A Theory of Deja Vu and Jamais Vu

                     Every once in a while, for no obvious reason, some people experience distortions of perception. Some of these are named. Depersonalization, for example, is a sudden sense of disorientation – a queer feeling of not being oneself. It is as if the affected person cannot quite recognize himself/herself. It may involve physical feelings, but may be reported only as an unfamiliar and uncomfortable state of mind. De-realization is a feeling that the world around one has suddenly changed in character—become less real. Both feelings, as people describe them, seem similar.  Some people experience these sensations as curious, but not particularly threatening. Others report them as unpleasant, sometimes extremely unpleasant. Yet they sound not very much different from those sensations that other people seek out when they use hallucinogens.  It may be that those who do not purposely seek these uncanny feelings become frightened by them.  Depersonalization and de-realization are occasional features of schizophrenia, but also, more commonly, anxiety states.