The Ever Mysterious Sensation of Deja Vu

What might cause it and are some people more susceptible than others?

Hiya!

For as much as we know about ourselves, from anatomy and biology to psychology and sociology, we still have no idea how much we don’t know. The more I learn about us, the more mysteries I discover — like the sensation of dèjá vu. Most, if not all, of us, have experienced it at some point in our lives. Yet, in many ways, experts struggle to explain why we experience it all.

Over the decades, neuroscientists have made progress in identifying where dèjá vu happens in the brain and the conditions that might stimulate it. They’ve also determined that dèjá vu can occur as a symptom of a more significant neurological issue —of which I have personal experience.

However, dèjá vu can also occur in perfectly healthy brains. So why does it happen? And is anyone more susceptible to experiencing them?

A Bit of Déjà Vu History

Déjà vu is when our brain produces a false sense of familiarity. It feels as though you’ve lived a certain situation before but can’t pinpoint the memory. So the term “déjà vu” is actually quite fitting since it’s French for “already seen.” 

It’s assumed that nearly everyone (97 percent ) experiences déjà vu at some point. Yet, despite its commonality, the phrase is credited to a French philosopher and parapsychologist named Émile Boirac, who used it only a century and a half ago in 1876. He wrote it in a letter to the editor of Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Étranger, and in it, he suspected that déjà vu is triggered by the residue of a long-forgotten perception — or, in other words, remnants of memories from our past lives.

The sensation of déjà vu feels almost like a psychic phenomenon, so it isn’t a surprise there’s a paranormal sense to them. Carl Jung thought déjà vu happens when we tap into the collective unconscious. Before him, Sigmund Freud suggested it had something to do with repressed desires. (Shocker. I mean, did anything not relate to repressed desires in Freud’s mind?)

Until relatively recently, it was near impossible to do anything but theorize about what dèjá vu means, how it’s triggered, and why. The task was mostly done by philosophers rather than medical professionals. But now we have technologies that provide glimpses inside the mind and entire fields of science dedicated to learning about it.