Have You Ever Experienced Déjà Rêvé, The Strange "Cousin" Of Déjà Vu? (2024)

Have you ever been going about your day when you were suddenly struck by the somewhat strange sensation that you'd already dreamed the experience before?

Not to be confused with déjà vu, this particular phenomenon is called déjà rêvé—and it's actually not that uncommon. While the exact science behind déjà rêvé isn't fully understood, there are some research-backed explanations for what makes it possible, as well as theories from dream experts on what it can mean.

What is déjàrêvé?

Déjà rêvé is a French phrase that translates to "already dreamed." It can actually encompass a few specific experiences, which we'll touch on later, but generally speaking, it describes the sensation of feeling like you dreamed about something before it happened in real life.

Research is limited, but according to one 2010 study on the subject, experiencing déjà rêvé is common—though notably, it does get less common with age.

Often, dreams seem to get buried deep within one's memory, only to be recalled when something in real life triggers that memory. This leads to the feeling that you've already had that particular experience before.

In a more recent study from 2018, researchers found that déjà rêvé and dream recall could actually be induced via electrical brain stimulation (EBS), suggesting that our brains might have special memory systems specifically to store dreams.

Interestingly, according to the 2010 research, there is evidence that people who have'thin boundaries' between mental states and are wide-open to experience are more likely to experience déjà rêvé (and déjà vu).

As therapist and dream expertLeslie Ellis, Ph.D., explains to mbg, this is "possibly because their brain is capable of running on multiple tracks that overlap at times."

Déjàrêvé versus déjà vu

Where déjà rêvé means "already dreamed," déjà vu translates to "already seen." It's even more common than déjà rêvé (in fact, a majority of people have experienced it), and Ellis notes that researchers have a better of understanding of this phenomenon than they do of déjà rêvé.

"Those with epilepsy1 who have had seizures in their brain's frontallobes are particularlyprone to déjà vu," Ellis tells mbg. "Researchers have found that when two circuits in the hippocampus (our memory-processing center) are activated at once, we get an experience of déjà vu."

The science of déjàrêvé.

As mentioned, déjà rêvé is actually a blanket term that encompasses the three distinct types of déjà rêvé someone can experience, as described in the 2018 study.

The 3 types of déjà rêve:

While the 2018 research was done solely on epileptic patients—those with epilepsy have been known to report experiencing déjà rêvé during seizure—you certainly don't need to have epilepsy to have this phenomenon occur.

Overall, their research concluded that déjà rêvé was a completely different thing from déjà vu and may indicate some sort of temporal lobe dysfunction. More research needs to be done, however, to understand these dream memories and how they may be triggered.

What a dream expert has to say about déjàrêvé.

If you're someone who believes in dream interpretation, the idea that dreams can somehow predict the future is certainly fascinating to consider.

"Dreaming is a phenomenon where time does not follow the strict linear rules of the day world," Ellis explains to mbg. "In dreams, we often have a mix of past, present, and possible future. Dreams that predict the future are called precognitive dreams, a close cousin of the déjà rêvé phenomenon."

Ellis herself has encountered these dreams in her own clinical practice, and she says she keeps an open mind about them.

"In many cultures, and tracing as far back as recorded history allows, dreams have been understood as sources of spiritual guidance from a source of far greater knowledge than we normally possess," she notes, "includinginformation about possible or probable future events."

One of her clients, she adds, swears they had a recurring dream of a specific road that one day appeared in real life, "prompting them to stop their car in time to avoid what they are convinced would have been a fatal crash."

Ellis has also experienced what she describes as another category of déjà rêvé: dreaming of something you've already dreamed about. "I often find myself in a particular dream world that is familiar from many prior dream visits," she says. "It can feel as if we are indeed living another, parallel life as we sleep."

What to do next time you get déjàrêvé.

The next time you experience déjà rêvé, whether its episodic-like, familiarity-like, or dreamy state déjà rêvé, it's a good idea to pay attention. "Anything that repeats itself, in whatever fashion, is worthy of extra attention," she says. "It can alert you to something special about the current experience, something to pay extra attention to."

However, if the experience scares you and/or makes you feel as if you are losing touch with reality, she recommends speaking to a mental health professional about it. In some cases, dreams blending with our sense of reality can border on the edge of psychosis and require medical attention, she adds.

"For the most part, though," Ellis tells mbg, "these are within the realm of normal, even common, experiences—but they also remind us that life, at any moment, can be or feel extraordinary."