Eye contact

Being in the Presence; understood as being close to someone else physically or emotionally. It can be challenging for some and can be experienced by everyone. From well-functioning people to the truly mentally ill.

As with many other psychological conditions, the phenomenon lies on a spectrum from quite common to more rare. The physical closeness, the intimacy, can be unsettling, confronting. For some it can be about the eye contact, for others it can be about the emotional closeness. People can feel exposed, uncovered. It can be downright anxiety-provoking. We know this from the animal world, for example, where eye contact can be frightening or challenging. Some animals can react strongly when you look at them. Dogs you don't know can detect eye contactas a threat or challenge. When watching videos of people encountering gorillas in the jungle, they should avoid making eye contact as the apes see it as a challenge.

As a psychologist, I'm very aware of how clients react when I sit with them and inevitably end up looking at them; even in the eyes. If they show signs of discomfort in any way, I try to have less eye contact with them so they don't become uncomfortable. In psychiatry, I had a whiteboard to have a neutral place to focus. A common third we could both look at so the patient didn't have to look at me. Eye contact can feel invasive, especially when you're feeling really bad mentally. For example, withSchizophrenia patients with an uncertain sense of their own bodily boundaries. They may feel that you are physically entering their head when you look at them. This is of course terribly frightening and uncomfortable for them. Their psychic filter, you could say, is gone, which makes it extra uncomfortable for them. You have to keep that in mind, if I may say so, when you sit with them.