According to a 2016 study that she authored, looking in the mirror with the intention of being kind to oneself can decrease levels of anxiety and stress—and we know de-stressing can have a multitude of benefits, ranging from better sleep to improved skin health.
The mirror effect brings a new perspective to the comprehension of self-awareness by positing that one of the simplest and most mundane acts of self-focusing (i.e. looking at one's mirror reflection) can inadvertently lead to the activation of escape responses among normal (i.e., non clinical) populations.
The mirror can be used to critique ourselves. But it also offers perspective on just how unkindly we're treating ourselves. Our preliminary research shows that looking with the intention to be kind to yourself can reduce anxiety and self-criticism (Well, et al., 2016).
In normal observers, gazing at one's own face in the mirror for a few minutes, at a low illumination level, produces the apparition of strange faces. Observers see distortions of their own faces, but they often see hallucinations like monsters, archetypical faces, faces of relatives and deceased, and animals.
Looking in a mirror differs from seeing a picture
This means, either different areas of the brain are activating or the same area uses different functioning mechanisms when we purposely stare in the mirror compared to if we happen to see our face in a group picture without being fully aware.
If you catch yourself or other movements in the reflection it can be difficult for the brain to switch off and go to sleep. This can cause problems like “sleep paralysis” (also known as a hypnagogic hallucination), a condition which causes sufferers to feel as though they are between a sleeping and waking state.
People may also avoid mirrors because they may distort the way an object looks. If you have eisoptrophobia, the thought of mirrors can bring intense anxiety. This can sometimes lead to panic attacks. If you have signs of eisoptrophobia, discuss your concerns with your healthcare provider.
Caputo of the University of Urbino, participants were asked to stare into a mirror in dim lighting for ten minutes. Results demonstrated that 66% of participants experienced huge deformations of their own face, 28% saw an unknown person, and 48% saw fantastical and monstrous beings.
For some people, this is a reality. Eisoptrophobia is a rare phobia, that causes sufferers to be irrationally fearful of mirrors or seeing themselves in a mirror. Those with this phobia present some of the following symptoms or reactions: Anxiety.
Because your brain gets bored and starts imagining yourself as someone else. Recent studies shown that if you look at yourself in a mirror for 10 mintues or longer your brain changes the way your face looks and some reported of seeing their face turn into a “monster” or another person where Bloody Mary takes place.
Mirror therapy is a type of therapy that uses vision to treat the pain that people with amputated limbs sometimes feel in their missing limbs. Mirror therapy does this by tricking the brain: it gives the illusion that the missing limb is moving, as the person looks at the real, remaining limb in a mirror.
Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder are compulsively drawn to the mirror, checking the mirror to ease their fears about how they think they look or continuously checking to see if their perceived deformity is still there or has become worse.
Anxiety will acknowledge their existence by convincing you that they are out to get you, and worse, that if you just think and worry and obsess hard enough, you'll find a way around them. Even when dealing with the truth, anxiety lies.
Intentional mirroring is the deliberate imitation of other people to make them feel comfortable. It is used to promote rapport and can be used in the interests of the mirrored and also against their interests. It is therefore a technique with the intention of manipulation.
Mirror therapy is used to improve motor function after stroke. During mirror therapy, a mirror is placed in the person's midsagittal plane, thus reflecting movements of the non‐paretic side as if it were the affected side.
Mirroring is the behavior in which one person subconsciously imitates the gesture, speech pattern, or attitude of another. Mirroring often occurs in social situations, particularly in the company of close friends or family, often going unnoticed by both parties.
Pediophobia is a fear of dolls or inanimate objects that look real, and pedophobia is a fear of actual children. People can suffer from both phobias, so someone who fears children (pedophobia) may also fear the childlike features of dolls (pediophobia), and someone with pediophobia may also have pedophobia.
Fear of Mirrors and Body Image
If you experience body image-related issues, the thought of mirrors or reflections may trigger a phobic response. You may also concurrently experience symptoms of spectrophobia, along with a feeding and eating disorder, and/or body dysmorphic disorder.
The name comes from the Greek word for night. Children and adults with nyctophobia may fear being alone in the dark. They may have anxiety in dark places, and they may have trouble sleeping in a darkened room. Providers sometimes call fear of the dark scotophobia (fear of darkness) or lygophobia.
Gazing into a mirror makes it possible to face your emotions and the reactions that accompany them. It also helps you learn to counter self-judgment with appreciation, compassion, and love. There's more to you than the way you look.
Thus, no reflection of light takes place by the mirror placed in the room. Hence, no image will get formed by a mirror in a completely dark room.
About This Game
From a decade ago, by the creator of To the Moon and Finding Paradise: A 30-minute experimental adventure game about a faceless girl stuck inside a house with no door to the outside.
Glossophobia, or a fear of public speaking, is a very common phobia and one that is believed to affect up to 75% of the population.
Nightmares
Having a mirror opposite your bed can lead to nightmares. If you wake up in the middle of the night and look at the reflection, you can potentially see something you don't like looking back at you!
'Because sleep has been seen as a tiny death in ancient cultures, covering the mirrors helps keep your spirit from leaving the body or welcoming other spirits to your home or dream world,' Anthony says. 'It aids in resting and brings us safely to morning.