Two days ago, Xiao Zhang, a native of Chengdu, went on a business trip with his colleagues. When they were walking in the unfamiliar street, Xiao Zhang suddenly pulled on the clothes of his colleagues and said in surprise: "I seem to have come to this place!" ”
Then I thought about it carefully, Xiao Zhang had never been out of the province, and it was impossible to come. But the sense of real experience of having visited and playing made Xiao Zhang wonder: "What's wrong with me?" Is it difficult to cross? ”
In fact, similar situations often occur in real life: obviously things have not happened at all, but we seem to have experienced it, and everything, every detail, and even the next scene is well known. And this feeling of "déjà vu" is the "sense of déjà vu" in psychology.
Psychologists at the Fourth People's Hospital of Chengdu pointed out that it is normal to occasionally have this "sense of déjà vu", and the generally healthy brain will produce this feeling. But if there is a frequent "sense of déjà vu", it should be noted that if methods such as lifestyle adjustments are ineffective, and there are some strange thoughts and behaviors, and even hallucinations and delusions, then you need to find a psychological counselor, psychotherapist or psychiatrist to seek professional help.
"Déjà vu"?
This is a physiological phenomenon that is common to most people
Kong Di, deputy chief physician of the Fourth People's Hospital of Chengdu, introduced that "déjà vu", as the name suggests, is the feeling of having seen and "déjà vu". "Visual sense" is derived from French and can also be translated as "hallucinatory memory", which refers to the first time people see a scene in a waking state, but feel "déjà vu", which is a physiological phenomenon common to most people.
Surveys show that about two-thirds of adults have experienced this experience. At the same time, the incidence of "déjà vu" is highest in adolescence, especially in the 15-25 age group, and gradually decreases with age.
Kong Di believes that the real reason for the feeling of "déjà vu" is the hippocampus. The function of the hippocampus is the main recent memory of the competent human being, somewhat similar to the memory of a computer, which preserves memories for weeks or months for rapid extraction. When we come to a new scene, some parts of the scene may stimulate some of our memories, thus mobilizing different memory systems in the brain to match them. Once a feature in the scene matches past experiences, the hippocampus will make a hint of "it has happened", and we will have a feeling of "déjà vu". But these memories are just another event with a high degree of overlap in detail, or a scene in a dream that once appeared.
There are three main types of "déjà vu"
Under normal circumstances, there are three kinds of "déjà vu" in reality:
1. When a certain scene seems to have been experienced.
This phenomenon does not only occur in unfamiliar environments, but also in familiar environments. For example, the people who appear in the moment and what happens may have really happened, maybe they have seen in movies or television, or they may be scenes that they imagined a long time ago. But when we are immersed in the scene, we suddenly feel how what is happening at this time can be so familiar.
2. A certain feeling as if it had been at some point.
This phenomenon generally occurs when individuals have extreme emotions, especially when they are close to getting out of control, and are mostly reflected in inner feelings. A series of emotional fluctuations brought about by the stimulation of something, some person or a certain sentence will suddenly make you feel that the feeling of gushing out of your heart is so real. General mood swings are not easy to detect, and such feelings occur only when the mood swings to the extreme and you are trying to control and approach the critical point of the outbreak.
3. Somewhere seems to have been there at some point.
This usually happens in unfamiliar places, where the person comes to a place they have never been.
What should I do if there is a frequent "sense of déjà vu"?
Of course, hippocampal abnormalities are not the only reason why people have a "sense of déjà vu". Those who like fantasy, have a higher level of education, love sports, dream a lot, like to travel or like to watch movies, also experience "yesterday's recurrence" more often. People are also prone to this feeling when they are in a state of exhaustion and stress, and instead, people who repeat a monotonous life every day are less likely to occur.
Some patients with physiological dysfunction are also prone to a "sense of déjà vu". For example, patients with temporal lobe epilepsy also have feelings of déjà vu when symptoms are onset, and certain emotional disorders, anxiety and depression, dissociative disorders, and schizophrenia also have a sense of déjà vu.
Recently, there has been a frequent occurrence of "déjà vu", what should I do?
First of all, go to the neurology department of the general hospital to do the corresponding examination, such as video EEG, head MRI, etc., to rule out the possibility of epilepsy.
Then, examine your emotional state in recent times: whether you are depressed, interest loss, pessimism and negativity, irritability, anxiety, etc. Check whether it is related to the recent fatigue and stress. Of course, you can also try to self-regulate: such as ensuring adequate sleep, slowing down the pace of work, relaxing your mood, and relieving bad emotions through music, sports, and talking; actively looking for your own favorable resources, and obtaining support from family and friends.
Finally, if lifestyle modifications and other methods are ineffective, accompanied by some strange thoughts and behaviors, and even hallucinations and delusions, then you need to seek professional help from a counselor, psychotherapist or psychiatrist.