Week Ten: Theoretical Frame

    

By analyzing Carl Jung's synchronicity theory, possible
explanations for the deja vu phenomenon
may be derived in order to provide treatment for
patients with severe anxiety and high deja vu persistence.

    The theoretical frame I am using in order to investigate the deja vu phenomenon is Carl Jung's theory of synchronicity. This theory helps to make sense of my project due to its conscious roots--when a person experiences a synchronicity, it can only be classified as such if the experiencer consciously places significance on the event. The addition of significance to an event that occurs just as randomly as anything else throughout the day will push the experiencer into a positive feedback loop. This reaction, which I explained in my powerpoint presentation, will continually increase the amount of synchronicities noticed by the person experiencing them due to their conscious awareness of said event. As a result, the number of occurrences will go from zero (before the person was aware of the event) up to several per day. 

    The synchronicity lens is highly beneficial in explaining the deja vu phenomenon since deja vu has very strong parallels to this Jungian event. When those experiencing deja vu become aware of the phenomenon's occurrence, they will begin to seek out more false recollection experiences due to their increased awareness. Those with anxiety have also been scientifically proven to have higher-volume deja vu experiences. This is likely connected to the feedback loop used to describe synchronicity, and since those with anxiety are likely to become distressed and worry about future events, they will be subject to a higher volume of deja vu persistence. It is also important to investigate the reasons as to why deja vu experiences may induce further anxiety, this amplifying the conditions of those suffering from anxiety disorders--do people worry about why deja vu is occurring in their own minds, and possibly believing that some sort of message is attached to false recollection experiences? Does the possibility of being communicated with by a greater being, or being subject to "future visions," further induce anxiety in persistent patients?

    By following the ideology behind Carl Jung's theory, along with theories about how dream material impacts human action, deja vu may be explained based on its subjectivity, rather than its simple scientific roots. By recording dream material, or at least making it easier to remember for the dreamer, false recollections motivated by past dream content may be curbed and thus may reduce less anxiety in its experiencers, as they can identify where their own feelings of memory are stemming from. Using the synchronicity theory can also provide a treatment strategy for persistent patients, as if they receive appropriate therapy in order to recognize their own attachment of significance to deja vu, they may learn to fear it less and thus induce a fewer amount of experiences. This way, the conditions experienced by those with anxiety in specific may be addressed and hopefully treated in the future.