Serendip is an independent site partnering with faculty at multiple colleges and universities around the world. Happy exploring!
Déjà vu and the Brain, Consciousness and Self
Biology 202
1998 Second Web Reports
On Serendip
UGH! I Just Got the Creepiest Feeling That I Have Been Here Before:
Déjà vu and the Brain, Consciousness and Self
Julia Johnson
We have all some experience of a feeling, that comes over us occasionally, of what we are saying and doing having been said and done before, in a remote time - of our having been surrounded, dim ages ago, by the same faces, objects, and circumstances - of our knowing perfectly what will be said next, as if we suddenly remember it! (Dickens in David Copperfield - chapter 39 (1))It happens to me and it has probably happened to you. It is sudden and fleeting, leaving as unexpectedly as it came. While the experience is striking in its clarity and detail, it is difficult to recapture or recount. Generally, it is left unexplained and is described in a vague sense, often simply as, "Wow, I just got the strangest déjà vu." Because it is so difficult to research and seems to have no deleterious effects on daily and long-term nervous system function, déjà vu has been left largely to the wayside of neurobiological investigation. In all of its ambiguity, déjà vu is still a perplexing phenomenon that has not yet been fully explained. The value of truly understanding the source of déjà vu and its circuitry is in uncovering one of the many keys to the role of the conscious self in the functioning of the brain.
What is déjà vu and how does it work? Déjà vu is considered a common phenomenon. Surveys show that about one third of the population has had the most common form of déjà vu sensations (1). Due to the subjective and often indescribable nature of the associated feelings, it has been difficult, to determine who is actually experiencing déjà vu. In general, however, déjà vu is "any number of hard-to-explain sometimes upsetting occurrences of unexpected recognition, in which the person involved has trouble identifying an antecedent for the events and/or places which seem so strangely and intensely familiar (1)." Déjà vu has been defined as "familiarity without awareness (13)." While the situational cues of a déjà vu are familiar, there is a definite lack of awareness about the specific source of the memory.
Arthur Funkhouser (1) defines three types of déjà vu in an attempt to more clearly delineate between associated, but different, neurological experiences. These are déjà vecu (already experienced), déjà senti (already felt) and déjà visité (already visited). Déjà vecu is the most common déjà vu experience and involves the sensation of having done something or having been in an identical situation before and knowing what will happen next. These sensations are often felt through several senses: seeing, hearing, taste, touch and proprioceptive perceptions. The experience is often incredibly detailed and is usually connected to very normal activities. Although the episode itself lasts from only a fraction of a second to several minutes, it can often be remembered in minute detail long after the episode has occurred. One experiencer says, "There came this strange, almost physical up-welling of visual experience, a visual warping, and at the same time an eerie realization that everything happening now had happened before, maybe many times (11)."
Déjà senti is different from déjà vecu in that the episode of recollection feels more like the recovery of long sought after information. The sensation is one of satisfaction at having retrieved a memory although the memory was not actively sought. This form of déjà vu does not involve any feelings of premonition and the episodes quickly dissipate from memory. Déjà senti has been strongly associated with the partial seizure experiences reported by temporal lobe epilepsy patients. The extended nature of these episodes has allowed for more detailed descriptions of the feelings associated with a déjà senti event. "It was as if one of my dreams had simply been sucked out of the actual, physical environment and set to playing again in every detail (11)." Déjà visité is a more rare event in which a person visits a new place and feels that it is familiar. It is associated more with spatial dimensions while déjà vecu is associated with situations and processes. Déjà vu experiences can be in one of the three forms described above or can be a mixed version with a combined déjà vu effect [The above from (1)].
What causes a déjà vu episode? There are several possible explanations for what is occurring during a déjà vu experience. One possibility is simply the occasional mismatch made by the brain in its continuous attempt to create whole sensical pictures out of very small pieces of information. Looking at memory as a hologram, only bits of sensory information are needed for the brain to reconstruct entire three-dimensional images. When the brain receives a small sensory input (a sight, a smell, a sound) that is strikingly similar to such a detail experienced in the past, the entire memory image is brought forward. The brain has taken the past to be the present by virtue of one tiny bit of sensory information. It is this mismatch of past and present sensory information that causes the sense of disconcertment and unease associated with a passing déjà vu [The above from (2) and (3)]. This theory provides a satisfactory explanation for the physical effects of déjà vu. These appear to be similar to the effects of mismatch between sensory input and corollary discharge signal information to the brain. It does not, however, seem to provide sufficient answers to individual (even my own) accounts of déjà vu, where the memory image pulled up is not necessarily from a true past event.
Another explanation for déjà vu is that there is a slight malfunctioning between the long and short-term memory circuits of the brain. Somehow, specific information shortcuts its way from short to long-term memory storage, bypassing the usual mechanisms used for storage transfer. The details concerning this shortcut are not yet well understood. When this new, recent piece of information is drawn upon, the person thinks that the piece is coming from long-term storage and so must have come from the distant past (6). A similar theory says that the error is in the timing of the perceptive and cognitive processes. Sensory information is rerouted on its way to memory storage and, so, is not immediately perceived. This short delay causes the sensation of experiencing and remembering something at the same time, a very unsettling feeling (2). One other explanation is that déjà vu is actually the process of remembering memory connections, of following the impulses and synapses (4). All of these neurobiologically based explanations for déjà vu seem plausible and intriguing and perhaps there is some overlap or combination that accounts for the different experiences we call déjà vu.
Other explanations for déjà vu have been given by psychoanalysts, such as the manifestation of wish fulfillment. Here, déjà vu is the subconscious repetition of a past experience, but with a more positive ending (2). The realm of parapsychology proposes that déjà vu is a chance for reincarnates to get a sneak peak into a past life. Most scientists scoff at these "magical" explanations for neurological events, citing that they break many of the laws of nature (6). Some, however, point to more recent findings in physics, such as the possibility of particles that can travel backwards in time (tachyons), time loops and multiple universes. They say that these may give cause for more non-traditional ways of seeing causality and for the possibility of neurological "time travel" (1). This means that, maybe, just maybe, understanding déjà vu as a means of seeing into the past or future cannot be so immediately dismissed. It is certainly food for thought for the rising debate, anyway.
It is important to note the level of consciousness involved in a déjà vu episode. There are common threads that run through many déjà vu experiences. "When you are in the midst of such an occurrence, you are conscious that everything conforms with your 'memory' of it" (1) and "I know exactly what is going on around me when it happens. (9)." This implies that the participation of the entire brain capacity is not required to produce a déjà vu experience. Perhaps more importantly, there is a significant role played by at least a portion of the conscious person and the I-function. "It was like being in a long-running play, complete with the sense of being 'on' and standing
What is this role of the self in déjà vu? "To what extent is it possible for the core awareness to preserve ... images and emotions before they're swallowed up again and sealed tight? (11)" One epileptic déjà vu experiencer claimed that he could consciously recapture the feelings and notions associated with déjà vu simply by writing down the images that appeared during the experience. Later, he found that the memories had not vanished as before but could be brought back to a conscious level simply by reading the notes. The experience was brought back to him as if it was a conscious daydream (11). The striking implication here is that part of the conscious self, the I-function, is intimately involved and may be communicating with the processes of a déjà vu.
Perhaps to some, déjà vu is not worth its research weight in synapses. It may seem to many to be just an oddball, quirky brain trick that we learn to incorporate into our daily routine. Investigation into the implications of this neural event, however, seems to lead towards more in-depth knowledge of ourselves.
Quite a few of us who have "already-seen" would dare to see even more---would actually follow that dangerous, disappearing, inbound road consciously and witness for the first time what is usually jamais-vu and hidden, and I mean the steady dark frolic of neurons and the ghost that is called ego (11). A better understanding of déjà vu may lead us closer to an understanding of the complex relationship between ourselves and our memories. It may light a path for a clearer view into how we incorporate ourselves into our memory and into how our memory is incorporated into our conscious selves. How can this be futile?This Has Happened
(1) "Three Types of Deja Vu," in Perspectives - A Mental Health Magazine, on mental health net, by Funkhouser, Arthur.
(2) "Been There, Done That," by Geary, James, TIME Magazine 149/18, May 5, 1997.
(3) "You're Not Really Losing Your Mind," by Peterson, Karen, USA Today
(4) "If You Think About It...," by Shaughnessy, Ed.
(5) "Scientific Approaches to Consciousness," a volume in the Carnegie Mellon Symposia on Cognition Series, edited by Cohen, Jonathan and Schooler, Johathan.
(6) "Do Dreams Predict the Future," in FAQ Maintainer.
(7) "Premonitions or Deja vu Sensations?" by Dr. Dewey.
(8) "Partial Seizures," by Ryan, Diane.
(9) "deja vu feelings," by Moyers.
(10) "Mind, Body, and Seizures," by Benak, John.
(11) "Yellow Brick Road," by Media, Frank.
(12) "Reincarnation," in The Skeptic's Dictionary, by Carroll, Robert Todd.
(13) "MEMORY: a record of the past."
|
Continuing conversation
Dear Sir or Madam, I have read your article regarding de javu on the Internet. I experience that starnage phenomenon very often approximately twice a month. That caused me to find some information or explanation about it. Your hypothesis regarding the time delay in processing of the visual information looks quite reasonable. There is one thing I would like to note. In that article you said that the phenomenon is exclusively visual. However, when experience de javu not only my visual sense remembers the situation but also all my other senses are at work (I remember sounds, tastes and even smells). I would like to hear your comments on my case since you are a specialist in this field. Sincerely, Galymhzan T. Koishiyev Kazakhstan, Almaty k_galimjan@ok.kz
Thanks for referencing my MGH post. I took that work quite further and developed a formalized theory for seizure control based on my own research. This work culminated in a trip to Prague in 1999, where I presented a paper on my research at a neurology/epilepsy conference in Prague. That paper was subsquently published in 2000 in the British medical journal "Seizure." If anyone is interested in a copy I'd be happy to email it to you. While the seizure frequency has subsided quite a bit over the last ten years, I still have the experiential seizures a couple of times a month. I'm more than willing to discuss any questions anyone might have about this or related subjects. Thanks! John Benak jbenak@austin.rr.com
I have experienced a deja vu and it was very strange.When i do a definite action i have the feeling that i have done it before.It also heppened to me to know people who i have never seen before(to have the feeling that i know them).But the strangest thing happened when i was in the States for the summer the previous year.(I am from Europe and i have never been in the States before).It happened during my visit of Six Flags.The moment at which i heard the music and saw the entrance of it i felt something.It was something like fear.........something very strange.I did not know where was this coming from.I had that strange feeling all the time we stayed there but i was trying to interpret it like a great exitement that i am there.At the time we were about to leave it happened.I was there waiting for my friends to come.For a fraction of a second i felt i am somewhere above the others.I could hear vopices but they seemed very apart.I was stared and moveless.I was looking at a small bench almost unnotisable.There were many trees around it.What i remember is vouge because it was so strong and i was so upset after it.I felt that i am sitting in that same bench with somebody and i can almost say that i pictured myself there.The feeling was very strong.I even knew the time (i can say it was a long time ago when people were wearing these funny renessance clothes ).Then i could feel only how my friend took my hand and the whole scene disapeared suddenly.I remember being very scared after that.My friend kept on asking me if everything was all right.I was left without answer.I deceided to try again .I went to the same place but this time i could remember nothing.Everything had disapeared.It looked so normal.But the feeling of fear was left.I dont know if it is normal to be afraid.I have always been afraid of the dark and unknown and i was always trying to prove to myself that whatever it is happening it has an explanation.But now i feel afraid more than ever becauser there is no explanation on what happened.I am not afraid of the feelings that i am repeating an action (because i calm myself down by saying "ok maybe i dont remember when i have done it") But how to calm myself with what happened.I felt not only that i have been in a place where i actually have never been before but i pictured myself there, i felt the time separating my moveless body from the bench i was sitting maybe in some of my past lifes.I hate the idea of the past life.I am afraid to know that there is something beyond.Can you give me some explanation to what i have experienced(scientific)? Thanks
Hi, I have just read your article about Deja Vu's,My name is Timothy, I am currently 18 years old and am having a real hard time with deja vu experiences. I have had the casual experiences throughout my life, even in childhood, but these experiences would come and go in a matter of seconds. This brings me to my "problem". For the past 2 or 3 months I have been experiencing deja vu everyday, literally. Not just once a day either. Sometimes I might have the experience throughout the whole day. This is driving me insane. I have been looking and searching everywhere for some type of answer but have found very little. When I experience deja vu, I get a fearful feeling along with the feelings of familiarity and confusion. I get this feeling of fear from the deja vu itself and from past experiences with deja vu. In past experiences when I would have frequent deja vu's, a tragedy (such as a death of a friend or family member, or even the 9/11 attacks and the Tsunami) would occur. So I started to see these experieces as a sort of warning. So now every time I have a deja, I get really afraid and almost paranoid, fearing that soon I may lose someone dear to me or that some type of catastrophe will occur. Over these past months, only one distant family member has died. Yet the deja's continue to occur. I am wondering if there is some sort of way I can control how the deja experience effects me. I don't expect you to have any answers for me, but I am hoping that maybe somehow you could try to help me and possibly help stop these things from happening or at least lessen the occurence. I deeply thank you for listening. Sincerely, Timothy J.
I have alot of dreams that you could say come true but they are really insignificant (i.e. I had a dream I hit the ground really hard and someone shouted "God D*** It!! about a week later I was playing a football game (I'm a highschool athlete by the way) and I was running the ball and I got tackled and the exact same scene, though only a few seconds, occured which I realized right away. I'm not really expecting an explanation though it is welcome I just happen to notice alot of people write so I thought I would.
To Timothy and the other deja vu'ers writing here...research is ongoing regarding deja vu / deja vecu...if you would like to help with it, I'm also beginning to post some links (at http://myspace.com/espiralli), including those to Art Funkhouser's article "Three Types of Deja Vu" and to the Deja Vu Survey.... Timothy, you are what I refer to as a "perpetual", meaning someone who has gone from the usual fleeting dv incidences to a continual state. Don't be frightened - it doesn't mean catastrophe...it's a different form of consciousness, and one that you can become accustomed to and that can be beneficial to you and to others if you do not succumb to doubt and fear. Art Funkhouser's survey includes the choice of "continuously", and in so doing I suspect it will eventually clarify that there are many functioning perpetuals "out there"...which may in turn eventually help to clarify the true meaning of deja vu / deja vecu, elevating it out of the realm of "dysfunction". That will take time, and your help, and the help of many other deja vu'ers, perpetual and otherwise. Together we change the status quo. Espiralli
I find that the article about déjà vu provides an excellent overview of this intriguing phenomenon (or, better, phenomena). I am trying to collect data about déjà vu and it would be a great help if persons who have experienced or who are currently experiencing it in any of its forms would fill out a questionnaire I now have up on the Internet at silenroc.com/dejavu Many thanks and best wishes, Art Funkhouser, Bern, Switzerland
FOUND THIS PAGE WHILE SEARCHING,A VERY GOOD EXPERIENCE TODAY, I HAD AN EPISODE OF DEJA VU AND MY WIFE HAD THE EXACT SAME EPISODE AT THE SAME TIME,HOW CAN I EXPLAIN THIS????IN OTHER WORDS ,CAN TWO PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME FEELING AT THE SAME TIME????
i am a 21year old indian girl doing my B.E in electronics n communications.i stay in the hostel(india).my parents are in england.its been a year or so when i was travelling by bus alone,i felt voices ringing in my ears that sounded very familiar n that i hav heard b4, n all of a sudden my hands felt numb n cold n i felt weak. it stayd on 4 abt 2 mins n den i cudnt remember wat it was. wen i reachd hostl i narratd dis 2 my friends n again i felt the same but it was mild den. then it came once or twice after dat n i consultd a doctor n he said it might b dejavu n i need 2 do an EEG n a cat scan after my xams since iam busy wid my xams. but nowdays thi dejavu is disturbing me frequently on the mornings of every xam n even during the xam...its not true dat dejavu is only prominent in the sense of sight coz in my case it is the hearing. pls help me.
Hi, I've had many expierences on, the feeling of reliving a moment, where I know I've been in the same place before, and that evrything and everyone is where they should be, and say what i knew they were going to say. But there is something else that happens often. It happened more when i was younger but still happens to this very day. This may sound crazy, and i'm not making this up, but say today i think of a movie or a song i haven't heard in a long time (briefly), and i wont say anything about it. I wont even try to listen or look for the movie that briefly popped into my head, but usually a day or two later its on tv, or on the radio. I mean i know it doesnt sound right, or sounds lame...but it's eerie. Its almost as if I have a sense of something that i want to see, and somehow it appears. Its never rapid, and its not in my control. And i wasnt reading the tv guide, it just happens. How is that possible? its not just one time or me even trying to make it happen it just does. What would your answer be to this? Like any explanation? Deja Vu happens to me once in a blue moon, but i can remeber the last time i had it, probably a year ago, and the time delay sounds relevent but, couldint it be possible that our dreams, and daily life can connect on another level? not magic or any of that but what if we are just reliving our lives in a constant pattern, where we've done this before, and that deja vu is an echo through time. I know there is no evidence, and i'm just thinking and typing but any answers or response would be extremly intresting, and helpful. thanks again -tom
greetings! i am also one of those who often experience this sense of deja vu. the delay in the visualization and conduction to the brain is somehow reasonable. however, howcome my other senses can also experience it at the same time. especially my hearing. there's also one other thing i want to share with you and the readers. when i was a kid, i always thought that i've been in a place where my parents and i were riding a yellow bus. we were having a trip along a rocky mountain with sculpture of different faces on it. it was only in highschool that i realized it never really happened when i saw that particular mountain on the television. the twist is i've never gone to any other country other than philippines. what could this particular feeling be...? thank you very much. my this help you explore more discoveries regarding deja vu.
Throughout my life I've experienced feelings of deja vu', but one particular incidence was of great importance. For me, the sensation is not "just visual", as some have written, but the totality of the entire experience of what is going on, including sounds, words, smells, everything. In fact, I've felt that I've known exactly what someone is going to say and have deliberately not said anything in a desire not to disturb the moment. One day while having a deja vu experience, one of the people I was with an was very aware and they asked me if I was O.K. I said, Yes, and that I'd just had this deja vu experience. His reply was, he'd observed my pupils dilate, my muscle tone slacken and my cheeks flush! For the 1st time in my life someone had witnessed physical changes that accompany this mental state. Although I've never come to a complete understanding of why this experience occurs, it is totally random, I can confidently say it's nothing mystical, but definately physiological.
Dear Sir, I have been having these so called "Dejavu" experiences right from my teen years and they are still persistent now, at the age of 30. I don't think that any reasearch is advanced enough to explain this phenomenon yet. Though it was scary at first, I eventually leart to like and even enjoy such experiences, as its just a part of life.
I have been experiencing deja vu for almost my entire life, but today I had the most vivid of all: I was watching a TV show, one that I have never seen or heard of before, and then the feeling started, I saw that before and I actualy recited three lines before they were spoken on the show. Unfortunatley now I cant remember much. My question is if deja vu is caused by some temporary mulfunction of the brain, how could I have known the future ?
Dear Madam / Sir! Deja vu... I anwered my professor during a lesson when he asked the students: "..what do you think is de-javu?" Answer given: "..if I can explain our brain in simple terms as a computer..the eyes, ears (and feeling) - the input devise see under certain circumstances "something" - which information is then send to our Microprocessor to interprete and to send this info the "concious" mind and in the same time to the memory from which we can draw when we are in "muse"... But some time our "microprosessor" has a little malfunction and gives this information to our memory only (or first (more likely) and the "concious mind" receives it from there first.(or double with time delays in x. 10-x seconds(?)) So, we "think", we have seen this already, we have been there...heard - can in fact foresee whats happens next - because our "computer" is to fast - but can be tricked." We had a long, long quiet moment in the classroom. I have sometimes (2-3x year)this feeling and mostly accours when I come home, had stress in work... and hungry (think "feast of the tibetan Monks and others) It seems that your own body energy which drives us plays the trick. Our brain contains light, which is a certain frequency,-visible. We are in fact moving (more or less) antennas in a light (protons...photons...)surrounding atmosphere, our head being at least 170 cm above ground and moves with ~1300 km/h through the air. So we are quite exposed to "field" out there. In situations where our energy "balance" goes to one side we can expirience this. To some "it happens", others are able do it.. I am not a fan of a sect or simmilar, I just took long journeys (by reading and trying to conclude) through history and as engineer I can say I stay by impirical methods first - so I don't loose the big picture. B.T.H.O.T.G.A.O.T.U. best regards Manfred Kraus, Durban South Africa
|
I've lived with it for so long that I feel that I own the subject. I would appreciate anything you could offer on my particular situation. Thank you ... Angel, 13 August 2005
Hello, I have just recently been thinking about my past deja vu experiences as well as any precognitions, but deja vu more due to a topical class that I am having today for discussion in an English School (maybe a little heavy for ESL).
When I have a deja vu experience it feels like I had dreamed it and that it is a memory. I rarely have these experiences though I have had them since childhood. I mean rarely by maybe one or two a year. Sometimes more or sometimes less. Though at present I have had a hard time recalling any of these experiences. I know that once it was in a discussion among four or five friends and we were talking about something. Another time it was in another country but again in a group setting. And there is a vague memory of an early experience going somewhere with a friend. Now when these happen, I'm never afraid or alarmed but surprised actually and intrigued by the possibilites of life and consciousness or subconsciousness.
I wonder if there is a possibility that I actually dreamed of the future but with my mind or brain not having anything to associate the dream with the experience is in my subconscious waiting for the arrival of the future. This leads me to believe that perhaps there is a destined path or a predetermined future, but perhaps it is just a physiological weakness common to mankind...? ... Charles Osburn, 6 March 2006
ok my names ricky de lacruz but im just saying this is all very weird to me becuz i have 5 to 6 deja vu's a week and i dont know...its not just dreams i have either i mean like ive had all three of those different deja vu's and they're cool and all but its all confusing...cuz i dont just dream it now and feel it now i predict some things...i dont know if im just putting the obvious together and saying a date and stuff but i dont know like i use a feeling in the pitt of my stomach to make decisions and it works most of the time and i mean thats alot 90-100% the other 10% is school haha but yea im amazed by the feeling and i love it but i dont know I want more ... Ricky De La Cruz, 2 April 2006
When I was 17years ols - 36 years ago - my parents & I were arguing while in my room. I was hit in the head/face and knocked out by my father. When I came to I noticed the onset of an intense deja vu. At the time I didn't even know the term, and really didn't know what was happening. As my parents spoke to me, I could tell exactly waht they were about to say. I could see their actions before hand. For my part I kept silent. After about 15 minutes of this I became fairly scared and announced - speaking for the first time myself - that I couldn't take it any longer and so I wanted them to leave, to break this off. My mother left the room. As a 17 year old by my room was most often quite a mess, with things and clothes all over the floor. Among the items was a Marine Corp knife my father had given me years before. It was in its sheath on the floor in front of where I sat on my bed. I saw it there and also saw in my mind my future actions as though seeing them from my own eyes as I would see anything from my own perspective,I did not see these actions as though from an outside observer. I saw each step of the next few seconds as a separate step. First, while still seated on the bed, I saw myself reach for the knife. Seeing this, I felt compelled to act it out. I did not feel I could stop it from happening. As I fullfilled this image by following through, I saw the next step I was about to do. I saw myself pick up the knofe and unsheathe it.So I di it. As I picked it up and unsheathed it, I saw myself approach my father who was standing above me, watching. So I did that. As I unsheathed the knife and approached my father, I saw myself put it to his throat and tell him to get out of my room. So I did that. As I did, I saw myfather grip my wrist, take the knife from me, and put it behind him and walk away safely. Then he did. All along I felt calm, reassured that nothing would happen. This more or less broke the spell. But then for about a year I would experience deja vu at least two or more times a month, which would last as long as I wanted them to - five minutes at a time easily. I could stop them by doing what I have called 'changing the script', or simply deciding on what I knew was an incorrect scenario. As I knew A would say to B such and such, I would decide , for example, that A would get up and leave. As this was not 'scripted' it would bring the deja vu to an end. This lasted about a year or so and since then I still have deja vu, but nothing like that. Mostly, as afar as I know, I have them as anyone does - infrequently and only in a flash ... Kim Emerson, 21 April 2006
I NEED ADVICE.
There are a lot of paranormal things I have been experiencing. I need to get them out there and be known, for some reason, and if I don't I don't know what to do.
I am a 22 year old, female, college student, majoring in criminal justice. I have no real interest in psychic, or paranormal happenings, but apparently they have an interst in me. I didn't realize that what I experience as deja vu is very uncommon. I've recently started to research this subject just for my own personal interest. I am having a hard time writing this comment because the recent urge to tell someone about my experiences is almost overwhelming. I consider myself an intelligent, well educated person, who is level headed, and so what I am about to say makes me very anxious. I know that there is something amazing (I can't think of any other word) going on in me, and every day it seems to intensify. I believe I've always been in tuned with my sixth sence, but for the past six months it has just exploded. Deja vu is a big part of it, but there's more to it. For me, deju vu happens at times of change in my life, but really it happens all the time, but I seem to be more aware of it at those specific times. The following happens as an "either-or" kind of thing. Deja vu is either like I'm reliving an actual experience for the second time, or it's a reacuring dream. I have deja vu of having deja vu. The moments last for about 10 seconds, but they hit like a ton of bricks, and it takes a few breaths for me to calm down and shake it out of my system. I can feel the deja vu coming on, and then I can literally see what is about to be said, heard, felt, inhaled, done, etc. It is so crazy, and emotional, and strange, and I'm amazed as to how long I've been able put those moments aside and go on with my life. I can't put this aside anymore. It's impossible to explain in words the vibes, and feelings I have been having. I have been always able to sence when something big is going to happen, either personally, individually, or globally. My sister and I share these feelings, which we just discovered a few years ago. My sister and I also seem to share this very real, and very apparent mind connection (telepathy??). We have lived 3 hours away from eachother for over 7 years, and we talk maybe twice a week, but we always seem to be experiencing the same concerns, thoughts, motives, emotions, etc. We call eachother at the same time often, and like I said, we only talk two or three times a week. Really random things that come up in conversation turn out to be the thing that will solve one another's problems. I don't know, it's hard to explain, but I need advice. I need to tell someone who knows something in this realm in the chance that they can point me in the right direction. I'm really not this scatter brained usually. My experiences go so much deeper, I wish I had more time and space to write about them, but maybe someone will get my drift!
Thanks for your time ... Evann, 24 April 2006
I'm another person who has had multiple deja-vu experiences, including two particularly "deep" experiences where I actually said to myself "this woman is about to say this" and she then said exactly what I predicted.
So I am one of those who finds the "standard" explanation completely untenable.
I suspect we have precognitive experiences from time to time in the dream state, then remember them when the events take place as deja vu ... Matthew Cromer, 4 May 2006
I was interested to come across your review of deja vu. It may be of interest for you (and your readers) to be aware that in my book 'Is There Life After Death'(Arcturus in the UK and Chartwell in the USA - available in bookshops and on Amazon). In this book I come up with a totally original explanation of deja vu. I propose that we are all existing in a three-dimensional 'recording' of our own life - a recording of a life that was once lived for real but is now on permanent re-run (like the film Groundog Day). In the book I attempt to explain the hard science behind such a seemingly bizarre suggestion. The sensation of 'living this moment before' is brought about by a 'judder' in the replay mechanism like a jump in a DVD recording. Recall what happens to Neo in "The Matrix" when he perceives his 'deja vu'. What is happening is the 'reality programme' was being amended ... Anthony Peake, 25 September 2006
I started searching for info on deja vu specifically to see if there are any theories/hypotheses on more than one person sharing a deja vu experience simultaneously. It looks as though one of your readers in Nov 2005 also had the same question. I have always had a passing interest in deja vu because it seems so unnatural and mysterious but fleeting. There was an occasion during a phone conversation that I stopped to announce I was "having a major deja vu", only for him to say he was too. The sensation of reliving a moment is startling enough but to share it was altogether another matter. If you've come across any sources that have explored it, I'd greatly appreciate knowing. Thank you ... April, 25 October 2006
Hello there, I am a 15 year old guy who has experienced deja vu. This has been happening to me for about 2 years since i can remember which was at the age of 13. It is very sudden and it always happens sometime later in my life. Its mainly me seeing the image I dremt about, or sometimes a sound. But when it occurs, I know its deja vu and I know I've seen or heard this before. I am aware that I have seen this in the past, but I am also aware that it was definitly in a dream I had. Unfortunatly I can never remember the dream until it happens and I see it when I am awake. Another unfortunate thing about it is that it is always an insignificant experience. I would really like to know if there is some way to trigger these experiences, and maybe some sort of way to expand what I see into the future. Thank You, and hope to hear from you. =D ... Adam Bridges, 8 November 2006
I have always had deja vu to a degree, coming and going...Two years ago, deja vu lasted almost three months, non stop, went to bed with and woke up with it. My doctor is aware of it and suggested a mental health issues. I do not believe it is a mental health issue...It comes and goes, sometimes a few second, few minutes, few hours, all day...I am 49 years [old] ... Robert, 15 November 2006
In referrence to de javu, I have my own theory. Recently, within the last year or two, I have had feelings of de javu quite often. What I find strange about them is i know why i feel so familiar with a persons face, conversations, situations, and settings. I have very vivid dreams and remember most of them, definetly more than most people. I've come to find that most of my "de javu" instances are portrayals of scenes had in previous dreams. I believe that somehow, we have de javu because we have dreamt of situations, conversations, etc. Since most people tend to have little or no memory of most of the dreams they have, this could explain the reason they do not know why they have that sense of familiarity. I know for a fact that most of my feelings of de javu are related to previous dreams I have had, even some which I have had when I was a young child.
I also can say that I have had precognitive as well as clairvoyant experiences. On these "psychic" abilities, I believe most people have or will experience some situation where these are apparent to them. However, other people seem to possess these qualities moreso because they simply understand how to control or grasp these concepts easier than others ... HM, 24 November 2006
My best friend passed away in November last year and ever since then I have been experiencing frequent deja vecu. I was doing research on deja vu, because initially that is what I thought it to be, however I knew my experiences were somewhat different from your "typical" deja vu. It feels as though I am reliving certain moments of recent happenings all over again. Once I get that flashback, I try recount to where it was when it happened, to see if maybe I am confusing it with something else and then I get a huge Shock, because I have a memory of the exact same thing that happened a while back, I remember conversations etc. I then came across an article posted in the New York Times about deja vecu and it seems very similar to what I am experiencing. I went to a therapist and she said that it is related to PSTD and the mind can manifest or distort memories. However, I am not yet convinced and these flashbacks are very real to me. Please help, as I find this to be hugely distressing ... T, 26 January 2007
I know this seems to be an old site but it is intriguingly interesting. I have had those common deja vu experiences as does everyone, but lately they have been getting weird, lasting for up to 5 minutes maximum. Every time I say something it brings me straight back to the deja vu. I even deja vued once that I was having a deja vu ... Cayla, 1 February 2007
Hi, i do not see much point talking about my experience here, but if someone is willing to explain the Deja Vu I had today to their best knowledge, it would be much appreciated. Please e-mail me at steviedeee@hotmail.com and i will tell you what i felt and percieved. Thanks! ... Steve D, 27 February 2007
i have dejavu and im pretty sure i ben and done that same thing b4, im pretty sure because sometimes i could tell what my friends gona say b4 he does when im having a dejavu. but the weirdest one i had was yesterday. i was in another country for more then a year and i had a really weird dream i was with my friends and we went to pick up someone else from an apartment and we weere making fun of him cuz he came out looking real goofy and when i woke up i told myself not to forget this dream because it seemed so real and so i could find out if dreams come true. About 8 months later me and my friends went to the apartments because one of our friend lives there and thats when i had the dejavu he came out wearing shorts and being real goofie and we started making fun of him and thats when it hit me that i really had ben through this and this is what i saw in my dream that seemed so real ... Turk, 3 March 2007
The answer to deja vu is simple. It's God. Scientists and philosophers just can not explain certain things. That's why it is the way it is. Have some faith. It is simply God's way of telling us he is greater than we are and smarter we humans ever could even possibly get ... Christina, 16 April 2007
serendipity (i have been here before) yes, perhaps you have. but how? it may be a memory from your life in the spirit realm. is it a clone of another experience?
is it an aspect of spiritual reality? in other words, is it a look into the spirit realm? perhaps there is a certain significance bearing upon your personal search for something, a reminder perhaps, or an opportunity to relive a certain experience and to try again. but it is startling and the important part may be that it is a very awake and conscious experience. serendipity is super real. there is no doubt whatever that it is not imagined. i can only speculate and guess and ask questions
about it. however i hope i have made a positive contribution to the study. i may have further insights, so please keep in touch with me. fond regards and read me on "BLOGGER" by google ... Doug Rosbury, 20 April 2007
I have just finished reading your DÈj‡ vu and the Brain, Consciousness and Self.
Personaly I thought it was fantastic.. I have always thought that Deja Vu was somehow important and I totaly agree with you that the study of deja vu could reveal so much about yourself. So I thought I would discribe my feelings when I come accross a time of Deja Vu.
I am a 22 year old Male and I have had plenty of Deja vu already.. some weak and some strong. The way most people describe Deja vu is a little different to how it comes to me, most people have the feeling they know what is going to happen next or that they have been there already. But when I get Deja Vu (this is going to be hard to explain so bare with me) like you said its unpredictable when its going to happen but when it happens i dont know what is going to happen next its only when i see what happens i know in my head ive seen it befor e.g i cannot predict what someone is going to say or do, but when they say or do whatever it is druring the Deja Vu its more of a reminder.. also when I have Deja Vu im more relaxed than most people.. normaly someone who encounters Deja Vu stops and says they are having Deja Vu and tries describing what is happening to someone else, I used to do the same.. untill i turnned about 19-20 I just started "going with the flow of it" keeping the moment to myself and analysing it after it had finished.. some people believe a dream can be interperated into real life such as a pot of gold could mean you win $20 on a scratchy.. and so forth, I tried this method on a few of my Deja Vu times and found that some were quite acurate and some way off key. The other thing i have noticed about myself is that when i dream my sleep feels very short and dried out but when i dont dream its like im dead... I have no clue weather dreams and Deja Vu are related but they could be. both unpredictable when u get them and some dreams can even be extreamy familliar. well its late and i got work in the morning.. i hope you reply with thoughts on what i have said.
and sorry about the bad grammer and spelling. but i was never one to study in a class room instead i would be Day Dreaming :D
I hope you can make some sence of all this.
oh and the other thing I was going to mention is that I have a terrible memory.. its actually that bad i have "conditioned" myself into a few things i would normaly forget or lose. such as my keys wallet and mobile phone have to either be in A. wallet and keys in right pocket and mobile in left or B. on my bedside drawer. haha... odd how someone with such a bad memory has alot of Deva Vu ... Ashley Parker, 16 June 2007
Interesting articles on Deja Vu. I've been trying to research it as a particular incident happened to me in 1991 that I still think about on a regular basis. I was on a aquisition trip to England for the company I was working for. I had never been there before. We were driving, in a limo with 4 other peers, to a business location near Norwich. Suddenly I felt a warmth, like taking a hot shower on a cold morning, come over me with an extreme sense of calm. I looked out the window at the fileds & village homes and felt like I was home or in my old neighborhood? I certainly didn't say anything to my peers as I thought it pretty strange. It only lasted about 2 minutes. I immediately started to try to analyze it. Never said anything to anyone about it until 10 years later. I had become interested in tracking my lineage. After much research, I found that my 10th great grandfather was born, raised, & married within 10 miles of where I had had the experience. Coincidence? I don't know. It was real to me ... R. George, 20 June 2007
okay i have been having deja vu a lot lately. It is about stuff where i have never been and people i have never ever seen before are in my dream. Then a fews weeks or months later my dream occurs. I don't understand how people i have never met be in my dream so vividly and then i meet them and they look exactly the same ... Caitie, 23 July 2007
One person asked, "How can two people have the same exact Deja Vu episode at the same time?" Well, I had the same experience. I told my girlfriend about what I just experienced and she said she also had just experienced, the asked me, "what did it have to do with Rex?" was floored because my just occurring episode had Rex (one of our friends) as part. So, 1st we had simultaneous episodes and 2nd, we ad a common link to the content, in this case Rex. Any comments or thoughts? This certainly suggests something more than individual brain function ... Jim, 25 October 2007
man!!!i still cant figure out what causes this ''deja vu'' thing..its creeping me out..i mean,its not gestures or anything,its the real thing,everything is moving except you.first,im watchin a movie,and then,i stopped or paused for a sec. and looked at the movie screen,then there it was,deja vu, and it really is getting on my nerves and thats not the only one..there are thousands of times that i encountered somethn like this..some PARTS of this deja vu thing,i HAVE already dreamed of,yah know,before it happened,i just realize it when im done doing that certain action,pissing me off man.i dont know how to stop it ... Nicole, 29 October 2007
hey every1 check this dajavu must be connected to epilepsy because ive had both at the same time . Il talk through it. When i was younger i was walking down the street then i noticed this guy . I swear right then everything came back to me like it was watching tv or a film over and over again you know . Then i thought this has happened before. Right then i had a feeling in my stomach, i ran home dazed got down on the sofa and had the seisure the worst one ive had ever and ive had over 40 seriously. I also had an elusion then on the sofa of a rainbow-coloured parrot. This when i was like 8 iam 16 now and i dnt have then hardly now. Ive also heard epilepsy goes back to jesus times (on this picture i seen it had it annoted that a kid on it had a seisure . Email me your experiances . Because its all an interest of mine badboy_tomo_2006@hotmail.co.uk ... Mr. T, 15 November 2007
Julia wrote an awsome article on deja vu. i think people shouldn't freak out about it i am very happy that i have deja vu cuz sometimes it helps me realize what's around me. there's been numerous times that i've had a dream (usally with houses)and i'm in this place for a while and unusual events start to happen. Then later on usually days or weeks i'll see that same place that i thought would have ever existed. Sometimes when there's alot going on and i'm really busy during the week i'll have deja vu every day. There's also those days when i can remember my dreams and it actually happens. i think it's pretty awesomed ... Claudia, 13 December 2007
Hello, I'm 18 years old...I'm from Italy and I've experienced several strange dej‡-vu...I mostly don't remember what they were about, - I just know I had a dej‡-vu but not what were the words or actions I considered familiar at the time - but I happened to remember one of my last dej‡-vu clearly enough...besides,some weeks ago, I had another and it was like I had foreseen all that was happening...still, according to my dej‡-vu I should have said a particular sentence that in reality I didn't say...pretty weird ... Maurizio, 5 January 2008
Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities
Remote Ready Biology Learning Activities has 50 remote-ready activities, which work for either your classroom or remote teaching.
About Student Papers
| This paper reflects the research and thoughts of a student at the time the paper was written for a course at Bryn Mawr College. Like other materials on Serendip, it is not intended to be "authoritative" but rather to help others further develop their own explorations. Web links were active as of the time the paper was posted but are not updated. |
What's New? Subscribe to Serendip Studio
A Random Walk
New Topics
-
2 weeks 3 days ago
-
2 weeks 3 days ago
-
6 weeks 6 days ago
-
7 weeks 1 day ago
-
7 weeks 3 days ago
Comments
reading the last two
reading the last two paragraphs has given something for my paranoia to ponder on, regarding my experience with deja vu-like "awakenings", so id like to show thanks for the writer and thought-provoker. It cannot be futile...
respond
Interested in information about deja vu
I could not agree more with this article!
All of these possibilities have come to mind while trying to figure out my own deja vu. Thank you so much! This is the first time anyone has given me a solid answer regarding what I experience! Appparently ;), I experience Déjà senti. Mine differs a little though. I have episodes of deja vu that seem to be pulled from a dream, but the feeling is so strong it makes me nauseous. I get the feeling like I'm watching something really terrible happen, like rape or a severe beating, just awful. I almost want to cry, but I can remember detail for detail the dream it's coming from. I had an episode one night at about 4 a.m. I woke my boyfriend because I was having deja vu really bad (my first episode had wakened me). I apparently fell right back to sleep and in about 5 minutes had my first grand mal seizure. This has happened 4 of 5 times before my following seizures, and varying from 20 minutes to 6 hours before the seizure happens. The seizures have progressively gotten worse as well. My doctor recommended me to a neurologist, neither of them have given me any answers. All of my seizures occur in my sleep. Nightly though, I grind my teeth severely (it wakes my bf), and my tongue swells quite a bit in my sleep. I suction my tongue to the roof of my mouth, my eyelids swell and I turn into a human furnace while I sleep. I am an avid dreamer :) I love to dream, but my dreams are quite intense. A recurring dream started when I was about 4 that was terrifying. I found out years later my dad had actually had that experience as a child. Detail for detail. SO, I support the possibility of genetic memory as well. Any thoughts would be welcomed!
can u control it
I my self have experience what seems to be deja vu i saw the future I saw heard smell and its like if I was doing these to my self by another me in the future as I was experiencing these feeling I thought I was going crazy but I was nt I been trying to control these deja vu experiences but it seems to be like the more I tryed to control it the harder it would get I lnow for a fact that there its someone out there who can control everythong that would happen or that travels media his mind to a total different time in the future but its still living the same life on his present life its weird to describe it it almost seems as the government or a speciall organisation has the power to control the fuyere o need more info on trying to control it
Deja Vu
This is not the first time I wrote this down nor this will be my last time I wrote this down. We been repeating this same realty forever. I know we gone this before and we will do this again. There is no such this as free will based upon my experiences. I'm been experiencing COSMIC Consciousness about one year.
Repeat Cycle - Forever and ever. Death Rebirth Death Rebirth of the past present and future Universes.
This time we're in the positive matrix last time we were in the negative matrix.
In due time everything will be explained by our Star brothers and sisters.
Love,
NS
deeja vue
i was wondering how long does this last and is what is it cuz i have the feeling that i have done stuff before and i should know whats going to happen but cant remmer the detais .i had this for five months straight i know ive done this before ,is it a loop in time or something id like to know or am i going crazy
Dèjá Vu
Dèjá Vu could be the product of the subconscious trying to predict future events for and delivering outcomes to conscious mind. That's why some dreams come true while other dreams don't. Given enough chances the mind will produce an accurate telling of the future. Knowing what's going to happen instinctively would make surviving anywhere easier.
Re: Your musings
It appears that you've likely not experienced a Deja Vu experience. The subconscious mind could not possibly predict such an experience. I have been in Deja Vu experiences where I'm in a group of up to five people when EVERYBODY says the "lines" that I know they are going to say "verbatim". I have tested this phenomenon by changing what I was "supposed to say" within the scenario and, when doing so, the Deja Vu "pre-knowledge" changes as a result of my not "saying my lines". Prior to testing the question of if I could alter the outcome in this way, I always said the lines I was "supposed to say" and, invariably, the next person would continue on in line with my Deja Vu experience of predictability.
No, this experience is very, very different than the normal functioning of either the limbic system's or the ego's ability to predict potential outcomes of various behaviors and actions.
dident i dream this once?
I consider my self to of rational mind with no illnesses of any kind and a clean family medical history. However I have had deja vu once a month or so. All aspects of the deja vu seem familiar to me smell yaste sight sound ect. The only other expierences I've had that closly mimic this feeling is when I remember a dream sudenly durring the day from some random triger that causes my mind to drudge up the most random of dreams. Now these two expierences differ in that one feeling is totaly the same experience whilst the other is a different memory from a dream but the feeling I recive is so close that I can only logicaly find that deja vu is the rememberence of a dream. Which for me opens a whole other can of worms. How is it that I would dream somthing that than hapens and know what will hapen at the end befor it dose? This mind spasm never hapens at oportune time like filling out a loto ticket but randomly while doing everyday tasks or in convorsation. I find it all vvery odd but I also realize we understand vverry litle about anything when all is considered. So under the explanation I will simply put N/A
A Theory on the Nature and Cause of Deja Vu (revised)
I have experienced deja vu since childhood and have done my best to understand the phenomena. This experience has lead me to a theory of what deja vu is. This theory has a basis on three premises as its foundation:
1)One believes that one's predominant conscious thought process determines one's direction and ultimately one's reality (you are what you think).
2)One believes and understands that the subconscious mind is perfect in it's function (we do not think to regulate our breathing/heart rate/ functions of the body.
3)One believes that there is a greater consciousness (Spirit, Universe, God)that we are all small individual parts of, yet connected to that greater consciousness, in the same way that on the micro level the cells of our body are all individual parts of us made up of our dna but on the macro level we are a whole body. Those cells communicate to the whole what they need and the whole provides.
With these three fundamental beliefs as the basis, I theorize that DEJA VU IS GLIMPSE OF THE RESULT THAT TAKES PLACE WHEN THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND IS ACTIVELY ENGAGED IN THOUGHT. This result can be likened to a glimpse of the result that takes place when the subconscious mind is actively healing a cut on our body and we see an outward manifestation of a scab yet are unaware of the inner workings of the healing of the cut.
Being that the subconscious is perfect in its function, if the subconscious created a thought,it would also be perfect. For this reason, the experience of deja vu becomes a perfect experience, complete with sight, smell, touch taste and more importantly feeling. Being that we do not control our subconscious functions, when we experience this manifested reality, it is shocking to us in the same way that most subconscious functions are foreign and shocking to the conscious mind.
We generally associate the subconscious mind to being strictly a passive recording device but do not credit it for the active "thinking" functions and millions of thoughts that it relays on a daily basis. I mentioned regulation of heart rate/breathing earlier but there is also the growing of cells, distribution of nutrients, recognition and defense from germs, viruses and bacterial invaders as well as reproductive functions. We are consciously unaware of the regulation of all of these functions.
Therefore, a thought created by the subconscious mind of external experiences (and not simply functions of the body) would be a perfect facsimile of our physical lives, a complete multi dimensional environment. Much in the same manner that a hypnotist can explore the constantly running memory "tape" of the subconscious mind while the subject experiences/recalls intense emotions, fellings and clear detail of the memory, so would the same be with the manifestation of a subconscious thought. Furthermore, being that the subconscious has thought the manifested reality at an earlier time, yet we are living the reality and at the same time know the “script” of that thought, we experience what seems to be the crossroads of the past, present and future in stunning and startling detail.
If deja vu were a trick being played by the mind while having an issue recording from short term to long term memory, our deep emotional feeling and precognitive associations would not be apparent.
Most of this theory I have explained without delving into basis #3 (us being spiritually connected to a greater consciousness) for the sake of the purely scientific minds that may be reading this post. Those who believe in a spiritual connection will not find it hard to believe that there is two way dialog, whether consciously or subconsciously with a greater consciousness, and that that dialog ultimately shapes our physical realities in the same way a cell in our bodies communicates its need for nutrients and the body as a whole procures and provides.
I believe that many of the varying phenomena of deja vu can be explained through this theory including shared deja vu, deja vu preceding monumental events and deja vu seemingly recounting dreams.
Julian E.S. Wright
Deja-Vu
Hey i was a little curious on the subject and i actually have deja vu alot i mean i have it every day and night.But the deja vu have comes with a twist sometimes it actually does happen for example ill have deja vu on something and ill remember of having deja vu about it and ill wait untill once that certain event happens then ill know exactly what happens but again some of the deja vu i have has not happened yet but with everything going on here the future seems like it is aiming towards that deja vu becoming true and i do not know if this would be apart of any of the types of deja'vu so if anyone has anything on this please let me know....
Deja vu - almost every week
Hi, this is jeff, i have a weird deja vus, these recently just happened. Ive been experiencing these things since then. Sometimes they got worse and sometimes not. The thing is that i can feel,see things that i havent seen, or i havent been there before. Just like last week, i was just opening my laptop and just felt eerie because i thought i ve done this thing before. but i havent because that was the first time i have that software in my laptop and i just newly found it. other deja vus are seeing things and people i just recently meet and familiar faces and places i havent seen before.what do you think is the meaning of all these? i also have some premonitions and mostly i remmber came true.
daja vue w/ a cool or cold sensation from their head
Does anyone experince daja vue everyday, or suffer from axniety or panic attacks or is bi-polar or have any mental problems at all, cause thats what is said to cause it, and i also have a cool sesation on my head when i'm having it or not. Sum one pls comment on this. I also have a fear of dying.
fear.
Yes, Fear can cause things in the future to happen. its called a self proclaimed prophecy. if you worry about something, it will end up happening more then likely. EXAMPLE i love my GF and i want her to be with me. then i have the fear she is cheating on me. (but i dont yet say anything) then the usual rumer goes around that she is, and then i ask her. and she says no. but it turns out that she didnt until i asked her. (because i bugged her about it all day for several days, saying i just want the truth) then she did cheat on me, and she said well heres the truth, and she told me about it. so i wouldnt worry too much. just keep your head high and know that stuff happens. be strong. live for you.
Response to Visitor 02/28/2012
What you're referring to is not what is normally meant by the term "deja vu". A deja vu experience is not an experience that one has normally preconceived at some point in the "distant" past. In my experience, and many others, the deja vu preconception occurs "while" the event is occurring or almost immediately before it occurs. I have been in multiple situations where I knew what everybody in the group was going to say over the next, say, minute, including what I say and the people after me say. Everybody follows a seeming script.
Many years ago, I decided to screw around with this phenomenon and, when it came time for me to say my part of the "script", I said something different. Sure enough, that stopped the script. The people after me responded to what I had said rather than continuing on with the "script".
However, to my dismay, after screwing around with the deja vu phenomenon by changing the script, I ceased having deja vu experiences for many, many years and then they slowly started returning, but never as strongly or as predictively as before. Now it's just the "recognition" or "feeling" that "this scene has happened before".
actually...
It's usually called a "self-fulfilling prophecy," rather than self-proclaimed. And I suspect a lot of cases where folks believe they've seen the future, and it then comes true, are cases of folks seeing something vague enough, and easy enough to cause, that they then cause it to occur when the opportunity arises.
Bear in mind, as well, that memory CHANGES every time you remember something, which means that if you remember an earlier incident of deja vu that is similar to something currently happening to you, your brain will actually re-write the original memory to match the new event. Making the deja vu "come true" even if it didn't.
I have bipolar with Deja-vu 1 and 3
I suffer from Bi-polar, ADHD, PTSD, Paranoia, Depression, Personality Disorder and have always had issues with Deja-vu. I have Deja-vu that feels like it is from a dream (like I dreamed it then it happens), that I have lived the situation before somehow, I sense them with all my senses, and I meet people before I meet people with or without seeing places before I see places. I also have issues with reading peoples minds whether they are with me or not. I can also send them messages. (I had a friend that we could communicate like that.)However, I didn't know it could be caused from my disorders. Wow, all this time I thought it was God allowing me to see my past life, so I would change my ways before he distroyed me for good. I have thought seriously about changing my life to rearrange some preconcieved outcome, but I haven't yet. Thank you for letting me know about that.
deja vu and mental illness
In reply to your question, I do have bipolar disorder with intermittent panic attacks and anxiety as well. I have always experienced deja vu's. I can't say that I have them every day or even every week but they are always very clear cut been there, done that experiences with the full "script" layed out before me. I didn't realize until now that they were a part of a mental illness, I always just figured that they were simply a part of being me as I have always been prone to extra sensory perception. Recently I visited a neurologist that asked me if I experienced deja vu's, I was quite surprised at the question and replied that I had. She now wants to test me for for a seizure disorder. Apparently this is another possible cause.
Panic attacks and anxiety
Omg ive had these same thing im really scared ive had panic attacks and anxiety and this de ja vu feeling ever scince then idk wats goin on but I need some answers
once a week !
I experience deja vu at least once a week and it is really freaking me out i am 14 years old, all my friends think i am weird when i say "i knew this was going to happen" and when i beg them not to do something because i know something bad is going to happen. I have read all of the above article as i want to know what is wrong with me, i am actually scared that something bad is going to happen to me. I have memories i have been there but i never have and i am always asking my parents have we been here and if i say i need to go to the bathroom they will ask do you want us to show you where it is and not thinking i will say no i already know ive been here before. Its really scary because when i am asleep i know when someone walks into the room and i will automatically wake up it doesn't work with my immediate family but anyone else i get a sharp pain through my neck and i will turn around and someone will be there. Please tell me if this is normal so i know i fit in with some people. Thanks heaps
I think that you will always
I think that you will always fit in with people even if you are not the same as them. Trust me. I have figured that out by now. That is one thing squared away. Second of all, I think that nothing is wrong with you, but you are very sensitive to some things. I am no genius, but I am sometimes like that. I know when someone is talking to me and I can read people's emotions very well. I know when someone is irritated and I might not even know them. I could tell my mom was agitated and she really didn't do anything. I really do think that you are just sensitive to some things. When you have the recollection of things like the bathroom for instance, you might just have a really strong sense of deja vu. I have had it so strong that I could barely stand. It frightened me it was that strong. Have you told your parents? Maybe they could help. But, I don't think that there is anything wrong with you. :)
deje vu
As a kid i would be haunted by this feeling, i didn't know the term that time and the feeling was uncontrolably strong. It has subsided now for a 27 yr old on one hand, however, at the same time i have cultivated phobia, i live in the fear of being in an accident. I had already been in one and was saved by GOD but the feeling right now is uncanny unltd. . I feel i have lost my legs or they are crushed under a bus or a train or only my feet are crushed, i also have believed that i would die of an accident around my 40s.. I SOUND SPOOKY and i don't know what to do for my belief gets stronger every minute.
please contact me.
Hello, I was researching deja vu and dream patterns when I came across your article. I have a few questions for you that I believe you could clarify for me. I have experienced deja vu my entire life, and though it has never messed with my mind, it does intrigue me. I find it fascinating. so please contact me when you have the time.
Thank you,
Jerbie
I wouldn't spend too much
I wouldn't spend too much time worrying or thinking about your phobia. They say the best way to get over your fear is to face them which usually works for me, but in this case it seems to be the reverse for you. I don't advise you to go looking for trouble so you can get over your phobia, but here's my opinion on this. I've heard of this thing where if you think of something or desire it enough you'll eventually get it so you probably shouldn't think you're going to die at a young age, because you just might if you convince your self to believe that. I'm not saying that you will die young or anything but try not to focus on that. I'm no expert, but i hope i was able to help you out a little.
Re: deje vu
Most accidents are avoidable. Most accidents are caused as a result of not "living in the now" but rather having one's attention focused on the past or potential future while engaged in some activity. It's fine to occasionally think about potential futures for one's next few minutes while engaged in an activity because such thought involves the present activity. But being "absent minded" means that one is not fully engaged in the present and it is in the present when accidents occur.
It also seems, from the tone of your writing, that you believe in fate, determinism or Providence. You say that you have a belief that you will die in an accident in your 40s and that your belief keeps getting stronger. I see you also believe in a god and, assuming it's the Abrahamic god, this could be where your original belief in predestination began. Such religions teach that this god is omniscient, meaning that it knows the past, present and future. This obviously implies that the future is already determined as god cannot be wrong and, therefore, also implies that free will is simply an illusion as one really has no choice but to follow the script as laid out by god.
I would suggest that you critically analyze why you believe what you believe. To do this one must start from the position of not believing anything and then begin examining one's very core concepts of reality. Be prepared to many times conclude with the thought, "I don't know", rather than insisting on some answer to your "why" questions. This way you build up a logical progression of beliefs based upon what you DO know, or at least think you know, rather than holding on to a collection of disparate memorized beliefs that have no logical cohesion. Remember Socrates' guiding rule....Know Thyself.
links are fake
your citations and links do not work they are fake
De Ja Vu
I am 27 years of age, and I live in the United States. I have had episodes of dejavu from a very young age. However, in the past I was never able to predict what would happen next. I now can. I can be in the middle of a conversation get the eerie feeling of deja vu and I can sometimes up to a minute (full occurence) predict what will be said and happen next. It was intersting because a girl who attended a brithday party I was at, lost her cell phone. The entire scenario seemed to play out befoer my eyes through the converstaion to find her phone, and then I knew who took it and where they put it. It all played out exactly as I knew it would. The next day my parents home caught fire, and they lost everything. It seems as though my episodes go hand in hand with bad events that have taken place. It's almost as though I tried to send a warning to myself. Major life changing events occur after my episodes of de ja vu. Does anyone else have this occurence, or is it just me? I am having them again, and I wonder what will happen,what message I tried to send myself. I also wonder why some of us experience this phenomenon, and others do not. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
important - deja vu ,accident,personal experience,hypothesis
i once experienced deja vu..or more specifically deja vecu..well was terrified to death..when this thing happened to me..i felt lyke..i have left the life form..like i am dead or something..later on i found d same thing repeating again and again..fortunately iv accidentally met with d same feeling or generally called 'the hit' by us and had was versed with d word deja vu before..hence i had left the mental trauma dat was going over me..soon..other wise it wud b hard for me..to adjust..lyke b4..
newayzz coming to the point..i am interested in biological brain and neurological function very much so i came up with this point..dat the brain records the things going in a particular manner..when the blood does not circulate properly to the brain it becomes unconcious..iv divided this thing such as death which comes at the last stage..before which comes the stage of unconsciousness..the thing which i find comes before unconsciousness is the deja vu thing..WHEN THE APPROPRIATE INPUT IS NOT GIVEN TO THE BRAIN WHICH IS PROBABLY DUE TO THE INSUFFICIENT BLOOD GIVEN TO THE BRAIN..THEN THE BRAIN FAILS TO ACCEPT INPUTS FROM OUTSIDE ..AND HENCE THE THINGS WE HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED COMES AGAIN AND AGAIN IN THE FORM OF CYCLES LIKE IN THE FORM OF PROJECTOR..AS THE SENSES DO NOT WORK APPROPRIATELY..THIS GIVES THE SENSATION OF THINGS GETTING REPEATED AGAIN AND AGAIN..
well this thing overwhelmed me alot and i came up with conclusion after gettin same hit again and again simultaneously..hope this article will help in something..
sorry for not using appropriate biological terms as im not a biological student..and brainstudy is my interest ..as i have some miracle happened sumtime back...body science is really intruiging..isnt it :)
relly admire the ultimate power who created the human body or the nature..as each part is speacially designed..so fast..and is the ultimate thing i have ever known..
disclaimer- totally based on my personal experience..and some information from the net and my personal body knowledge
thanx for reading the article hope you enjoid..
nikhil jain
if "WHEN THE APPROPRIATE
if "WHEN THE APPROPRIATE INPUT IS NOT GIVEN TO THE BRAIN WHICH IS PROBABLY DUE TO THE INSUFFICIENT BLOOD GIVEN TO THE BRAIN..THEN THE BRAIN FAILS TO ACCEPT INPUTS FROM OUTSIDE ..AND HENCE THE THINGS WE HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED COMES AGAIN AND AGAIN IN THE FORM OF CYCLES LIKE IN THE FORM OF PROJECTOR..AS THE SENSES DO NOT WORK APPROPRIATELY..THIS GIVES THE SENSATION OF THINGS GETTING REPEATED AGAIN AND AGAIN.." it true then can you help me to understand why, when I was 5 or 6 I had the same dream every night exept with different adventures. I dreamed I was taken out my window by these witches, or something along those lines and taken to their stick house. and then one day when we were driving home from somewhere I SAW THE STICK HOUSE with my dream friends inside it!!!!! I have never forgotten and I have always wanted to go back and talk to the people who live there, and see if they are at all.... well ... witchyyy.
three days of nonstop deja vu?
I have been experiencing deja vu for the past 3...4 days now. Every thing I am doing/have been doing for the past few days, I had dreams of it before when I was eight years old. I am currently 20 now, and the crazy thing is... I knew what I was going to look like, who I was going to be dating, my kittens name & what color he would be, even this very setence I am typing to you right now... I saw myself doing this before.
What is going on here?
I saw my Xbox, and my TV in these dreams over 10 years ago, they haden't even been made yet! Yet already I was having dreams about owning one.
Please reply as soon as you get the chance. Meanwhile I will try to figure out a way to escape from this deja vu nightmare.
-Brandy
I can very much relate to
I can very much relate to Timothy J. Within the last 2 months I have been having deja vu everyday, more and more, sometimes 13 times a day. I used to only experience it about once a month. Im not under any stress, or anything, its just so strange. This deja vu is different to the usual I used to experience, what I'm seeing, feeling, hearing, smelling or touching is what feels and seems to have happened to me in a dream the previous night or not to long ago. When i used to experience deja vu it was just as intense but felt like i had experienced the same thing over and over again
i love deja vu, very trippy
i love deja vu, very trippy :P i like the multi-universe explanation. like maybe when it occurs, somewhere, in another universe, this exact same thing is happening to you, that is another you, and there's like this cosmic alignment or something and your brainwaves are connecting so that both of you are conscious of the other or others, as it might be. i dont know its all really far out but our species is very special and very blessed. maybe someday we'll figure this out and be able to like teleport our minds to different dimensions or something, that'd be cool. also i dunno if neone else mentioned this but being on this site actually kinda gives me an eery familiar feeling too lol
Deja Vu with missing parts
Ok, this may sound wierd i have deja vu on a regular basis. When it occurs its always missing a part, a big part. Example: I see myself looking at my uncle and its deja vu and he saying the same thing in the same place but i'm expecting a rhino to run across but it never does, but its deja vu that i'm experience i know that. Does anyone have this same situtation
DejaVu
I have had plenty of deja vu and I have remembered all. These are not future sightings or anything to do with the future. To me these are things that one has passed through and have been stored in your memory because it was an extreme feeling either of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, or excitement...so extreme that it has stayed in your memory from the last time and your brain is letting you know something is about to happen that will cause this very moment or a moment to come that will stay embedded in your memories forever. If deja vu is a current of electrical charges going haywire in your temporal lobe and electricity is connected with the universe and speed and time and we are one with the universe - there is a connection here! We just got to figure it out!!!!
wondering if it's normal
im a 19 year old girl. i have been experiencing deja vu since i can remember. usually it's after a dream.. and it might sound weird, but i think i figured out how to determine whether or not my dream is going to turn into a deja vu instance.. (when i actually remember my dream when i wake up) almost all of my ["normal"] dreams are from an outsider's view, as if im looking into a mirror for the whole thing, where i can see myself... but there are a few times that i have dreams that are looking through my own eyes. (if that makes any sense..) those are usually the ones that come true... or turn into deja vu.. it's almost been a flawless theory for me. also, my friends get really freaked out, because i am very... i guess you could say... intuitive. when i say i have a bad feeling they usually come true... and the bad feelings come out of no where. i have two examples, maybe not the best, but they're the most proof i've had in a while.
ex.1 (please dont judge) a few years ago i was on the phone with my boyfriend at the time one afternoon. i told him i had a bad feeling, and i thought he should come over. when he asked me what i meant, i told him that i had a feeling about cars, and that he was going to get in big trouble... i had no idea, but he had stolen a few cars with his friends a few nights prior. ): he got kinda "freaked" and got off the phone. he went to the site he was hiding the cars and the cops were waiting there. i didnt find out until he called me at midnight from jail. he kept asking me how i knew, and all i could tell him was it was a thought that ran through my head, that gave me a gut wrenching feeling...
ex.2 a few days ago my younger friend and i were at a friend's apartment on an army post. the guys at the front desk kept our id cards while we were visiting (barracks rules.)
she brought a beer outside while the three of us were outside having a smoke.. where we had to walk past the front desk where the men and our ids were. i mentioned that i had a bad feeling that one of the men were going to come out with her id and say something about her drinking under age, and the friend we were visiting said that that NEVER happens, and the usually dont care. literally as he was finishing that sentence, the man walked through the TWO SETS of glass doors between the front desk and where we were smoking, which was at least ten feet from the building. there was clearly no way that the man at the desk could have heard me, but sure enough, he looked at her id and said EXACTLY, word for word, what i had just told them he was going to come out and say. they both looked at me like i was nuts. i think it's so weird, and i wish i could explain it.. those are only two prime, examples note you. these "good and bad feelings" have been occurring since i was at least 5. and everyone from family members, friends, teachers, and strangers have witnessed these freaky moments of mine. anyone else?? sorry about the essay by the way. im just really confused.
Savannah, when you have your
Savannah, when you have your episodes of deja vu, are they accompanied by panic or fear or any other sort of negative feeling? I've always dreaded mine, but if they weren't so scary when they happened, I suppose they'd be innocuous or even pleasant.
Yours sound very different from normal deja vu, at least the deja vu I've had -- mine isn't a "feeling" of knowledge, it's just the sense that something which is happening has happened before.
I can't really speak much to your ability to sense the future or sense parts of reality you shouldn't know, but I'm sure you'd become quite a public figure if that ability could be made consistent or reproducible.
One side note: You totally need to upgrade your boyfriend. Here's hoping you already have :)
in response to savannah and jared
Hello Savannah, To be honest after reading your accounts of deja vu, it is remarkably similar to my accounts. They occur after having a dream in first person, but these dreams occur in a seldom fashion compared to you and even the spacing of the dream and the event of deja vu could be from 1 week to 3 months. But it is odd because I do recollect those dreams immediately after waking up with detail.
When each episode of deja vu occurs I do not experience any negative emotions, I do experience a strong feeling of anticipation and a sense that I can change what is going to happen by acting in a different way.
I have tested these episodes by doing what I did in the dream and by not doing what I did in the dream, when I did what happened in the dream the events would execute as it did in my dream. When I altered my actions differently then my dream, the events acted differently. It is almost as if I see into the future through my dreams and I can either see them through and execute my actions the same as the dream or choose to alter my actions to change the outcome of the episode. Another thing to note is when I alter my actions to change the outcome it drops all sensation of deja vu while when I do execute each action as my dream the sensation of deja vu sustains until the end of my episode.
I don't get any other form of deja vu though and these episodes occur rarely, but the fact that they do happen is quite amazing. I also don't have quite as strong intuitive feelings as you either, I just share your same experience in having a dream about the episode prior to the actual event.
What is wondrous about this is the fact we dream the episodes prior to the event. My experiences of deja vu have either been in places of familiarity (my home, or school etc.) and of places I have never seen before. It is mysterious how to dream of an incident where you have never been before but then experience it and know what events will occur.
My question is do you also lose the sensation of deja vu if you try to alter what happened in the dream when it actually occurs?
de ja vue experiences - a different view continued
If we are in a state of confusion about our identity and/or purpose in life, this card informs us that we are about to merge opposite energies or ideas that have long been at odds, the merging will bring us all a harmony of mind and emotion we have never before experienced. I therefore, conclude that these de ja vu experiences are a healing experience, not an illness. I hope this brings some reassurance to people as it has definitely helped me to take on a positive vision. with love and hope, Juliet
de ja vue experiences - a different view
Hi, I have been having these de ja vu type fits for about 20 years now. I have been diagnosed as having petit mals and have been given medication in the past, which has helped but I don't feel taking medication is the right path for me personally. Today I have had two of these de ja vu type episodes, which have filled me full of fear, my mind, because it does not understand starts to panic and tell me I'm going to die, I usually try and tell my mind that its ok and try and reassure it that all is fine. Today, however I started to panic. I am very interested in the new age theories that everything is positive and its just the way we perceive things that happen to us that makes them seem negative and frightening. I asked the universe to help me make this de ja vue experience a positive one and thought that the information I have received may help others who are the same as me out there. This is what I received - I intuitively picked one of my tarot cards, I was asking what was going on within me, the card was the Hybrid and this is the message:-
The hybrid being on this card is the result of meticulous genetic manipulation, whereby the best attributes of two dissimilar species are blended to produce a whole new possibility in creation. This card is one of the most powerful and positive ones in the pack, as it represents new beginnings with inherent balance and infinite possibilities for fulfilment, both psychological and emotional. continued
Response to Juliet
Juliet, received an email that you had responded to my post regarding DJV.
Not knowing your age it is difficult to say really what is going on with you. Being of 2 halves, one foot in the practical and one foot in the spiritual I will comment in the practical first, being in the health care field. I do suggest that you do follow up with your Neurologist if the DJV is increasing in frequency. Going for a check up does not always mean that you are going to get a prescription, yet still get a check up. You may require an EEG with special attention to the temporal lobes of your brain activity. You do not describe your petit mals form. Have you ever been told that there is the possibility of absence seizures? These too carry the diagnosis of petit mals. There are many forms. Someone that has this diagnosis especially for as long as you have (are you in your 40s?) may also through the stress of just having been told that you have petit mals (we are indeed human after all) and respond in fear with such things. The abatement of fear is only realized with enlighenment. Hence my suggestion for medical re evaluation. Since you are female and possibly in your forties there are other conditions that can cause waxing and waning panic such as depression due to the above stressors, pre menapausal syndromes, and as much of the population, especially females have a very slight cardiac situation such as a prolapsed mitral valve that is theorized to trigger palpitations resulting in panic, hyperventalation. Being male, I even have one myself. But not to a degree that it is dangerous. Decreasing coffee, chocolate, caffienated teas helps with this. It is documented that in these panic situations it is also accompanied by a sense of doom. Blood work may reveal an imbalance of prgesterone or estrogen. Won't hurt to check this out. In leiu of all of this that is occuring now in your life, hopefully for the positive as you state in your post. Thrilled for you about that. However it may behoove you to be mindful from the card that you pulled, that it too is indicating the nature we humans have to dwell in duplicity, when things are going so good too good in fact we find ourselves looking for the "bad" to come to rob of us of our peace and tranquility. The cure for that is to understand your pricelessness and believe it under no uncertain terms! You have worth! Remembering this and only this as well as believing it cellularly, only you taking charge of claiming all that there is to maintain that peace. Socialize more, improve your diet. Am just as human as you, so what if I cheat with a bit of chocolate now and then. Splurge on life Juliet with renewed energies that you are priceless. Hope you are journaling or creating in your life, painting, sculpting. Helps to get out of your head. An old Zen proverb. "Think as if you have no head" Another words, go out and do what is instinctual that supports living.
Blessings.
too much reading
i found this passage was too long and unattiquitly long for my comprehension. My brain hurts when it has to look through all these letters. Many pronouncations were mispronounced in this profounded context. I had to ask my grandmother to help me through this complicated text. I am disappointed by the lack of intel. I censorly consider reading through your entry to avoid confusion in my frontal lobe. So please exuse yourself from existince next time you think of repeating this crime of errors and confusiuon data.
deja vu&epilepsy
I had deja vu 1-2 times per month since I was 15 (I'm 25yrs old now). Last year I read that DV is associated with epilepsy so I went to see a neurologist. EEG showed abnormalities and I was diagnosed with partial complex epilepsy. I've been taking 100 mg Lamictal (lamotriginum) for a year now and I haven't experienced deja vu since May 2009 and EEG looks much much better.
Deja vu
Hi i am a 17 and this is my thoughts on deja vu, i believe it is nothign more than a hicup of the mind or a backup of information. expliation the mind is taking in too much information of the sourounding area (aka the experience being very vivid) at a higher rate of speed faster than you yourself can comprehend so it slows down in an attempt to understand all the information comming in at once and then normalizes itself in a few short secons to minutes. i am veru\y intreaged by the ideas of deja vu if there is anyoine that believes this theorie of mine is at least plausible please email me at
deja vu personal experience,hypothesis
how r u the 17 yr old..newayzz m totally agreeing u and what i have had a thought resembles that of yours..infact is merely unidentical..i had an xperience lately..n i have had d same feelings that u had underwent...feel like we have brain synchronisation :P ..i have also scribbled some text in d page in d form of hypothesis..well newayzz u got a chat id..?? i have on
fcbuk account - http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1486731927
wud b glad to talk with you, as is gr8 to talk with people with same interst and sum1 intersted in neurology :)
tc
nikhil
Interesting theory...sounds
Interesting theory...sounds plausible to me. They really ought to have research done on this. I would volunteer, myself! I am quite tired of chronic deja vu. It makes me feel like I'm losing my sanity. *shaking my head* Anyway good theory none the less. Interesting.
De Ja Vu
De Ja Vu is when the brains cycle rate of instant happening (now) memory transitions from imagination (dream) conciousness to the actual cycle rate of realities true time measurement in human (not mechanical) terms.
Its like opening two web pages on the computer they never load simultanious. But the brain has two computers (hemispheres) and when the cycle rate meets the compressed time of identification (of the here and now) The reality becomes apparent and not imagined.
Hence why De Ja Vu can not be sustained as it has the random nature like watching a whole bunch of cars indicator lights in a row when stuck in traffic, they harmonize only once perfectly until the next cycle randomly occurs.
The brain is a sequence of energy reacting only infinitely more complex than we conceive with machinery of MRI's and Audiometry.
Also just a note that observations would suggest that De Ja Vu happens more in child hood when cycle rates are faster (due to necessary learning cognition for survival) than later life, hence why De Ja Vu in later life is more viceral.
Deja vu
I had asked my doctor about these experiences with dejavu and he didn't really explain in detail what it was that causes this and all he could say was that it's some sort of anxiety attack. I have these every single day. Although at times I can't really say what's going to happen other than there is a vague sense of familiarity. As though it's happened already. Other times I already know what's going to happen before it happens. *shaking my head* So now I'm on Buspirone. Doctor couldn't explain it like I said. I've taken this medication everyday for the past four months and I still have it. So it can't be anxiety. It's rather frustrating since, like some of you said, it can't be explained. I wish they'd look into having studies done regarding this. I would be very interested in it. Maybe then we can get answers. It's just a bit freaky since it happens so frequently and yet I can't seem to place why it feels so familiar. Anyway best of luck to you all with your experiences. At least I'm comforted to know that I'm not the only one going through all of this. ;) -Mi
comment on ur story
i been on that type but it did not work from me. i went to see a pyscoligist(not spelled right) and she put me on zypexa it works real gud for the daja vue and she said it sound like i could be bi-polar. please write back.
Deja Vu
The discussions on this FORUM have been highlighted to me by Dr. Arthur Funkhouser, the author of the classic "Dream Theory of Deja Vu" paper.
Dr Funkhouser was keen for me to be aware of the experiences posted on here and of some of the explanations suggested by the posters themselves.
Let me introduce myself. My name is Anthony Peake. I am a UK-based writer who has long had a profound interest in the significance and meaning behind the whole deja phenomenon. I myself have experienced deja sensations since my teens and have long associated this odd psychological state with an impending migraine headache.
Nearly ten years ago I came across Dr. Funkhouser's paper whilst researching material for my first book. His ideas so struck me that I decided that this book would be an attempt to explain why it is that the deja sensation seems to suggest precognition. My position was a simple one; as a fairly rational individual the idea that the future can be perceived before it actually takes place seemed to fly in the face of modern scientific knowledge. And yet I knew from my own experiences that this is exactly what takes place. Two very curious precognitive dreams added to my determination to find out what was really taking place.
After years of reading and personal research I genuinely believe that I have come up with a hypothesis (nothing more) that does explain how deja-related precognitions can be explained using the latest findings of neurology, quantum physics and consciousness studies. I call this explanation "Cheating The Ferryman" and it is presented in detail in my first book, published in 2006. This book has now sold nearly 30,000 copies world wide and has been translated into various foreign language editions including Spanish, Dutch and Russian.
I am sure that many of those who have posted before me (and no doubt those who will post after me) will appreciate exactly how I come to my conclusions.
If this posting has intrigued you please check out my website at and then read the section on Deja Vu on my FORUM at:
I am sure that you will find it fascinating ........
felt it then said da ja vue
Well i was sitting on my boyfriends bed talking to him about problems of our relationship, breaking up and not knowing exactly why. I can't remember wat was siad eaxctly but when we were talking I got that weird feeling and all of a sudden I siad da ja vue...not something I usually would think or say. right after I said that we just kept talking about our relationship...I'm not even sure if he heard me say da ja vue becuase he didn't say anything nor even looked at me funny. A few days later someone I knew was talking about da ja vue unsure why or how the subject came up but thats when I remember I had that da ja vue feeling.
I'm writing to ask what you think of this situation/ or what it means???