The Opposite of Déjà Vu

The phenomenon of déjà vu (French for “already seen”) occurs when you walk into a new situation and find it oddly familiar, despite never having experienced it before. This unusual sensation can make your head spin, until it dissipates in the blink of an eye. Most of us have experienced déjà vu before, but have not heard of its opposite, the lesser-known jamais vu ("a disorder of memory characterized by the illusion that the familiar is being encountered for the first time"). It’s the opposite of déjà vu not just in experience, but in literal translation as well, as it means “never seen” in French.

Jamais vu occurs when you’re in a familiar situation but suddenly feel as if you’re experiencing it for the very first time. This might manifest as a brief mental hiccup in your daily routine. Imagine, for instance, you’re driving on the same road you take to work every day when all of a sudden you aren’t sure if you should turn left or right. Normally making the correct turn is muscle memory, but this brief moment of forgetfulness is a prime example of jamais vu. Verbal slips, such as when you have a word on the tip of your tongue, or you can’t remember the name of a colleague of five years, also fall under the umbrella of jamais vu. For instance, take the word shampoo and repeat it 15 to 20 times until it sounds like it’s lost all meaning. Logically, you still know what shampoo is, but jamais vu swoops in when the word seems to become unfamiliar.

The best way to understand jamais vu is by viewing it as a glitch in the system. There’s nothing wrong with getting flustered from time to time, as everything should return to normal shortly. If you’re feeling forgetful, just take a deep breath and remind yourself that it’s probably nothing more than a moment of jamais vu.