Verity Went, a 26-year-old barber based in Staffordshire, recently shared a perplexing and somewhat alarming experience of waking up with a completely different accent after a nap intended to alleviate a migraine. The incident, which occurred late last year, left her and her doctors astonished.
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Verity, who grew up with a Midlands accent, had been dealing with symptoms associated with functional neurologic disorder (FND), a condition diagnosed in 2022. FND encompasses symptoms that are medically unexplained and seemingly linked to issues in the nervous system, without an underlying physical neurological disease or disorder.
During a period of time off work due to seizures and migraines in October 2023, Verity decided to take a nap to cope with a particularly severe headache. To her dismay, upon waking up, she discovered that her accent had transformed into a Geordie one.
Recounting the experience, Verity stated, “After a couple of hours, I woke up, and my speech was slurred, which I’m occasionally used to, but after five minutes, it came back – and was Geordie. I was terrified.”
Upon consulting her doctors, who were already familiar with her FND, they speculated that the accent change was likely related to the disorder rather than a stroke. Verity expressed her initial distress, feeling like she had lost a part of herself and was struggling to recognize her identity.
While a formal diagnosis of foreign accent syndrome has not been given, Verity mentioned that every doctor she consulted believes it to be a probable case of this condition. Foreign accent syndrome is characterized by a sudden and noticeable shift in speech patterns.
Verity took to TikTok to share her experience, and her post quickly went viral with 200,000 views. In a follow-up clip, she compared her old accent with the new one, illustrating the striking difference between how she used to speak and her current Geordie accent.
Despite receiving overwhelmingly positive and supportive reactions from 90% of people, Verity encountered a less understanding 10% who expressed skepticism and rudeness. Undeterred, she plans to leverage her unique experience by starting a podcast where she will interview individuals with various health conditions, aiming to raise awareness and share her story more widely.
