Déjà vu experiences in patients with schizophrenia

To investigate whether deja vu experiences are psychopathologic phenomena, we studied the frequency and characteristics of deja vu experiences in patients with schizophrenia. One hundred thirteen patients with schizophrenia and 386 nonclinical control subjects were evaluated with the Inventory of Deja vu Experiences Assessment. The frequency and features of deja vu experiences were compared between the 2 groups. The patients with schizophrenia had deja vu experiences less frequently (53.1%) than did the nonclinical subjects (76.2%). The frequency of deja vu experiences did not correlate significantly with age at evaluation or education level among the patients with schizophrenia. Most characteristics of deja vu experiences of the patients were comparable with those of the control subjects. However, the experiences of the patients tended to be longer and more monotonous. The patients often felt alert, oppressed, and disturbed by the experiences. They appeared to have the experiences under unpleasant mental or physical states. Their deja vu experiences are not primarily different in nature from those of the nonclinical subjects. The decreased frequency of the experiences in the patients may suggest deja vu experiences as nonpathologic phenomena.