Déjà Vu Experiences in Healthy Czech Adults

J Nerv Ment Dis. 2016 Dec;204(12):925-930. doi: 10.1097/NMD.0000000000000573.

Abstract

The study examines the prevalence of déjà vu in healthy Czech adults and explores its relationships with a number of variables: age, sex, neuroticism, depression, the degree of irritability in the limbic system, perceived stress, and finally attachment avoidance and anxiety. The participants were 365 healthy adults ranging from 18 to 70 years recruited in the Czech Republic (mean age = 29.05; SD = 11.17) who filled out online questionnaires. Déjà vu experiences were reported by 324 (88.8%) of them. Persons who experienced déjà vu were younger than the persons who had not experienced it. We found that sex, levels of neuroticism, depression, perceived stress, and attachment did not serve as predictors of experiences of déjà vu phenomena. Finally, those who had reported déjà vu experiences reported more limbic system irritability symptoms. We discuss the possibility that déjà vu reports together with other studied variables mainly reflect the participants' willingness to report "extraordinal" experiences.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Czech Republic / epidemiology
  • Deja Vu / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Self Report*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*
  • Young Adult