A Woman Who Woke Up With a Chinese Accent

Sarah Colwill knew something was amiss when she woke up speaking Chinese without being able to explain it by doctors.

Documentary follows her journey as she searches for answers.

Sarah Colwill

Sarah Colwill’s life was altered forever when she was taken to hospital for an acute migraine attack in 2010. When she awoke with no Devon accent and instead spoke with what sounded like Chinese speech patterns.

Foreign Accent Syndrome can strike anyone of any background. While most cases occur after trauma to the brain or stroke, other neurological or psychiatric illnesses may also cause this condition. While some victims regain their old accents over time, others find they must adapt permanently.

Colwill has lived with her peculiar condition since 2010, and in a new BBC documentary she attempts to understand what has transpired inside her head. According to Colwill’s experience has been “horrendous” due to being ridiculed when asking for chopsticks or pressured into ordering fried rice at restaurants while having people tell her that she sounds like a pig.

Colwill never visited China but has begun speaking with what some refer to as a Chinese accent, making her feel like an outsider and changing every aspect of her life, such as name and clothing choices. Additionally, her new voice has affected both her mental health and anxiety levels and the effects have become even more noticeable over time.

Regarding what caused her condition, doctors are uncertain. One theory suggests it could have been caused by trauma to her frontal lobe – responsible for processing speech and motor control – as well as side effects from medication prescribed to treat severe migraines.

Colwill has managed to cope with her condition so far through speech therapy and family and friends translating for her, but still longs to hear her own voice again. And it seems she’s not alone: according to reports by The Inquisitr, other migraine sufferers have reported changes to their voices as a side-effect of treatment.

Documentary

Sarah Colwill experienced a severe migraine that required emergency hospital care. But upon awakening it seemed as if her native Plymouth accent had been replaced with one entirely unfamiliar to researchers and speech therapists – leaving researchers baffled and speech therapists puzzled. Sarah was diagnosed with Foreign Accent Syndrome – a rare condition whereby individuals develop unfamiliar speech patterns instead of their own; Jeanne Moos investigates this strange phenomenon to learn how it had transformed Sarah’s life – an experience like any thriller but true!

This documentary is free to watch and share, with or without attribution, but donations to support our work would also be much appreciated.

Foreign Accent Syndrome

Imagine being shocked to realize your speech has changed to sound foreign, especially at work or in personal relationships. That is exactly what can happen for some individuals with Foreign Accent Syndrome – a rare motor speech disorder which causes your natural voice to sound foreign despite not speaking any other languages; such changes might make English sound British, French or Indonesian for example!

Foreign Accent Syndrome has two primary sources of cause: neurological conditions or damage and mental health conditions. People experiencing it typically have suffered physical injuries such as head trauma or stroke that affected how their brain processed language and controlled speech; other times it is caused by psychological stress or severe depression – for instance one woman developed an Irish accent following dental surgery despite never having visited Ireland; in many instances this kind of Foreign Accent Syndrome will fade when its source clears up, returning back to original speech patterns as soon as its condition eases off.

In other cases, speech disorders refer to any permanent alteration in how someone speaks, which may be caused by neurological conditions like Multiple Sclerosis or illnesses that damage myelin – the protective coating on nerve cells in the brain and body – such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. Alterations could also result from medications taken such as antidepressants or mental health conditions like schizophrenia.

Anytime there is an unexplained change to one’s speech, anyone experiencing it should see their physician immediately. Ignoring such changes can lead to miscommunication or job loss as well as negative reactions from others and anxiety or depression.

Treatment options for this condition depend on its root cause, from medication and surgery to therapy or behavioral interventions. If it involves physical issues like lesion or tumor in the brain, treatment may include surgery or therapy to address them directly; otherwise it might involve mental health therapy or medication as ways of managing symptoms.

Treatment

Foreign Accent Syndrome has no known cure yet, but those affected can seek therapy. Sometimes the changes in voice may only be temporary and eventually dissipate; but for others it can linger for extended periods and prove difficult to cope with.

Sarah Colwill has struggled with her new accent since the day she woke up sounding Chinese. Although she’s had elocution lessons and speech therapy sessions, the married IT project coordinator still cannot shake the foreign sound she now carries around with her. Unfortunately, they’ve told her it won’t go away any time soon.

Scientists theorize that Foreign Accent Syndrome occurs when stroke or head trauma disrupts part of the brain responsible for controlling motor speech, leading to effects similar to foreign accents – lengthened syllables, altered pitch and mispronunciations of sounds among others. Unfortunately, unlike most patients of speech disorders who present with FAS are typically undiagnosed as no physical damage can be identified on state-of-the-art brain scans.

There have only ever been 20 cases worldwide recorded of Foreign Accent Syndrome. The BBC collaborated with Marjon staff member and expert Martin Duckworth on creating the documentary ‘The Woman who Woke up Chinese’ which can be seen on iPlayer.