# Staring into a mirror **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767 "2005-01-14T21:20:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/1 "2005-01-14T21:20:55Z")
I was wondering does anyone else have those dissociativemoments when staring into a mirror? Like you’ve lost your sense of “self”? It’s a weird thing that I notice happens to me if I stare into a mirror for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/2 "2005-01-14T21:30:05Z")
_Kids: Do not try this at home._ ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/3 "2005-01-14T21:30:29Z")
Yes. It’s easier to experience it with a double-reflection, but I have experienced it with direct reflection. Sometimes accidentally (“who’s that weirdo looking at me?.. oh it’s me”) and sometimes deliberately as you describe - while starting right at a mirror. A similar thing sometimes happens with words. If I think about a word too much it seems to lose it’s meaning and sound weird in my head, eventually I have to ask - Is that really a word?? ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/4 "2005-01-14T21:48:16Z")
I dissociate in general, but making eye contact with myself in the mirror is a surefire trigger. For this reason, I avoid doing so. ---
**Author:** ![malkavia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malkavia/32/5621_2.png) [@malkavia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malkavia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/5 "2005-01-14T22:12:23Z")
Wow, I am SO glad that this happens to other people as well. It doesn’t happen to me too often anymore, thank goodness. ---
**Author:** ![siberia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/siberia/32/9129_2.png) [@siberia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/siberia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/6 "2005-01-14T23:13:03Z")
Ahhh another “thank goodness I’m normal” moment on the SDMB. 🙂 I wonder what causes this. The word thing that Lobsang described happens to me on occasions as well. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/7 "2005-01-14T23:23:29Z")
I do the “word thing,” but staring at myself in the mirror produces nothing except a determination to finally figure out what color my eyes really are. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Wing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/51bf81/32.png) [@Little\_Wing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Wing)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/8 "2005-01-14T23:58:56Z")
> [@Harimad-sol](#): > > I do the “word thing,” but staring at myself in the mirror produces nothing except a determination to finally figure out what color my eyes really are. I do this, too! “Are they green? Are they blue? Wait, there’s some brown. Honey! What color are my eyes?” (yes, I really asked my husband this once. He said “blue” so maybe it’s a self-perception thing…odd) I don’t feel so alone anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/9 "2005-01-15T00:18:13Z")
> [@Little Wing](#): > > I do this, too! “Are they green? Are they blue? Wait, there’s some brown. Honey! What color are my eyes?” (yes, I really asked my husband this once. He said “blue” so maybe it’s a self-perception thing…odd) > > I don’t feel so alone anymore. I say they’re green. Everyone I ask says they’re blue, except one ex, who got really close to me and said, “Hmm, maybe they are green, after all.” My eyes change color with moods and what I wear. ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/10 "2005-01-15T02:28:49Z")
> [@siberia](#): > > Ahhh another “thank goodness I’m normal” moment on the SDMB. 🙂 I wonder what causes this. The word thing that Lobsang described happens to me on occasions as well. Another “thank goodness” moment for me too, though I’m not normal by any means. 🆒 I’ve always wondered if it had to do something with the eye muscles? ---
**Author:** ![PussyCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/22d042/32.png) [@PussyCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PussyCow)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/11 "2005-01-15T17:27:19Z")
You all really need to stay off the hallucinogens. Of course, so do I. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/12 "2005-01-15T17:30:07Z")
Whoa, man, like, the drugs are _getting_ to you, dude! So do I. It usually happens in the morning or late night, when I’m half-awake and expecting my mirror reflection to eat my brains or something. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/13 "2005-01-15T22:27:14Z")
A friend of mine at school (many years ago) claimed this was called ‘Mirror Scrying’ and that if you stared into the reflection of your right eye, you’d see yourself in the future, whereas the left eye would show you yourself in the past (_cough_bullshit!_cough_), but I thought Id mention the term. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/14 "2005-01-15T22:32:11Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > A friend of mine at school (many years ago) claimed this was called ‘Mirror Scrying’ and that if you stared into the reflection of your right eye, you’d see yourself in the future, whereas the left eye would show you yourself in the past (_cough_bullshit!_cough_), but I thought Id mention the term. Is that _your_ right/left eye or _your reflection’s_ right/left eye? ---
**Author:** ![START](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@START](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/START)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/15 "2005-01-15T22:33:59Z")
I’m going to try it later tonight and let you know what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2005, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/16 "2005-01-15T22:34:00Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > A similar thing sometimes happens with words. If I think about a word too much it seems to lose it’s meaning and sound weird in my head, eventually I have to ask - Is that really a word?? This happens to me quite a lot and I think it is actually quite common, although I have met a number of people who simply didn’t know what I was talking about when I described the phenomenon, so it may not be universal (or it may be that they’d simply never happened to experience it. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/17 "2005-01-16T21:56:50Z")
So, **START** , anything happen? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/18 "2005-01-16T22:55:29Z")
Isn’t that kind of like the phenonmenon where you say a word over and over and suddenly that word has no meaning? Like if I say “Dog.” My mind conjures up the image of a four legged beastie with a wagging tail. But if I say “Dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog, dog…” I would get a brainfart and the word would no longer have any meaning. _Heads off to find a mirror_ ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/19 "2005-01-16T23:35:21Z")
?wonk uoy lliw woh dnA ?od ouy ll’tahw neht ,ereht ni deppart teg thgim uoy luferac t’nera uoy fI ._rorrim eht edisni_ dnal eht otni ,edis rehto eht otno revo gnissorc era uoy nehw era “stnemom evitaicossid” esohT ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767/20 "2005-01-16T23:41:30Z")
.gnihtyna dear ot tluciffid ylemertxe emaceb ti taht ezilaer dluow I. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/staring-into-a-mirror/284767.md?page=2)