When I experience discomfort with eye contact, it’s more than simply feeling awkward or socially uncomfortable. I literally start to feel that if I look into the person’s eyes for even one second longer I’ll have to flee the room. The classic “fight or flight” symptoms suggest that my brain is perceiving the sustained eye contact as a threat. Why is this? And why does it happen most strongly with people who I consider acquaintances but not strangers or intimates?