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Déjà vu and the Brain, Consciousness and Self

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Biology 202
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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
(to contribute your own observations/thoughts, post a comment below)


05/11/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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


08/24/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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


10/03/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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


10/07/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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.


10/17/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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.


10/18/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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


10/19/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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


11/18/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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????


12/02/2005, from a Reader on the Web

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.


01/22/2006, from a Reader on the Web

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


01/30/2006, from a Reader on the Web

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.


01/31/2006, from a Reader on the Web

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.


02/03/2006, from a Reader on the Web

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.


02/13/2006, from a Reader on the Web

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 ?


02/23/2006, from a Reader on the Web

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

 

Additional comments made prior to 2007
I just read your article on deja vu. I was hoping you would consider my case and offer insight. I might loose my credibility by disclosing this bit of information, but I began experiencing deja vu on an evening while I was smoking marijuana. It was so severe and frightening that I thought it was a sign that I was about to die. From that point on into the next two years, I would have "episodes" several times a day. The following year it dwindled to once a day and eventually once every couple of days. It was so disturbing to me, that I stopped smoking and got my life straight. After dealing with it for so long, I thought I was loosing my mind. Some times it would be more severe than others, but was always the same "I've been here and done this" feeling. A year ago my sister died while I stood beside her hospital bed. I had deja vu several times that day, but only a handful of times since then. Prior to that I was still experiencing it every few days. Deja vu had controlle d my life for years, and that day it disappeared. I feel relieved but without any answers. It may have been initially caused by drugs (I've never tried anything but pot), but it stuck around for as long as it wanted and took off one day without a notice. There has got to be something more to it! Do you have any possible explanation?
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

Comments

Anonymous's picture

deja vu

well i have been having deja vu plenty of times its like evertime i fall asleep i dream of something happening or some one. and when i awake whatever i dreamt about i expirence it in my wakening life. im confused can i see into the future or is it just a bad case of deja vu. also there has been times when i have visions of soething happening and before i can stop it it happens but im really confused on the subject.

ALEX's picture

THE CRAZIEST....I NEED ANSWER/ OR OPINION ASAP!

hello there my name is alex.!
i am only 17 years and i experience deja vu all the time!
and i dont know why it happens.
i get the strangest feeling and i cant explain it,
its not so much scary but more that i want to find out what it means in life,,
is it a good thing or a bad?
the deja vu's that i have arent that bad like sometimes i'll be sitting in school..like this one time i was sitting in school and i was starting this assigment i had to write a poem..
i start with the title and i wrote unquie and ambitous
and then out of nowhere i look at the paper and i got the weirdest feeling that i done this before wrote the exact same thing and was in the exact same place.!
i've had many before that so it scared me!
and i earse it and wrote something new and i continued to go on
but the feeling like kinda never left and it bothered me!.
There was another really weird deja vu that i had it was a weekend and i just met this kid that i was interested in and i had been over his house like 3 times before...but one night me and my friend were sitting in his room and he wasnt home nd i never really like exaimined his room...we were just sitting on the bed and i look down and seen this picture in his room and i snaped...becasue i know i seen the exact same picture but like 4 months ago and before i even knew him i was on the phone with the same friend that i was with when i was over his house and i was looking out the window and just daydreaming and i seen his room with the same picture it was seriously the scariest thing ever...and when it happened i didnt get it at first i knew i was having a deja vu...but it was like a puzzle because i was thinking where i seen it before and then that pop in my head about how i was daydreaming and it all went together SCARRYY...but i think that maybe it was just letting me know this is where your suppose to be in life right there at that moment.
I WANNA LEARN MORE FOR SOME REASON IM REALLY INTRIQUE!

Jet's picture

So... is a Deja Vu able to

So... is a Deja Vu able to be explained? What is the most likely cause of having one? And when do we experience the first memory of the familiar feeling that has not yet happened yet? Is this evidence of us able to control or manipulate time or space? So many questions....

Graham's picture

Deja vu about 1 particular day

I had a very frightening dream experience on Thursday evening when I "saw" most of the events of both Monday and Tuesday nights, culminating in a death of either myself or my girlfriend. What made me confirm this was I rememeber watching the latest episode of House last night, which was broadcast on Monday night... but I "saw" it on Thursday night. Nothing has happened but I fear I may do something while I'm sleeping that causes the death. I'm really paranoid about what will happen tonight. I think my soul will be condemened if I don't take action and tell my girlfriend that I'm not sure I love her. I think time and reality are not linear and to escape from being on Earth as a human being you must be a devout buddist. Reincarnation seems to be a thing that I "see", but a reincarnation into a totally repetitive world.

Anonymous's picture

just ANOTHER day in my life

Timothy, do you take any type of medicine on a regular basis?
i'm 17 and have been taking prozac for a couple months now and the deja vu seems to get worse. Usually i have weird dreams that are so realistic that they wake me up..... and scare me. The dream usually comes true or just has hints to things that will happen. its a messed up game in my head and i dont like it. It happens at least once a day.

dejadiva's picture

continuous deja vu

I really enjoyed the article. For as long as I can remember I have constantly had deja vu experiences very often. Now these experiences come more frequently, even when I'm sleeping. The experience always makes my whole body numb and it makes me feel very anxious. Sometimes it goes as far as my hands or legs will tremble only for a short while, and then everything returns to normal. I used to didn't mind these small deja vu experiences, but now they come often and they are more developed now. I feel very wierd when I have them and I wish I could really find out what is going on. I can see, hear, taste, or smell whatever is going on at that moment, and everything is exactly the same. I used to think these experiences were cool, but now they just really creep me out.

DNA's picture

Déjà vu and Salvia divinorum

I'd love to see research done on Salvia divinorum see (http//www.sagewisdom.org) and Déjà vu. The experience is full of it. Each time, the experiencer chooses further investigation, there's a learning that seems to happen linking the dreamtime and ordinary world. Lucid Dreaming is another increased and familiarizing experience.

Stalin's picture

Deja vu with partial complex seizure - Worst discese ever

Thanks for the wonderful article and site to understand about the deja vu. Now i am 32 years old.

My Problem:-
----------

Deja vu:-
I am facing deja vu every 15 days since my age of 26. Initially it used to happen once in three months then once in two months then once in a month now it is every 15 days and it happens three to four times in a row(It may or not may not). During my Deja vu, Initial days i felt like familier place or famlier face and i will be back to normal in 5 to 10 seconds.

Now i have the same feeling but it goes more than 2 minutes now. after i can't completely remeber about that two minutes. During deja vu, once my wife asked me write my name and her name, i wrote it perfact with out spelling mistake. But i dont remeber that(very strange)

I am really worried about the driving. Thanks to the god so far that have not happend during my driving.

Treatment:-
-----------
I had seizure's few times when was in the age of 24 , 28 , 30 and now it looks like every year. ( this year twice)
Since it is diagnised as partial sizure(associated with dejavu) i am undergoing the treatment as doctor prescribed medication but i dont feel like it is improving.

How to avoid the dejavu?

How do we predict dejavu going to happen? (avoid driving)

Reason for the dejavu?

Socrates's picture

I've lived with epilepsy for

I've lived with epilepsy for 32 years, since the age of 5. It's the deju vu that predicts the seizures.Deja vu cannot be avoided when the brain signals are misfiring. When you experience the "pre-seizure" symptoms, find a soft place, and let the seizure run its course.

If you're not feeling right about driving, trust your intuition. Ask the doctor to inform you if and when he thinks its safe for you to drive.

Danny's picture

I can't take it anymore/looking for answers

Hi, I'm a 16 year old male who has almost been driven to the point of suicide due to my deja vu problem. I've been having it nonstop, everything that I do, for at least a week. I can just feel what I'm going to do next and it drives me crazy. Every part of my day seems planned out, i'll intentionally listen to a song that I don't like or spontaneously pick up something to throw just so I won't have to "re-live" everything that has been happening. I've even had the urge to jump out of a three story window, as well as burn myself with a cigarette, and many other thoughts have went through my head in the last week. It doesn't matter what I do, every little motion is re-lived. I've had some outbursts of deja vu since this past summer. It all started when I first started smoking weed, it was a cool feeling at the time. After my first time smoking (I've only smoked 5 times in my life, and have been clean for almost two months) it started happening maybe once every couple days or so. I wasn't too worried about it at the time, i thought it was normal for people to experience deja vu occasionally. I even told my friends when we were watching a movie "whoa, I knew that they were going to say that and I've never seen this movie before." They just laughed at me and said "whatever dude" I got a concussion playing football this year, and after my concussion my deja vu stopped for about 6 weeks. Then it all started to come back, slowly but surely. It's really getting to the point where I can't take it anymore, It's really freaking me out. If someone could tell me what to do to make it better, or anything of the sort please let me know. It'd be really helpful.

-Danny

Art Funkhouser's picture

Déjà vu resulting from concussion

Danny,

I suspect one of your temporal lobes (or possibly even both) in your brain was (were) injured by the concussion. To check this out, you should consult a neurologist and ask him or her to see if there is anything abnormal in your temporal lobe EEG recordings. I am pretty sure there is medication available which should tone down and possibly even stop this symptom you are suffering from. Feel free to write me is you have any questions. Art Funkhouser, Bern

Brendon's picture

You should just wait it out-

You should just wait it out- the weed has some effect on it because weed kills brain cells so your brain constantly trying to bring the past to the present. i think this also might help rebuild the brain cell that were lost.

Anonymous's picture

BLARG!!

I need to say one thing about your post, Brendon.

WEED DOES NOT KILL BRAIN CELLS!!!!!

Where do you get off saying things like this! Ok, ok, I'll calm down. You are clearly uneducated about it. Not only does marijuana not kill brain cells, but it also doesn't cause lung cancer. (The smoke from the joints does, so I use a vaporizer or pipe.)

To everyone else, do a little research. Watch a few documentaries and educate yourself on the subject. It has many medicinal properties and has no disadvantages.

Anonymous's picture

I am 20 years old now and I

I am 20 years old now and I have experienced Deja vu since I was about 6 years old. I can even recall my first Deja vu experience i had. But recently,maybe 5 or 6 years ago, have i started to understand Deju vu a little better. I have realized that all my Deja vu's that happen are my dreams.

For instance- I was on the computer looking up something,and my dad and sister were watching the T.V. When a premier of a new T.V show came on(maybe you have heard of it "Deal or No Deal" with Howie Mandel as host, very popular when it came out), I got the most extraordinary sensation that this happend before, and then suddenly I remebered the dream I had of this exact moment and exact layout of how my dad and sister where sitting watching the show. I had dreamed of this same situation years ago before the show ever existed, and not only that, but my whole memory was regained, and I could remeber how and when I dreamed it and how long the dream was, I could even remeber what I dreamed after this dream. And the weird thing is after this Deja vu my memory of this dream has been restored ,its like someone gave me the keys to a vault to open whenever I want. And the funny thing is that even now when I remeber this dream I can see Howie Mandel and his bald head,but when I dreamed of this I didnt even know who he was.

And I know I'm not the only one that this is happening to. And I know many other people can back me up on the dreaming and Deja vu connection because they also experienced it. So thats my take on Deja vu, I think it has something defenitly to do with dreams. I kind a like the sensation I get is awsome.

And does'nt anyone else find it odd that this many people have these same experiences.I guess we are all somhow connected with the universe....:)

Serendip Visitor's picture

reply to dreamers

i have had only a handful of deja vu experiences in my lifetime, and most were before the age of 25. i am now 34 years old and have not had this experience in at least 3 years now, but i would like to explain one particular experience i had. first of all, my deja vu experiences have always been only 5 sec., maybe 10 sec. at the most in duration, but this changed after my first son was born. i vividly remember the experience as a sort of voyeur or out of body type feeling, and it was also accompanied by a sort of fear or anxiety that it would not end. it was a visual and audio experience that i felt i could not escape, because this particular experience seemed that it would not end. i felt the only thing to do was do something that would break it off, so i grabbed my hair and began to scream (remember that i did this on purpose). at that moment during my attempt to end the experience, i realized that this deliberate act was also part of the experience. only a couple more seconds later the experience ended on its on (without my interference). i also once believed that deja vu was possibly a dream that was remembered when it occured, sort of like a sub-concious precognition, but after this happened i was sure that deja vu is just another of the minds phsycological tricks that it has to play on the concious mind.

Pamela's picture

Deja-Vue preview of soul mate?

since I was a child I had always had dreams of future events seeing people &/or places I had never been before. I am now 54 years old with a dream of doing laundry in a laundry mat (which I do not use I have own washer/dryer) with a large window facing a lake with a place to moor your boat. There was a little weannie dog and a couple of little girls. all of a sudden I saw a storm rise in the sky and the lake began to rise and crashed into the window of the laundry. I rushed to save the little girls and doggy and everything went black.
A year later I met this man and out of all the men I could have chosen I chose him....something just seemed familar...then afterwards at least 2-3 times a week Deja-vue continued. We began a relationship almost immediately. This relationship became emotionally debilitating. With him in power. He lived in an apartment complex with a laundry. One day the girls and my boyfriend along with myself brought his laundry down to the laundry facility. I emptied the laundry into each washer and started to lift the last article of clothing and out popped their little weannie dog! This all came as a rush of emotion. I had much passion in this relationship however I had to leave everything I owned and travel 3500 miles and start a school program to ensure I would not return since it was so difficult to stay away previously. I miss him and still feel a since of a past lifetime resolution with this experience. I cannot explain this any other way.

Kali's picture

Deja Vu predicting my life.

Im 18. and every day sence i was born i have had deja vu in groups of flash backs. i would have dreams or invison somthing happen and i wont be able to recall it after it happens.. but when my life has a big change coming i tend to have daily experences till my life changes. i have to be on my feet constantly making sure i dont mess up my future. example: 2 years ago i constantly had dreams off a tall guy named jeremy. a few weeks ago i meet him the same guy i had in my dreams. right befor i met him i had deja vu constantly for a week and it stoped after i met him. a hour befor he asked me out i had a experence where i felt like it happend befor. we were in a movie theater cuddling and i knew i saw this in a dream befor . and hour later he asked me out. the deja vu stoped after that and has been building up this week. i hope im not in for too big of a suprise.

Anonymous's picture

Seeing future and past selves

Since 2003, I've been having deja vu moments. I saw myself at the Salvation Army as a little girl during a field trip in the 2nd grade. I didn't recognize it was me until I turned 29 and the event repeated itself. The moment is sort of involved so I'll spare you the details. It was daytime when I saw myself as a child. The event actually took place at night. Some of the people there at the salvation army sensed the moment too....so it wasn't just my deja vu moment. In 2005, I worked for a bank. That same field trip brought me too the performers at the symphony. The "performers" were my co-workers. The bank I worked for sponsors the symphony orchestra and they were doing a benefit to help young people who had goals of being in the symphony.

I also had a childhood crush on my boss. The first time I met this guy and my co-workers I was a child in the 5th grade. I met them again as an employee for a tax office. Everything happened just as a I remember as a child. Only, I am actually older than my boss by about 3 years.

My last experience, I got lost as a child and ended up at a church. As a 33 year old woman I saw my childish form and remember that very day. I had my back turned so....as a child...I didn't actually see my adult form. I don't know how I got back home. As a work study student I was 15 years old when I came back to work for this church. I didn't know it was a church because it looked like an office. Anyway, I had already discussed with my boss and co-workers that I'd been having some deja vu experiences. They thought I was crazy. But a couple of months later....I heard my 15 year old speaking in the conference room. I've never gotten any feedback from this church on what really happened. But I know I didn't share that moment alone either. I've had other moments where I saw my aunt on a field trip on her death bed. I've seen my then unborn niece. I was child and she was 2 yrs old....When it happened again...I realized it was deja vu. I don't know when the next moment will take place.....but I stronly believe that it will.

Erik Pierce's picture

Listen, this is a plead to

Listen, this is a plead to all of you with severe deja vu or mental quirks: if you feel that you cannot look at your bizarre experiences and feelings in a positive light, and they bother you, get help- not neccessarily from a psychologist(yes if necessary), but open-minded or spiritual person. Please get help, you don't want do what I did, self-medicate with alcohol and marijuana and then continually deny the whole thing. I am tired of being a lost soul, dead, all because I couldn't handle something powerful. There is hope, and I am headed back on path.

-Erik

Anonymous's picture

hi iam 18 years old and iam

hi iam 18 years old and iam a muslim .
i often expierence deja vu twice a month !!! feeling that i've been in a particular place before and sometimes when i eneter a place for the first time i do know where things are !!! spooky i know but tht's the truth !! i read before tht the spirit of a body leaves it while sleeping for a shoft time ... travelling in time past and future !! i dont know if tht's true or not or if it has a scientific explantaion !!

thanks for reading

Joel's picture

Deja Vu In film

See "Dead of Night," a British movie from the forties.

Anonymous's picture

Deja Vu

I know that some people have deja vu but I was wondering how common it was for 2 people to have the same deja vu at the same time... My boyfriend and I were a sleep in a hotel room and I dreamed that the alarm clock did not go off which was to wake me up for class. But instead the phone rang and woke us up. Well, it felt not even a min. later that the phone rang which woke both of us up. My boyfriend looked at the time and said thank god someone called and then we both looked at each other and said deja vu. Aperantly we both had had the same dream just before it happened. It has always stuck with me because I have had deja vu before but never at the same time as someone else. Please email and let me know what you think of this.
Thanks

Denii's picture

Deja Vu

Hmm!! thrs alomst a multitude of people having the same experiences as i do ! and i thought,well, it was only with me !! Deja vu that is wat they call it !! strange but a unique feeling, i have read lot about all this and have not found a convincing answer yet,the reason is, this is still being weighed by means of theories and not proven facts... welll i would like to hear from rsearchers in ths field !! anybody who is doinga research on this please let me know !!

I am a Software Engineer!! and a psychologist by my thinkings and not by my degree!!

meanwhile i am still having a read at all possible articles i can find !!

John Dodds's picture

Please, I need some advice before i lose it

Well, i'm not really sure where to begin or how to explain the things that i am going through. I know that many people might consider the following words to be a go getter lie, but i assure that i would not make thi up for some attention over the internet. For the past several years I have been plague with an almost constant deja vu. At times I feel normal, then suddenly i am swept away in a sense of awareness that draws me away from my peers. Living with a constant deja vu would normally have little effect on me, other than i would think it was cool. however, for about as long as i can remember i have had dreams that come true in one form or another. When i was a little kid, i had many dreams about my family dying. Cows once ate my whole family, and another time a bunch of dogs and an alpha male had killed everyone in my home but me. needless to say more, my family was torn apart when i was 12 years old. although the dreams did not com exactly true, it was there direct meanings that did. now, what has pushed me to open myself up to whoever is reading this is that for about 7 months now i have been having dreams almost every night. And these dreams are coming true exactly as i dream them. I dreamt about a month ago that i somehow broke a potatoe scooper with one of those little buttons that released the potatoes, and just recently, it happened. Although i remember the dream in distinct clarity, it did not occur to me that i had dreamt this dream untill a moment of deja vu swept over me. My dreams and my everyday deja vu experiance lead me to believe that something is going on(can't explain), and i try to fight against myself to prove that i am sane. if anyone out there goes through the similiar, please contact me. thank you

Brandall's picture

ur deja vu

Watch the movie 'numb' with matthew perry... it might help explain some of ur experiences

Jordan's picture

Deja Vu

Hi I'm 19 and I have Deja Vu everyday sometimes it will happen 5 or 6 times. This has been happening to me since I was 4. When I happens I see weird pictures and I smell this really bad smell. I don't know what causes it.

Anonymous's picture

Hello I am someone who

Hello
I am someone who occasionally has deja vu. I am definitely not any kind of expert on the matter but I just had an episode which led me to this posting and reading everyone's opinions/questions and theories. I feel that the deja vu experience is one's inner self taking a sort of snapshot of something they know will soon change. Also, possibly a mile-marker may have been reached in the deja vuer's existence and we are made aware of this. When I was sixteen yrs old I frequently had deja vu experiences, soon after that, I moved away from where I lived and became depressed, had problems with relationships, Law Enforcement, my family, You name it. Yesterday morning on the ride to work with my friend and coworker we spoke about life and religion among other things as we occasionally do. Later in the day I had a deja vu experience as I was sawing a peice of lumber for a case I was building. Everything around me seemed like a recreation from a previous version of events, like a computer rebooting from a backup file I took this to mean that I am on course or that my journey in life had reached an intersection between where I am in life's journey and where I should be. I know it sounds weird I'm not great at explaining things but sometimes things just seem to be illuminated or highlighted for us to take note.

Anonymous's picture

Deja vu all my life

I recognized long ago when it's happening. It's a sense of going on 'pause mode', I sense/feel it first, stand still, then listen and look around for what is going on. Do I stop breathing? Strongest episode was 23 years ago. A wonderful summer day when family, & kids were small, all playing in the front yard. I felt it start so I just stopped and watched everyone horseplay for about 1/2 hour. This episode I always treasure. Didn't know at the time my mother in it would be dead in a year of cancer.
The feeling you get when looking thru old photo albums, that makes you want to cry and pulls your heart out.
Lots of seeing dreams have eased up, thank God. Dreamed exactly when my father, and then mother were dying.
Current is watching new TV premiere episodes and I've seen them before. Annoying

Emily W 's picture

going deja crazy

Alright so heres my deal with the whole deja vu thing. I'm 18 years old and have experienced random deja vu episodes ever since i can remember. But all of a sudden I am experiencing it everyday all day! And I really can't take it anymore, im going insane and I'm becoming very depressed and emotional about it. Mostly when I have deja vu i'll see a random person on the street or a customer at work that ive never seen before and i feel like i know them. Also during my episodes i get headaches and feel light headed and nauseous. My question to anyone is, is there a reason why this is happening to me? Could it be from substance abuse or something like that? And most importantly how do i make it stop?!! Please give me some advice, i need to know if this is all in my head or not because i feel like im going crazy.

Thanks
Emily

Art Funkhouser's picture

Deja vu and nausea

Hi, Emily,

If you're deja vu is accompanied by headaches and nausea, you might see about having a neurological checkup. Such symptoms are often related to temporal lobe epilepsy seizures. If you do a search for temporal lobe epilepsy you can read up on it. There are good medications available to control it - if that is what is causing your "attacks". Let me know how it goes.

Art Funkhouser, deja vu researcher

Kissandra's picture

Daydream or Deja Vu?

I've searching the Internet and can't find anyone with my same problem. I'm hoping you or someone can explain this. It feels like deja vu where I'm remembering a sequence of events that is so familiar and for the moment real...but in reality none of it ever happened. I don't just recall the events I feel it. It's hard to explain. I just talked to my mom and the same thing happens to her. For example, I'm doing dishes and I stop because I'm overwhelmed with a negative feeling, I'm upset, my husband is upstairs right now mad at me and I feel terrible. I remember that we got into a fight a minute ago. In reality he's upstairs But there was no chain of events that made him upset at me. He's just going about his business. Its like a memory but with the full range of feelings that one would have if it really happened. Moments later I snap out of it and realize that memory is totally wrong. I'm fine. And I go about my day with a little of that lingering feeling... like... that was weird.

Did I just do some sort of Daydream? Or is it Deja Vu where I'm remembering something...even though it never happened? I'm hoping that maybe you can provide me with some sort of logical answer.

Thanks, Kissandra.

Six Flags Discounts's picture

Visual info processing delay

I had the same problem for a while. I think the main problem is the time elapse is processing the information by the brain. But this could be debatable.

A Reader on the Web's picture

Re-visiting

Here's part of a paragraph (discussing anti-matter) that may or may not be of interest to deja vu'ers/vecu'ers, from "Physics of the Impossible", by Michio Kaku (a leading physicist in today's world): "...Even if parity-reversed and charge-reversed universes are not possible, an anti-universe is still possible, but it would be a strange one. If we reversed the charges, the parity, AND THE MARCH OF TIME, then the resulting universe would obey all the laws of physics. The CPT-reversed universe is allowed."

I'm a continual deja vecu'er, and have been for the past 36 years (chronologically, I'm almost 55). Before becoming a continual, I experienced deja vu on occasion, back to early childhood. Even as a young child, I could sense the multi-dimensionality of this magnificent creation we call reality. We've made great headway in our comprehension of the mystery of life, but we still have a ways to go.

Someday, we'll augment the current medical/neuropsychological studies of deja vu/vecu with dv research within the physics realm. How do I know that? I know that because I'm a continual deja vecu'er. I've always known it, just as I know that it takes the footwork and the participation of many deja vu'ers/vecu'ers to bring it about. I'm thrilled to see so many speaking up since my last visit here (almost three years ago, before I opted for the word "continual" vs. "perpetual".)

Do you remember Plato's "Allegory of the Cave?" I wish the best of hope and tenacity to you in your dv journeys!

Espiralli, August 12, 2008.

Anonymous's picture

I have been a worrier all my

I have been a worrier all my life - too many reasons to go into - but I have experienced deja vu / deja senti from when I was a small child. At various stages in my life - illness, financial worries, job worries, pregnancy etc I have noticed an alarming increase in the number of deja vu's experienced. I too have had what Jared described as deja vu "swarms" - thank you Jared I thought it was only me!!

What I know to be true is that they happen at very stressful and anxious times and they lessen both in number and intensity when life is less stressful. I try to look at them as warning lights telling me to relax and not stress. However the worry that these are ocurring tend to fuel my anxiety and thus increase the number of deja vu!! This is of course a vicious circle.

Just know that none of us are mad, our brains are complex machines which we may never quite understand. A very good friend confessed to having the same thing years ago - we both kept it secret as we both thought we were going mad. But I haven't gone mad in 40+ years and nor has she!! Reading this and writing this gives me hope - they are scary but perhaps they are just part of us like eye and hair colour.

Thinking of and understandng you all x

Anonymous's picture

I have Deja Vu and i cant control it.

Hi im 14 years old and ever since i was nine i've been having alot of Deja Vu. Sometimes i get Deja Vu and a small scary feling that goes down my spine it feels like the inside of my back is getting a cold breeze,and after i have it something strange or bad happens and the Deja Vu i get is strange,for example;one time i traveled to Lake Tahoe and whent on a bike ride and during the ride i had Deja Vu and i saw my friend falling of the bike but when i rememberd it the person falling was wearing a black robe with a cape and a hod.It was terrible because my friend twisted his leg and had to be sent to the hospital.I get alot of that kind of Deja Vu Im sort of used to it because i get it now and then like almost every day but its not always bad sometimes got thing happen when I have Deja Vu.But thats not what freaks me out the worst times are when i get Deja Vu in my sleep,can you imagine getting Deja Vu in your dreams and right after that wake up and have Deja Vu of your dream its the odest feeling.Getting Deja Vu of Deja Vu it makes my head hurt so much.So any ways i came here to get help i need to know if anyone out thre has the same Deja Vu that i have,and i also want to know if there are any cures to Deja Vu because i hate having all that strange Deja Vu so please help me if you have any answers or to let me know that im not the only one with that kind of Deja Vu. *__*

Anonymous's picture

ur not alone

I have noticed more people talking about the same type of Deja vu as you. Explained there's no cure they haven't even began to understand how or why it happens but I can assure you your not alone I have controled episodes as well as outbursts and don't enjoy it either I left my email so if you want to send me a msg I'd be more then willing to compare symptoms

Anonymous's picture

hey i have Deja vu to. but i

hey i have Deja vu to. but i am able to control it.
im the same age as you.
ex. 3 years
when it happens i can usualyy change what happens like when i get in fights. i have deja vu and then it happens again but i use it and when that person punched me instead i dogded it.
so your not alone

Anonymous's picture

DEja Vu

since last many days.....i have been reading a lot abt Deja Vu...its a real mystery...however, i have been reading about it in relation to a competition for which my topic is "Deja vu"........can anyone giv me new insights for the topic????As in like how can it be converted for good??? like if i knw this is going to happen and this is bad...and this is happening to me this very moment and after a min I m goin to meet wit an accident....can i change it????
pl help....

Anonymous's picture

Deja Vu and Marijuana

I found this page via a Google search and I thought I'd post about my situation -- I was a very heavy marijuana smoker. I decided to stop and it's been about two weeks now that I've been completely sober. All of a sudden today I am having Deja Vu about every half hour or so all day today. It's very strange. I never experienced this while smoking marijuana.

Anonymous's picture

constant deja vu...

I'm completely frustrated w/ this constant deja vu that I have. It happens every single day; at least four times a day. I don't understand it nor do I want it. I'm quite confused whenever it happens. Everything seems so familiar and I start thinking I am going crazy. Not sure if it is in actuality, a problem with the pre frontal cortex as I've read on the internet or...if there is something else that I am missing. I just wish that it would stop. I even have problems with my memory now. I can't seem to remember much of anything that has happened in the past few months that normally I wouldn't really forget. If anyone knows how to make all this deja vu stop or if there is a way to get tested for something please let me know. Thanks...
-Troubled w/ Deja vu & Memory.

Cameron's picture

Theories on Deja Vu

I've had a few theories when it comes to explaining this phenomenon. I have deja vu a lot. It flares up and goes away. As often as a few times a day to every few weeks. I have read that simple partial seizures are accompanied by deja vu. Other symptoms include hallucinations (the prior experience in this case), muscle spasms/twitches and a few other things. All three of the named symptoms apply to myself. Also it has been documented that a strong sense of deja vu occurs immediately before an epileptic seizure. I had the feeling that the part of the brain that processes memory - the hippocampus - could partly be to blame. It may misfire and confuse two similar scenarios and make the person experiencing believe that they were the same.

One thing I have noticed personally, while reading various comments, is that a few people who experience deja vu often have bad memory, so it could be a problem with the hippocampus. Confirmations? Rejections?

Anonymous's picture

hi, im 18 years old. having

hi, im 18 years old. having read a large portion of this article, including the comments, i must say that i am deeply relieved!!!!! All this time i thought i was the only person in the world that has such experiences and at the same times, fearing to death about it... Like many who have shared in this article, i had experienced deja vu's in the past as a kid and i never really paid much attention to them. It wasnt until a few months ago when i read up about it and the idea started to frighten me a little becuase i keep wondering how is it possible for one to tell the future, or to have a past life? and so, i was helplessly engrossed about it and i tried digging up from my memory some past dejavu experiences i had and in the process, i started having more and more of this experiences. day by day the numbers grew until i cant even remember a day when ive never had one deja vu experience. This was never the case in my life when i was younger. So i was frightened and i developed a fear, a phobia of it, and everytime this happened, it would suck the happiness outta me, leaving me choking in my doubts and confusion and i could hardly breathe too. ive developed a fear of familiarity, no matter how tiny it is. but as i continued to read into it, i came across this article and i realised that this is probably due to the way our brain works. AS we all know, there is no one, no scientist able to fully comprehend how our brain works because it is simply too complex for a human to understand. and i must say it is a masterpiece of God's creation. I feel that no matter how much research is done, no one can really tell how the brain works, and i believe all these experiences that we have are the result of the many calculations of our brains,our senses and everything to do with our minds. colours, smells, shapes, light, all these and many others are factors that our brain remembers, and stores and no one can really tell how our minds play with these things. So i feel that we shouldnt jump to conclusions about having past lifes and stuff because we have seen how life in the old days were through movies, documentaries, and pictures. our mind registers those images and thus we can imagine things unthinkable.

like someone else commented, its not mystical, but more of psychological.

i hope my sharing would be of some help to others.
thanks!

Anonymous's picture

Deja Vu

hi, im fifteen years old and i have had daja Vu often since i was eight or nine, however in the past year or so its been happining for and more often, so i get it a couple of time a week. it used to be that it would just be that a word would trigger something and it almsot felt like i was in a dream i got the feeling i had had a drema about it or was still dreaming this only lasted a couple of seconds. However now i get Daja Vu for perhaps a minuete or two, its usually triggered by something someone says, though it can be visual, i can see the scene playing in my head a couple of seconds before it actually happens, and i often know what another person is going to say to me, ive go so far as to say what they say at the same time as them, it really scares me so nowdays i 'change the script' as i call it, meaning as soon as i start to know what im oging to say and they are going to reply, i say something different, so the eery sensation is lost. Its like ive dreamt of it happening, or its happend beofre even when it hasnt, often it feels like its happend more than once. Also A coupel of times a been to a house ive never been into before, and inside im having a normal conversation and suddenly i will know whats going to happen, and in my 'dream' i know i turned and so something on the wall, or a dog came in in one instance, and so ill turn and the object or person who ive never seen before will be there just as in my dream.
Once i had a dream of a place ive never been or heard of before, when i described it to my mother she recognised the place and took me there, and it was exaclty like in me dream.
Its really bothering me and i would apprecaite a reply, just to sortof try and understnad whats happening to me.
Thanks

Anonymous's picture

Deja Vu

It happened quite a few years ago... How is it 2 strangers can have Deja Vu at the same instant?

Hugo's picture

Experiences

Dear Madam,
I found this web page after having a deja vu while writing a paper on my computer. As I was writing my wife said something to which I answered and as I was answering I was remembering the moment, her sentence, my answer, everything, as it had happened before. I googled "deja vu" and came up here. But what made me write this was reading about an experience of one of the readers (posted on 01/22/2006) regarding something that happens after we think about it. I have had this type of experience a few times in my life. The latest was just a few weeks ago. As I am starting my car, I am mumbling a song and as soon as I turn the radio on the song is playing! It has happened too many times and with so many different songs for me to deem it as merely a coincidence. Sometimes it is not even a hit song. Another type of experience is again with the radio. I am driving and I think about a song that I haven't heard in while, usually oldies and, despite the fact that I am not listening to an oldies radio station, the song is played some time that day. It is very awckward. Another experience is with penalty kicks in soccer. I usually "sense" when the penalty is going to be missed. I can't explain it. It is as if I knew already that it was going to be missed. When I feel the "mood" of the miss I say "he's going to miss" and I am almost always right. When I don't feel that "mood" I don't say it and usually he scores. It is not infalible but I am more than 50% right. I would say around 75%. So this is what I had to share with you. Thanks for listening.
Best regards,
Hugo

George's picture

Deja vu with physical symptoms

Thank you for the article that you have offered on line here. Reading many of the responses here, I would like to offer my experiences as a professional health care worker. I have been in the critical care/trauma and emergency department areas for 27 years.
I have observed many people and listened to quite a few with the same experiences concerning the area of types of deja vu. In all three the majority of them were quite explainable just from history taking. They involved the following, keeping in mind the trigger word FREQUENT Deja vu episodes, meaning, daily,frequently per monthly:

1. Frequent or infrequent use of recreational drugs such as ecstasy, heroin, mushrooms, cocaine, HGB, marijuana.
2. Known epileptics and sometimes a deja vu is pre emptive to having one referred to as a type of 'aura'; recovering from an absance seizure.
3. Presence of brain trauma or tumor, advanced syphyllis stage 3, advanced lymes disease(brain infestation of parasite), Brain stroke (CVA) or pending stroke (TIA),migraine
4. Hormonal imbalance such as one would experience during menstruation, diabetes mellitus,hypo/hyperthyroidism, male/female gonadal disease or surgical removal of,pituitary malfunction adrenal disease or pregnancy.
6. During use of Dr. prescribed medication to treat pain, psycholgical treatment medicaitions, steroids prednisone like,or during untreated pain episodes.
7. History of psychological trauma, depression, sleep disorders,anxiety disorders.
8. Constant source of stress or fear, social pressures.

What accompanied these histories were subjective observations of the client such as:
1. Metallic taste in the mouth.
2. Fragrance of flowers or pungence
3. Hearing "musical tones"
4. Feeling "lighter" or "weightless", feeling "out of body".
5. Feeling "nauseous"
6. Having a "headache"

Objective observations of the health care taker were as follows:
1. Diaphoresis (sweating), cold clammy feel to the skin, pallor.
2. Sudden dilatation or constriction of the pupils.
3. Facially, sudden blank stare, disinterest in surrounding environment, sudden relaxation of facial muscles,seizure.
4. Hypersalivation or vomiting
5. Difficulty in verbal expression, echolalia (repetative, speech) or loss of.

Of course this is not nearly complete, but you may see my point. My reasoning in sharing this is as I shared earlier, I have been in the health care field for a while. I believe the body as a whole is an intelligent organism as it has its working mastered and is very alert as to its goings on and having said that it speaks to us and lets us know in subtle ways that something may be awry. It might just be in your best interest to get a check up regardless of what age you are.

Now in the absence of the majority of the above, it could be nothing more than age related or something right out of the unexplained. But not to forget, that the body is subtle and of that body there is a mind. So if you should have an unexplained episode, maybe it would be advantageous to act on it as premonatory response and take your day slow. Decidedly, don't rush in your driving or going up and down the stairs or just be still and quiet for a moment and enjoy the surroundings or the present events of your present reality and take stock in the possibility of something bigger out there that is beyond comprehension that enjoys us wondering of it. I would not be surprised if there was a greater incidence of such experiences in mothers, cause I know my mother had eyes in the back of her head and never learned how she knew some stuff, but it fits the profile.

It was good to read in this article the mention of the possibility of physics and the movement of protons being a type of explanation as they move about and may possibly carry information between planes of past and future bumping into us and leaving us a glimpse. As a matter of fact if anyone is interested, there is a groundbreaking experiment for what is loosely called the search of the "God Particle". It involves a machine, the LARGE HADRON COLLIDER. It is easily googleable. Enjoy reading of it. There is a three part video on YouTube as well.

Respectfully with blessings to all
George

A survivor of severe head trauma at 4 years old
A survivor of Testicular Cancer at age 35 (now 53 cured{
Experiences infrequent deja vu
Practicing Registered Nurse and loving it! And you would too.

jerrica's picture

Let me introduce myself, My

I am doing a project based on the topic of Deja Vu. While I was doing my research, I happened to see your page about deja vu. I hope you don't mind, I used it as a resource. The reason why i'm trying to contacting you is because I have a requirement of a live interview. Since you have really impressed me with what you have posted online, I thought that you would be a really good peron i could ask questions about your own thoughts. If you'd rather give me a call back i would gladly give you my number. Here are some of my questions:
( I've noticed that you posted you page in the year 2008. I probably will ask you questions in which you have already answered, but since poeple's thoughts tend to change, maybe your opinions have become way different than before).Thank you for taking out the time

1. When does Deja vu usually happen?
2. How does it occur?
3. How does it effect people internally and physically?
4. When deja vu is oftenly reoccuring, what does it mean?

Jared Kendall's picture

Deja Vu "swarms"

Periodically, and without any sort of "trigger" or associative event I've been able to nail down, I get plagued by what I can only describe as "swarms" of deja vu.

When this happens, for a period of time (usually several days), I'll have multiple instances of deja vu take place. The memories are usually vague -- primarily, I just feel overwhelming physical sensations of repetition. I "feel" that I've done this before, felt this before. It's very hard to describe.

The experience is terrifying. I dread them. When they arrive, I'm placed into a near-panic. The knowledge that it's "all in my head" just doesn't help all that much. The fact that they'll keep coming makes them torture. Like being dropped into a temporary prison in my head.

So, what I'm getting at is this: Is there any way to shut off, or decrease either the frequency or intensity of deja vu? I'd be willing to do just about anything to get away from these.

Should I seek psychiatric help? Is there any form of treatment or therapy which can help with deja vu? I realize that most people don't mind -- but the continuing nature of my deja vu episodes makes them incredibly hard to weather.

Thanks in advance, any help or advice anyone can give.

Anonymous's picture

Deja Vu/ Conscious / vs Subconscious mind

I was wondering if anyone has thought of the possibility of the Deja vu being related to a time delay between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind processing information in the brain.

Also, those who had experienced Deja vu simultaneously with another person... perhaps this relates to the subconscious mind tapping into the collective consciousness.

I have noticed an increased frequency of deja vu, which seems to me to be related to how consciously aware I have been of my "inner voice". In the past, my inner voice would slip in here and there and I would notice it occasionally, whereas lately, my inner voice has been more like a constant flowing stream and I am more consciously aware of it.

It seems to me that during a Deja vu, my subconscious mind has already seen and "analyzed" a situation or event and is sending an important message to my conscious mind to "take note of this situation and what is happening, it is important-- what you do/ say can only be said now and can never be said/ done again" Or "take note of this situation and its symbolism for you, what you are learning is important and will be needed again someday". Or, "do you recognize that you have done this kind of thing before? Do not make the same mistake again." Or, "Do you hear yourself talking? The advice you are giving to this person is the advice you should be taking for yourself in your own life too" Or "what you are thinking of doing is not the right thing to do-- do the right thing." Kind of like a sticky note is being sent from my subconscious mind and being placed on my conscious mind. It is like a "surfacing" of my subconscious mind to my conscious mind and my conscious mind is also taking note of the time delay in processing the information.

It is like the subconsious mind is analyzing the event, writing a report about it -- time stamping it, and sending it to the conscious mind-- "take a look at this report before you act."

It is almost as if my subconscious mind is more "in tune" with God, the collective unconscious and "knows" things and their meaning at a deeper level and wants my conscious mind to act in accordance with this deeper/higher meaning.

Can anyone relate to this?
Simone

Mark Green's picture

Can anyone relate to this by Simone

This is not so much about you deja vu experiences, Simone, but rather about your "inner voice" that has become more like a constant flowing stream. The comment I wanted to make is in relation to your last statement wherein you state that your wiser or more knowledgeable inner voice wants you to act in accordance with its higher knowledge.

It is my belief that any higher self, or inner voice, does NOT want you to act in accordance with its advanced knowledge, per se, but rather to contemplate the particular highlighted life situation, come to a higher understanding oneself and then act according to one's own understanding. You may have meant this yourself but I thought it was worth clarifying.

One of the biggest problems of humanity is brought about by the acceptance by our society for individuals to live in accordance with "knowledge" that they have been taught to memorize as opposed to acquiring their knowledge through personal experience. A true teacher is not interested in their students ability to parrot back memorized answers. Your inner voice will often tell you when there is meaning at a deeper level of which you are currently capable of understanding but it will never tell you to operate according to its understanding.

Everything else you said in your note is totally consistent with what I have said here but it extremely important for people to recognize that the expanded consciousness does not seek to enslave us by our adherence to sets of rules that may be applicable in expanded spheres based on the understanding in those realms. This is my understanding.