Déjà vu or Dream-Like Flashes Anxiety Symptoms
Déjà vu or Dream-Like Flashes, such as having a momentary flash of a mental or emotional experience that was part of your normal experience a moment ago, is an unusual, yet common anxiety symptom. It’s also common for anxiety and panic attack symptoms.
Some people describe it as having a Déjà vu-like episode while others describe it as having a brief and sudden “dream-like” experience.
This article explains the relationship between anxiety and Déjà vu or Dream-like episodes.
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Déjà vu or Dream-Like Flashes Common Symptom Descriptions
- You have a momentary flash of a mental or emotional experience that felt like part of your normal experience just a moment ago.
- It feels like you had a momentary dream-like experience similar to your thoughts a moment ago.
- It feels like you had a mental “tick,” where you were in a dream-like state that replayed your thoughts just before the “mental tick” occurred.
- You are fully conscious, yet you have a dream-like vivid memory for an instant.
- It feels like your conscious world is briefly mixed with a dream state.
- It feels like an instant Déjà vu dream-like mental state that somewhat replays what you were just thinking.
- It feels like your consciousness suddenly shifts to an altered dream state for a brief moment.
This symptom can:
- Occur occasionally or frequently.
- Precede, accompany, or follow an escalation of other anxiety symptoms or occur by itself.
- Precede, accompany, or follow a period of nervousness, anxiety, fear, and stress, or occur "out of the blue" for no reason.
- Range in intensity from mild, to moderate, to severe.
- Come in waves where it’s strong one moment and eases off the next.
- Occur for suddenly and unexpectedly, then quickly subside.
This symptom is often more noticeable when thinking deeply about something and when tired.
This symptom can be startling because it seems so unusual and out of character. Many people initially believe they are having a medical or mental health emergency, like a stroke or mental “breakdown.”
All the above combinations and variations are common.
To see if anxiety might be playing a role in your symptoms, rate your level of anxiety using our free one-minute instant results Anxiety Test, Anxiety Disorder Test, or Hyperstimulation Test.
The higher the rating, the more likely anxiety could be contributing to or causing your anxiety symptoms, including feeling like impending doom symptoms.
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Causes
Medical Advisory
Talk to your doctor about all new, changing, persistent, and returning symptoms as some medical conditions and medications can cause anxiety-like symptoms.
1. Brain waves
Brain waves, also known as neural oscillations, are oscillating electrical voltages in the brain that measure just a few millionths of a volt. They are produced by synchronized electrical pulses from the neurons that communicate with each other.[1][2] It's theorized that these oscillations allow us to think, feel, and behave.
There are 5 main types of brain waves named for the frequency and functions they are associated with:
- Gamma waves – 40 Hz and above – associated with higher mental activity such as perception, problem-solving, and consciousness.
- Beta waves – 13 – 39 Hz – associated with active and busy thinking, active processing, active concentration, arousal, and cognition.
- Alpha waves – 7 - 13 Hz – associated with calm and relaxation, yet alert.
- Theta waves – 4 – 7 Hz – associated with deep meditation, deep relaxation, REM sleep.
- Delta waves – less than 4 HZ – associated with deep dreamless sleep, loss of body awareness.
(Hz is the abbreviation for Hertz: a measurement of frequency based on 1 cycle per second. For instance, Delta waves are brain waves that occur at less than 4 cycles per second.)
When we are awake, our brain waves fluctuate between the Alpha, Beta, and Gamma wave ranges, depending on our actions.
When we deeply relax, brain waves drop into the Theta range.
When we sleep, brain waves vary between Delta (deep sleep) and Theta (more active sleep, REM stage – when we dream).
When we are awake and active, brain waves typically stay above the Theta range. Consequently, we don’t experience dream-like states. However, fatigue reduces brain wave activity,[3] which can drop it down into the Theta range.
Brain waves in the Theta range can give us dream flashbacks and make us feel like we are living in a dream-like state even though we are awake and active. Many people who are stressed, sleep-deprived, and fatigued experience this symptom.
2. Anxiety and Hyperstimulation
Anxious behavior creates anxiety, and anxiety stresses the body.
For more information about how anxiety stresses the body, visit our “The Physiological Effects of Stress” article in Chapter 3.
Stress, especially chronic stress (hyperstimulation), can stress the body so much that it becomes fatigued, which can also create symptoms of Déjà vu, dream flashbacks, and dream-like states of consciousness.
Even though this feeling can be disconcerting if you don’t know what’s causing it, it is harmless and just an indication that the body is stressed and needs sufficient rest.
This symptom subsides as stress is reduced and the body becomes sufficiently rested.
However, chronic hyperstimulation can also cause this symptom due to how hyperstimulation affects neural activity. In many cases, you can feel well-rested yet still experience Déjà vu and dream-like flashes when the body is hyperstimulated.
I (Jim Folk) had many episodes of this symptom during my time with anxiety disorder and hyperstimulation.
Even so, this symptom is harmless. It’s just another symptom of hyperstimulation, stress, fatigue, or sleep disruption.
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Other Factors
Other factors can create stress and cause anxiety-like symptoms, as well as aggravate existing anxiety symptoms, including:
- Medication
- Recreational drugs
- Stimulants
- Hyper and hypoventilation
- Low blood sugar
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Dehydration
- Hormone changes
- Pain
Select the relevant link for more information.
Treatment
When this symptom is caused or aggravated by other factors, addressing the appropriate factor(s) will eliminate this symptom in time.
When this symptom is caused by stress (hyperstimulation), fatigue, or sleep disruption, you can eliminate it by reducing stress, getting sufficient rest, getting regular good sleep, and eliminating hyperstimulation.
Even though this symptom can be initially disconcerting, it needn’t be a cause for concern.
And even though it can feel like you are on the verge of a mental breakdown or losing your mind, you aren’t. Therefore, there is no reason for concern.
This symptom will subside when you address the problem causing it (sleep deprivation, fatigue, stress, and hyperstimulation).
If you find it difficult to contain your anxiousness about this symptom, I recommend connecting with one of our recommended anxiety disorder therapists to help you overcome your anxiety and worry issues. Working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to overcome anxiety and hyperstimulation.
Recovery Support
The Recovery Support area of our website contains thousands of pages of important self-help information to help individuals overcome anxiety disorder, hyperstimulation, and symptoms.
Due to the vast amount of information, including a private Discussion Forum, many of our Recovery Support members consider it their online recovery support group.
Therapy
Unidentified and unaddressed underlying factors cause issues with anxiety. As such, they are the primary reason why anxiety symptoms persist.[4][5][6]
Addressing your underlying factors (Level Two recovery) is most important if you want lasting success.
Addressing Level Two recovery can help you:
- Contain anxious behavior.
- Become unafraid of anxiety symptoms and the strong feelings of anxiety.
- End anxiety symptoms.
- Successfully address the underlying factors that so often cause issues with anxiety.
- End what can feel like out-of-control worry.
All our recommended anxiety therapists have had anxiety disorder and overcame it. Their personal experience with anxiety disorder and their Master's Degree and above professional training gives them insight other therapists don't have.
If you want to achieve lasting success over anxiety disorder, any one of our recommended therapists would be a good choice.
Working with an experienced anxiety disorder therapist is the most effective way to treat anxiety disorder, especially if you have persistent symptoms and difficulty containing anxious behavior, such as worry.
In many cases, working with an experienced therapist is the only way to overcome stubborn anxiety.
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Prevalence
In an online poll we conducted, 68 percent of respondents said they had this symptom due to their anxiety and stress.
NOTE: People with ADD and ADHD often experience this symptom, since they often have trouble reaching and staying in the upper brain wave ranges.
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Common Anxiety Symptoms
Additional Resources
- For a comprehensive list of Anxiety Disorders Symptoms Signs, Types, Causes, Diagnosis, and Treatment.
- Anxiety and panic attacks symptoms can be powerful experiences. Find out what they are and how to stop them.
- How to stop an anxiety attack and panic.
- Free online anxiety tests to screen for anxiety. Two minute tests with instant results. Such as:
- Anxiety 101 is a summarized description of anxiety, anxiety disorder, and how to overcome it.
Return to our anxiety disorders signs and symptoms page.
anxietycentre.com: Information, support, and therapy for anxiety disorder and its symptoms, including Déjà vu or Dream-Like Flashes anxiety symptoms.
1. Bear, Connors, Paradiso (2016). Neuroscience: Exploring the brain - Fourth Edition. Neuroscience: Past, Present, and Future (pp. 13). New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer
2. Abhang, Priyanka, et al. "Brain Waves." ScienceDirect, 2016.
3. Craig, Ashley, et al. "Regional brain wave activity changes associated with fatigue." National Library of Medicine, Apr 2012.
4. Hofmann, Stefan G., et al. “The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-Analyses.” Cognitive Therapy and Research, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Oct. 2012.
5. Leichsenring, Falk. “Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy the Gold Standard for Psychotherapy?” JAMA, American Medical Association, 10 Oct. 2017.
6. DISCLAIMER: Because each body is somewhat chemically unique, and because each person will have a unique mix of symptoms and underlying factors, recovery results may vary. Variances can occur for many reasons, including due to the severity of the condition, the ability of the person to apply the recovery concepts, and the commitment to making behavioral change.