seems like you’re older than me, but I think our uncorrected vision is similarly poor. > [@](#): > > Yes, I would imagine that a formerly sighted person would turn toward the source of a sound and do other things out of habit, but that’s different from focusing, at least the way I’d interpret the word. Perhaps I misunderstood your question. > [@Boyo Jim](#): > > I’ve seen people get stoned and have an unfocused stare in 10 minutes. Ok, apparently the trouble is with the phrase “unfocused stare” – though I believe that, technically, it is the right description, because a ‘stare’ by definition involves no eye movement. How else is there to describe that ‘blind person look’ seen so often in movies and on TV? However you describe it, THAT is what I’m talking about. I’m wondering how long it takes for someone to stop trying to look at things after they lose their sight.