Seeing something other than your reflection in the mirror is weird, odd … and scary. People experience different things when they stare in the mirror for too long and each of them has a different opinion as to why and what happens in the mirror.
Are you obsessed with gazing at mirrors? Is it good or bad for you? What may happen if you stare at yourself for more than 10 minutes? This post will cover EVERYTHING related to mirror gazing for a longer time!
What happens when you stare in the mirror too long? The answer to this question is quite subjective. There are a variety of theories attached to this weird topic. Some people see creepy creatures, perhaps monsters or demonic spirits while others just see warped versions of their faces, which too is kind of creepy. Some people have even reported seeing some deceased people in the mirror as a result of this experiment.
Now the question is why that happens? A mirror is supposed to show reflections. Where do these things come from?
5 Things Happens If You Look Into A Mirror For Too Long
Many psychological changes happen when a person gazes at a mirror longer. Not only this, but physics also plays a vital role when your eyes focus on a certain object. Let’s see what are these changes that happen below:
Your brain gets bored
There is a great chance that your brain is playing games with you. A huge chunk of people is of the view that when you stare in the mirror for too long, your brain gets bored and hence, starts hallucinating. And with hallucinations, the limit is nowhere to be found. You could hallucinate into seeing animals, a creepy version or say a creepier version of your face, or some kind of monsters, etc. We believe that this is the simplest explanation that exists in this regard – your brain gets bored of making you focus on your face so it decides to scare the hell out of you!
You connect with your inner self
When you continuously stare in the mirror you start seeing different aspects of your personality. You start contemplating yourself. You also meet your insecurities on the way. Or fall back into guilt trips. You start seeing your inner self which is evil oftentimes. Your mind dissociates from your body and takes you on an inner journey.
If you’re someone who lingers on to negativity then, the reflection of your inner self will be a combination of the wrong you’ve done to someone, your regrets, your failures, your past experiences, and consequently, what you’ll see in the mirror will not be amusing of course.
Alternate Reality and Quantum Physics
The reflection we see in the mirror is the result of the path taken by light to reach our eyes. There may be other potential paths that light can take to different parts of the universe and back and hence, create an alternate reflection in the mirror.
When we stare in the mirror continuously for a long time, we see changes in reflection and that according to quantum physics may be an alternate reality. But why is this alternate reality weird and scary – there’s no clear explanation about this.
Troxler effect
Our brain stops responding or ignores the stimuli it receives over and over again. When you’re looking at yourself in the mirror, your brain receives the same visual stimuli again and again. A time comes when it keeps only the relevant stimulus that helps you focus on a certain point and all other stimuli are ignored. This results in blurring or disappearing of most of the part of your face, while the place you’re focusing at, remains. This is why you see an unclear or warped image of yourself in the mirror.
But the Troxler effect fails in a way as it cannot explain the presence of the monster standing beside you in your mirror.
Psychomanteum – meeting the deceased
Turns out there’s actually a ‘thing’ with mirrors. Psychomanteum is done through mirrors. It is apparently a process of meeting a deceased person. Experiments have been done in this regard and people have reported seeing deceased spirits in the mirror. Some of them also reported conversations and certain sensations during this process.
“Participants reported that a variety of imagery appeared in the mirror, as well as experiences of dialogue, sounds, light, body sensations, and smell. “ [See Reference]
Psychomanteum is done by placing a mirror in front of a person, in a dim-lit room. That person reminisces the deceased and then by staring in the mirror has a meeting with them. Well, it is kind of unbelievable, maybe it is just the subconscious messing around – we don’t really know.
Demonic spirits and myths
There are people out there who believe that mirrors are portals for demonic spirits to enter your house. And you shouldn’t really mess around with a mirror doing unusual magical practices. This way you may summon a demon or evil spirit and they may start living with you and scare you, perhaps.
Like this person has a whole story of how the spirit visits him because he messed around with this mirror-gazing experiment. Check his intriguing story out, here on reddit.
Also, people believe that you should especially cover mirrors in the dark or at night. Otherwise, you’ll see distorted and strange images. Apparently, if you look in the mirror at night you’ll see your face deformed and whatnot!
Well, the sanest explanation we believe is that it is only your mind playing with you. The more you think about a thing in a certain way, the more you start believing that it is happening to you. It’s just a fun experiment for many people. But at the same time, some people get anxiety attacks when they’re not able to control what they’re seeing. So try it at your own risk!
What happens if you looking too long in the mirror.
Strange Feeling When Looking In The Mirror
Do you feel weird when looking into the mirror? Why? It’s true that some people feel strange when looking in the mirror. Because they feel difficulty in understanding the reality in inverse. For example, they feel their nose is drifting, eyes are going closer. The longer they see, the weird they feel.
The reason is that when an image falls in the retina of the eyes, the brain tends to flip it upside down. When we continuously focus on one thing our perception becomes inverted as there is no role of imagination. We directly see ourselves without the intervention of imagination in the mirror.
The longer we see in the mirror, the more changes start happening in our understanding and perception. We try to accept inverse reality. In this attempt, we feel strange. One more reason for strange feeling is that you may have a depersonalization disorder.
Don’t forget to read Do Mirror Make You Look Bigger.
Is it bad to look in the mirror too much?
Worried to know if it’s bad to look in the mirror too much. YES, it’s not a good practice to stare at yourself too long in the mirror. It can make you uncomfortable about your looks. It can also make you kinder not only about yourself but for others also. You may get more judgemental and critical with continuous mirroring.
There are so many reasons that tell you why it’s bad to look in the mirror too long. Let’s read out 5 reasons here:
- Looking in the mirror longer can make you self conscious about your looks
- Your vision to judge others might change as you consider looks more
- YOu may not enjoy your life to its fullest
- The more you look in the mirror, the less you focus on your surroundings
- The more you look in the mirror, the more stressful you may get with little stuff
Read our post Screen Mirroring Without Wifi Our next post rearview mirror keeps falling off is worth reading for many who want to know more.
What happens if you stare at a mirror for 10 minutes?
Ever thought about what happens if you stare at the mirror for 10 minutes? Staring at the mirror for continuous 10 minutes may result in mirror illusion. You may feel your face is getting deformed. Your nose and eyes are drifting apart. Hallucination!
A research was conducted by Italian psychologist Giovanni Caputo to observe this phenomenon. In this research, a set up was made in which 50 people were made to sit in front of a big mirror at a distance of 40cm in dim light. They were asked to write down their observation after staring for 10 minutes in the mirror.
Below were the findings of the research:
- All 50 participants observe the dissociative identity effect. They felt as if something strange is watching them behind the mirror
- The expression of another person who they think is watching them are weird
- Some feel that other people are smiling at cheering at them
- The overall result was that almost all observe dynamic deformation of new faces.
What happens if you stare at yourself in the mirror?
Curious to know: WHat happens if you stare at yourself in the mirror? If you stare at yourself in the mirror for a few seconds, It’s Ok. But if you stare too long, you may fall into mirror illusion and self-consciousness. You may start thinking more about your looks. Interestingly, the viewer may feel hallucinations also when staring too long.
From the perspective of psychology, it’s not a good practice to stare too long in the mirror. It can make you stressed for even nothing. The longer you stare the more you focus. In turn, the more you stress out. Your mind starts working in a different direction when you stare at yourself. You judge yourself as a third person.
Don’t skip this interesting piece of information: What Happens When You Photocopy A Mirror.
What is it called when you always look at yourself in the mirror?
Gazing yourself too much in the mirror is a sign of Body Dysmorphic Disorder. It is a type of mental illness in which people perceive that they appear different than they actually look. Such people gaze at them for too long in the mirror. They are so complex that they look ugly.
In many cases, people even do not look in the mirror at all. But in many cases of BDD patients gazes at the mirror for too long. Sometimes there may be nothing wrong with the body or appearance of such people. It’s all about what they think.
If you think you too stare at the mirror longer than usual, ask yourself
- What types of thoughts hit your mind as you stare at yourself
- Do you feel happy or sad after gazing too long in the mirror
- Do you want to get rid of this habit
- Do you think it’s abnormal to stare at the mirror for too long?
Answer yourself, if you really want to avoid this habit, you can control it. Your willpower is the only thing that makes you fight against what troubles you a lot. SO start thinking!
Is your Reflection In The Mirror Is What Others See You: another post that will explore mirror version reality.
What happens when you stare at yourself in the mirror for too long?
If you stare too long many things can happen. You may fall into illusion, hallucination, and restlessness. You may feel your face is getting deformed as you stare too long. You can also sense otherness in your perception.
When research was conducted to examine such behaviour almost all participants reported they feel weird. Some feel hallucination Others feel deformed facial expressions and few feel cheerful and happy expressions. But almost everyone felt differently.
Overall it can distort your imagination when you stare longer. Your retina of the eye may also flip your image as you see deeper and longer. YOur feelings may change with every second.
Here’s our top collection of the Best Frameless Blindspot Mirrors.
Conclusion
Finally, anything can happen if you look in the mirror for too long. It’s not the right practice for yourself and your mental health. It can make you critical in your approach towards looks. Further, it can destroy your perception.
Gazing mirror is a need of our daily life. So do it for a few seconds to 1 minute and get busy with your work. If you are doing some close up facial task like makeup, you can extend this time. But keep your thoughts under control and don’t get obsessed.
