British man drops out of university after experiencing déjà vu for eight years straight

IT’S a real-life Groundhog Day. A man says his life was ruined when he got ‘stuck in a time loop’ for eight years. Scientists may have some answers for him.

A BRITISH man who experienced Groundhog Day every day for eight years has experts puzzled.

The 23-year-old who did not wish to be named was so overcome by the daily déjà vu that he dropped out of university and was unable to lead a normal life. He told doctors he was “trapped in a time loop”, an experience that made him believe he was reliving the past day after day, according to the Telegraph.

He is now the subject of a detailed report published by the Journal of Medical Case Reports which revealed his case could be the first of its kind.

Report author Dr Christine Wells from Sheffield Hallam University’s psychology department said the man stopped watching television, listening to the radio and reading newspapers because he believed he had seen or read the material before. She said the case was unusual because “most cases like this occur as a side effect associated with epileptic seizures or dementia”.

“In this instance it appears as though the episodes could be linked to anxiety causing mistimed neuronal firing in the brain which causes déjà vu and in turn brings about more anxiety,” Dr Wells said.

The feeling of reliving moments over and over is usually associated with the temporal lobe. Picture: Brain Anatomy

The former student told researchers he first started experiencing the symptoms in 2007, shortly after starting his university studies. He had a history of anxiety which worsened over time.

In 2008, he was referred to specialists for a brain scan and tests for epilepsy. In 2010 he was assessed again where anxiety was found to be the main cause.

“If proved, this could be the first-ever recorded instance of psychogenic déjà vu, which is déjà vu triggered by anxiety rather than a neurological condition such as dementia or epilepsy,” Dr Wells said.

“In relation to our case, distress caused by the déjà vu experience may itself lead to increased levels of déjà vu: similar feedback loops in positive symptoms are reported in other anxiety states e.g. panic attacks.

“It is plausible on neurobiological grounds that anxiety might lead to the generation of déjà vu.”

Similar cases have been linked to damage to the temporal lobe, of which the patient showed no signs.