CLAIM:
Repeated and chronic experiences of déjà vu are a sign of neurological or psychological illness, such as temporal lobe epilepsy or psychiatric conditions
FACT:
True. Déjà vu is harmless in healthy individuals. But if experienced repeatedly along with seizures, it could indicate temporal lobe epilepsy or other neurological disorders
A reel posted by @docpriyankasehrawat with more than 37,000 views
contends that chronic déjà vu is a sign of a neurological and psychological illness.
“Déjà vu, as a term, comes from French and means ‘already seen.’ It’s a feeling—a sense that what is happening in the present has already occurred before. This feeling can happen normally,” Dr. Priyanka Sehrawat explains in the video.
“However, if it occurs repeatedly, chronically, or for a prolonged period, it could be a sign of a neurological illness, such as temporal lobe epilepsy. Additionally, it may also indicate certain psychiatric conditions,” she adds, highlighting the importance of seeking medical advice if one experiences persistent or recurring episodes of déjà vu.
What is déjà vu and why does it occur?
As already explained by Dr Sehrawat, Déjà vu is an eerie sensation of having experienced a current situation before, even though it is happening for the first time. It is thought that as much as 97% of the population have experienced déjà vu at least once in their lifetime and 67% experience it regularly.
This study, available on the scientific literature database PubMed, found that the exact mechanism of this phenomenon is not known. It explores the links between déjà vu and several other phenomena and conditions, including false memories, temporal lobe epilepsy, and other neurological disorders.
"In psychiatric patients, the déjà vu phenomenon is more often seen in patients with anxiety and people with derealisation/depersonalization,” the study pointed out. “It seems that the temporal region [of the brain] is the origin of déjà vu phenomena in both healthy individuals and in individuals with neurological and psychiatric conditions, but the exact mechanism of this phenomenon is however still unknown."
According to Dr Akira O’Connor, a senior psychology lecturer at the University of St Andrews, déjà vu is not just a feeling of familiarity but also “the metacognitive recognition that these feelings are misplaced."
“Déjà vu is basically a conflict between the sensation of familiarity and the awareness that familiarity is incorrect. And it’s the awareness that you're being tricked that makes déjà vu so unique compared to other memory events," Dr O’Connor is quoted as having said by this study.
In psychology, deja vu has been associated with various possible mechanisms such as the Split Perception Theory, Implicit Memory and the Gestalt Familiarity Theory.
In split perception, déjà vu is caused by a brief glance at an object or scene just prior to a fully aware look. Thus, the perception is split into two parts and appears to be eerily duplicated. In implicit memory, a prior setting actually has been experienced before by the person but stored in such an indistinct manner that only the sense of familiarity is resurrected. And in Gestalt Familiarity Theory, the present setting closely resembles something experienced before in outline but not in specifics.
In cognition and neuroscience, several theories explain the déjà vu experience in scientific terms.
This research underlined that the empirical research on deja vu experiences is scanty and the findings are of limited significance.
“To date the evaluation of the clinical relevance of deja vu experiences has been inadequate and further research that also addresses its qualitative features is warranted," the research revealed.
‘Occasional déjà vu is not a cause for concern’
Dr Dharmendra Singh, Consultant Psychiatrist at Batra Hospital & Medical Research Centre in New Delhi told First Check that occasional déjà vu is not necessarily a cause for concern and can occur without any underlying medical condition.
This story is done in collaboration with First Check, which is the health journalism vertical of DataLEADS.
