The Thousand Yard Stare meme, also known as the PTSD meme, features hot takes and funny captions on a World War II painting by Thomas Lea, The 2,000-Yard Stare. The painting features a soldier with a stunned expression, staring directly ahead as scenes of war play out behind him.
The image—and many others like it—is for all those who feel astonished by the world around them and everything playing out in it. However old you are and whatever you stand for, there are plenty of times people are left completely transfixed.
What does the 1,000 yard stare meme mean?
![Thomas Lea's painting, 'The Two-Thousand Yard Stare'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-1.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
The painting is meant to represent the shock and genuine post-traumatic stress soldiers experienced after returning home from battle. It inspired the phrase “thousand yard stare,” which references a blank stare that usually results from a form of traumatization.
The Thomas Lea painting was first featured in LIFE Magazine in 1996. As the internet began to flourish, the painting came to be used as a reaction meme, with others later putting their own spin on it.
Kurt Angle meme, aka Kurt Angle’s Thousand Yard Stare
![Kurt Angle thousand yard stare](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-2.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
Professional wrestler Kurt Angle is among those with their own take on the Thousand Yard Stare meme. Used as a reaction meme, fans laughed at the intensity of the WWE pro’s stare at the camera.
@realkurtangle Oh #ItsTrue! YOUR Olympic Gold Medalist and WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle is NOW on #TikTok! 🥇🇺🇲 #ProWrestling #Wrestling #OlympicWrestling #Olympics #WWERaw #Smackdown #NXT #WWE #KurtAngle #AEW ♬ WWE: Medal (Kurt Angle) – WWE & Jim Johnston
The Lorax Thousand Yard Stare
![lorax thousand yard stare](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-3.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![lorax thousand yard stare](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-4.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
The Lorax also has its own version of the Thousand Yard Stare. The image itself was illustrated by Instagram’s user @briman2000 in March 2023, where he joked in the caption, “Lorax has the thousand-log stare.”
Thousand Yard Stare Cat
![cat thousand yard stare meme](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-6.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
There’s also a Thousand Yard Stare meme starring a cat. The cat is photoshopped with a helmet on his head and scenes of war playing out behind him.
All of the variations of this meme speak to how popular and relatable it is. It seems like there’s a variation for everyone, which is one of the things people most value in a meme.
While war and the chaos it brings may speak to some populations more than others, it’s clear that we all know that feeling of disbelief and living through an “unprecedented” situation. However you may have incurred some trauma in life, and chances are this meme has a way to express it.
Meme examples
![thousand yard stare meme that reads 'me staring at bro after he says the most out of pocket shit ive ever heard (it was a joke)'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-7.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare meme tweet that reads 'Hit the thousand-yard stare for my passport this morning'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-8.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![new york sitting on bed with caption 'idk how im supposed to make my food for tomorrow and go to bed now. im BUSY doing my post 'i saw the tv glow' thousand yard stare'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-9.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare meme that reads 'me realizing that I've heard the words 'erm what the sigma' more than the words 'i love you''](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-11.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare meme about depression and chatting with AI bots](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-12.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare meme that reads 'when it's april 2 and she's still pregnant'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-13.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare meme reaction to someone flipping their own pillow at their funeral](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-14.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare meme that reads 'my toilet watchcing me eat 100 pounds of taco bell'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-15.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare meme that reads ''when you realise the day before its due why the teacher gave you two weeks to complete it'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-16.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)
![thousand yard stare as a reaction to a timetraveler asking 'is this after the first covid pandemic or the second one?'](https://uploads.dailydot.com/2024/07/thousand-yard-stare-17.jpg?auto=compress&fm=pjpg)