Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion 9yr old has had several weeks of Deja vu dreams..

Hi there,

My 9th old told me today he recognized a computer image from the dream he had. He is a little 'creeped out' by several weeks of these dreams. While I understand high iq kids have more vivid dreams, I wonder if there are others that have these Deja vu dreams? I want to ensure this is not a sign of other problems. He has been having trouble going back to sleep, but he seems to be in a good mood otherwise..

I don't quite understand - was it that he had a dream in which he dreamt that he saw a computer image, or that he had a sense of recognition when he saw a computer image when he was awake, and he felt that he'd seen the image before in one of these dreams? Or what? (What I'm wondering is whether it's actually the dreams which are relevant, or something about how his mind is working when he's awake, which is more relevant to deja vu.)

My original post was really unclear. Her it goes again.

He sees something that he feels he has already seen in his dreams. I did explain Deja vu to him, but he is still uneasy about his dreams.

I am curious/concerned about the frequency of these Deja vu occurrences. Anyone else experienced this with their kid?

Kat, we don't have this issue. I tend not to talk about this for fear of seeming crazy, but I have an ongoing problem of my dreams waking my children up when they are small. Basically when they start sleeping somewhat better than not at all and I actually get to put them to bed and then sometime later go to bed myself it becomes apparent that the second I hit dream state they wake up. They aren't waking up at a set time (because my bedtime is very variable). They don't wake up when I got to bed (sometimes I read, sometimes I don't). They don't wake up when DH goes to sleep. The second I hit dream state they wake up. Sometimes if I can fight off sleep for a few minutes they will resettle themselves and then wake up as soon as I again go to sleep. Sometimes they will resettle and sleep through my second attempt to go to sleep.

I have had this with all three daughters, though it seems to be worse with each child. It's currently driving me crazy with my youngest.

I used to have my mother's nightmares and wake up 30 seconds before she started screaming in her sleep right up until was 8-10 years old. It was horrible to wake from a nightmare knowing that in a few seconds time my mother was going to start screaming.

I often wonder whether if I was prone to nightmares my kids would be having lots of nightmares too.

Personally I think dream state is a great big unknown territory, particularly in children.

Mumofthree,

Yes, after reading a bit online, it seems like dreams, nightmares, and Deja vu (during waking hours) are areas that need a lot more research. It is an interesting area.. I just hate having disturbed sleep, and I know my kid does too.. I hope you are all sleeping better!

The thing about Deja vu is that it can be completely normal, but the darn Internet presents all kinds of other reasons for it (like temporal seizures). I am going to keep a log without making a big deal about it..

I remember sitting around in the church basement after choir practice in 5th grade with two other GT kids talking about all the deja vu we'd been having. At the time it was fun to think we were psychic and ghosts existed and so on... I think it was in, as were things like "light as a feather stiff as a board" and bloody Mary and so on. But it was also based a bit on reality because we were having a lot of deja vu (or at least I was).

Maybe Roald Dahl was right with Matilda and when smart kids get bored they have extranormal powers. That was the year that they decided to stop tracking and acceleration entirely and as a result the entire GT 4th grade class had to redo the 5th grade curriculum.

Nicole2,

Thanks for sharing your experience! He was a bit freaked out, but I did explain that many people experience it. Maybe it's true that high iq kids under stress have more Deja vu.. It must have been nice to at least have friends to talk with even if the school system failed you! We all love Dahl books..

I have experienced a fair bit of deja vu personally, although it's usually more of a passing feeling, and not quite so creepy. But I have had one or two very shocking ones (walking into a place I hadn't been before, but had remembered dreaming about) and it is unsettling.

Can't really explain it, other than I read somewhere that when you're dreaming your brain fills in the gaps between the realistic information with other sort of speculative information to paint the full picture. Sometimes it doesn't do a very good job, and that's why you find yourself at work, but with it attached to your mom's kitchen or some such nonsense. It would stand to reason that someone whose brain is better at capturing/retaining information would do a better job at filling in realistic details and creating more waking situations that seem very familiar.

I read in an Oliver Sacks book that there is a certain part of the brain which identifies things as familiar. It could be that some kinds of stimulation (or arousal like anxiety) could trigger neurons in that area.

Also, if this is something that he has seen before, he may very well have dreamed about it and forgotten until the moment that the stimulus presented itself again. That is normal.

Katbarber-- Ha! Would have been nice. The social rules for talking to an outcast at church are different than the ones for in school. Didn't actually get friends until I started high school and made friends with a group of high-achieving juniors (and then went to a GT boarding school after that).