I’ve been here before. Have we met? I know this road, I’ve seen it. Yes, it is the annoyingly interesting feeling of “Déjà vu.” Dr Robert Scott, of Therapy Works, recently wrote a quaint “Deja woo whoooo” piece in my local paper. Although not usually a groupie of his work, I did particularly like his recent article. A psychologist, he questions why the discipline has largely ignored the phenomena that drives many of us CRAZY! Perhaps it’s because the been-there feeling is impossible to replicate in a lab because it instead visits when we least expect it.
Deja vu is common in the 15 to 25 year old age spans. This may be because the brain sometimes misfires during its process of maturation (I wonder if the upper range needs to be increased for the Australian male!). Two cognitive processes are slightly uncoordinated and cause split second confusion that feels real – do I know you? Yet another theory to support why it occurs in the younger set suggests that as people age their range of life experiences to draw from increases, making new situations less easy to find, less stimulating when we do find them and less likely to create the whole Déjà vu thing happening. Interestingly though, global travelers over the age of 25, who are exposed to stimulating cultural experiences, report they often experience Déjà vu.
When a memory we have consciously forgotten connects with real-time current happenings, our brain searches to make meaning of the hidden thoughts of having been there/seen that before. Déjà vu may well just be that eerie feeling of searching. The consciously forgotten memories could have been gained from our early life, a book we once read, a film we saw or even from a long ago dream. Because our brains are like a huge warehouse, the dusty memories are stored way at the back of a shelf in a dark far corner. They are there though, even if we cannot access them easily. Meeting a memory provoking situation, stirs those sleepy warehouse goods up and they bang on their box in an attempt to be noticed. Their barely audible voice nags at us, until we finally admit something hauntingly familiar about the current situation.
Not all people experience Déjà vu though. Robert has suggested that if:
• You have an active imagination and recall your dreams easily,
• You are fatigued or under stress,
• Have higher than average education and higher income, or
• Are open minded and politically liberal (small “l”),
then you are more likely to experience Déjà vu.
I cannot wait for my next Déjà vu experience. I’m going to completely reframe the experience and tell myself, that I am young, intelligent and politically astute. I hope it works! Knowing my luck, I’ll turn into Fiona from Shrek. Living Down Under though, I run the risk of the change being reversed. I’ll get to be a beautiful princess during my sleep hours and a cranky old ogre during the day. Oh, hang on, I’m having a Déjà vu experience – I already know her from somewhere. Oh no, it’s me!
Related families.com review: Groundhog Day.
My FAVORITE child focused article of the day: Five Safe Alternatives for Halloween Activities by Miriam Caldwell.
Dr Scott’s original article, “Take Two” – Giving Deja Vu Its Due, can be found in The Gate, Issue No. 3, 28th Septemeber – 11th October 2006. Published and distributed by Gateway Media Group.