A rare condition called déjà vécu (French for "already lived through”) is causing an 80-year-old man to perceive every event in his life as a previous experience, similar to the time loop described in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. Imagine watching television and seeing the same program over and over again, or trying to read a new book, only to find yourself looking at the same pages you read the day before? It sounds more like an episode of Twilight Zone, but it’s the reality that people with déjà vécu have to live with every day. The scary part about the disorder is that those who have it swear it’s not them. A case study talked about one patient who contacted a TV repairman because he thought his set was repeatedly showing the same news. Another patient was convinced that his e-reader was broken because it kept displaying the same book pages. Scientists don’t know for sure what causes déjà vécu, but some believe it has something to do with a dysfunction of the hippocampus, the part of the brain that helps convert short-term memories into long-term memories. Sufferers don’t understand what’s happening to them, and many can develop delusion-like false beliefs to justify their perceptions. As for the 80-year-old man, he has learned to accept the pervasive and bothersome condition and is able to live at home independently with self-care.
