Over the years, many scientists ignored déjà vu completely due to its frequent association with past life experiences, ESP and alien abductions. Scientists used this theory, called paramnesia, to explain déjà vu for a large part of the 20th century. Sigmund Freud theorized that these experiences resulted from repressed desires or memories related to a stressful event that people could no longer access as regular memory. From philosophers, to psychologists, to paranormal experts, they've all had their theories.Įmile Boirac was a French psychic researcher who was the first to use the term déjà vu in his book, "L'Avenir des Sciences Psychiques." He did not research the phenomenon in depth, however.
For two centuries people have tried to come up with reasons we experience déjà vu.
Déjà vu studies must depend on personal descriptions and recollection for data. Next, we'll look at how researchers have studied this phenomenon.ĭéjà vu is extremely difficult to study because it occurs briefly, unannounced, only in certain people, and has no witnesses or physical manifestations other than the person saying, "hey, déjà vu!" Because of this, there is little firm research and no definitive explanations. The person experiencing it may truly believe they've been through the exact situation before, rather than getting a feeling that quickly passes.ĭéjà vu also occurs with some predictability in major psychiatric disorders, including anxiety, depression, dissociative disorders and schizophrenia. However, some researchers say that this type of déjà vu is distinctly different from typical déjà vu. This has given researchers a slightly more reliable way of studying déjà vu, and they've been able to identify the areas of the brain where these types of déjà vu signals originate. Just before having a seizure they often experience a strong feeling of déjà vu.
The most common misuse of the term déjà vu seems to be with precognitive experiences - experiences where someone gets a feeling that they know exactly what's going to happen next, and it does. Researchers have their own definitions, but generally déjà vu is described as the feeling that you've seen or experienced something before when you know you haven't. There are often references to déjà vu that aren't true déjà vu. French scientist Emile Boirac, one of the first to study this strange phenomenon, gave the subject its name in 1876. Déjà vu is a French term that literally means "already seen" and has several variations, including déjà vécu, already experienced déjà senti, already thought and déjà visité, already visited.