Shark Eyes vs Dissociation: Trauma Response

Indexed: 2026-05-17

[00:00:00]The reel I made about the dark eyes or the shark eyes, and I was specifically referencing narcissist, okay? People talk about the dark eyes or the shark eyes of a narcissist. That That is real, okay? Um it is not the same thing as what some uh people are saying in the comments about somebody with a trauma response who dissociates also can have, you know, similar looking eyes. So, there uh they might look similar on the surface, but the internal state behind what causes that response are completely different, and I think this is where um things are getting confused. Again, I was talking about a narcissist. I wasn't saying it only happens with a narcissist, okay? A narcissist goes flat and cold. Somebody in a trauma response who dissociates is overwhelmed, but with a narcissist, that is predatory detachment. Empathy shuts off. Their eyes go hard, and they shift into um like somebody totally different. And that shift to them is like you you are no longer a person. Uh they see you as an obstacle, an object, and you are like a threat to their ego. When a narcissist goes into that state, it's like their um energy gets sharp. You feel watched, evaluated, and maybe unsafe. My reading up on uh trauma and dissociation and my own experience with um having trauma and uh dissociation is that it is uh different. The eyes go distant and unfocused because the nervous system is overwhelmed.

[00:01:43]It is a protected type of detachment.

[00:01:47]It's not a strategic um one. And usually an individual who goes into that trauma response um the of dissociation is that they're not trying to dominate anyone um or the situation. Usually, they're trying to survive the current state that their nervous system is in. And you can sense sometimes maybe the energy softens and like you might feel more concern and not that you're in you're in danger. So, the difference here is one is about control, the other is about collapse.

[00:02:22]They look alike, right? But the felt sense is the truth. What are you feeling? And again, as I say in my video with the narcissist, you can you see everything change and the the entire energy around you will shift.