Posted on 02/12/2018 2:11:47 PM PST by nickcarraway
Imagine going to sleep and waking up sounding British. It's a real thing, and it happened to a Valley woman who has never even left the country.
"Everybody only sees or hears Mary Poppins," said Michelle Myers, a mom of seven who lives in Buckeye.
Myers is a former Texas beauty queen who has never even left the United States.
Three times in the past seven years, Myers has gone to sleep with blinding headaches only to wake up with a different accent.
The first time it was Irish. The second time was Australian. Both incidents lasted about a week. But two years ago she went down with a crippling headache and woke up with the British accent she's had ever since.
"They send in the psychiatrist at the hospital and make sure you're not a loon," said Myers.
According to experts, she's not crazy and not faking it. She's been diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome. It's an extremely rare condition that usually accompanies a stroke, neurological damage or other underlying medical issues.
"When I was a little girl I used to always go to my mom and say, 'my bones hurt," said Myers.
She has been to the hospital more times than she can count and the stack of medical records she keeps in the house says she has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.
According to the Mayo Clinic, it's a disease that causes easy bruising, rupturing blood vessels and painful joints that are overly elastic to the point of easily dislocating. Best her doctors can tell, it also turned her British.
Looking back at how she used to be is difficult, Myers says. She misses the way she used to say her kids' names.
"I'm sad," she said, watching an old video of her speaking normally. "I feel like a different person. The person I am now has been through so much compared to this person."
But her outlook is positive.
She's loves spending time with her seven kids, listening to them sing and play instruments. She also likes painting, writing, and motivating people.
And above all, she wants people to take her seriously.
"Some people think it’s physiological; others think it’s psychological. People like me - we don’t care which one it is. We just really want to be taken seriously and if it is something that’s going to hurt me, help me."
And bad teeth
I always thought that a British accent was from a some kind of disease.
Glitch in the Matrix.
Some have spoken another language after a glitch.
That’s got to be bloody hell, that would drive me barmy!
Politicized comment in 4, 3, 2, ...
Get back to me when she wakes up with a Swahili accent.
I think that may just be Meryl Streep.
I was at the bar the other night ... just passing thru you understand ... two rather large crew cut women were at the bar talking. I heard an accent and asked “ Are you two ladies from Scotland ?” The biggest one turned to me and said gruffly ... “its Wales !!!” I said “OH sorry ... are you two whales from Scotland ?”
Glitch in the Matrix.
“Oh, I say! What what!”
I woke up speaking Klingon the other day.
Madonna had that disease after she spent 4 seconds in England.
Vocalitis terrythomas is the name of the condition
Oh come on! we have all seen this before. Every time Hillary goes south or goes in front of a black audience she gains a new accent that she never had before.
She ben wochin too much Bri-ish TV, she ‘as.
Having been stationed in England for 3 years my wife and I often say things to each other in strong British accents for fun, but I can’t do the cultivated accent like The Queen’s.
The Catholic church teaches that speaking in a strange (but real) language is a sign of possession.
People who believe in reincarnation think it could be a sign of that.
But this isn't a foreign language. And I do believe that deep in our memory bank, we might be able to duplicate what we can't do consciously. But that's just a theory.
That murder in Chicago was solved by the victim taking possession of a friend, definitely, and identifying the perp and things he had stolen and tried to cover with a fire. There's an article about in in the Chicago Tribune archives among other places, think it was on 60 minutes. They tried to come up with other reasons for it which was almost unprecedented.
Limeys Disease
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