What is Foreign Accent Syndrome as English mum 'wakes up with Welsh accent'

An English woman claims she woke up with a Welsh accent one morning despite never visiting the country.

Zoe Coles, 36, from Stamford Lincolnshire, says she developed the new accent overnight six weeks ago but assumed it would eventually wear off.

However, she says she is still speaking with the accent and is now appealing for medical help to get to the bottom of the baffling turn of events.

Coles was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND), a condition where there is a problem with how the brain sends and receives signals in January 2022.

The condition causes her to experience ticks, memory problems, slurred speech and chronic pain in her legs.

But Coles now believes she may have Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) - a rare condition where people develop speech patterns that are perceived as a foreign accent.

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Only around 100 people in the world are believed to have experienced FAS since 1907 and Coles has been struggling to find any information on the condition.

"I got stopped in Tesco a couple of weeks ago and a man told me he could fall asleep listening to my accent," the mum-of-two explains. "I had to tell him that I woke up with it and it wasn't my accent.

"I've never been to Wales, I've never able to roll my Rs, I've never been able to put on an accent and it's crazy. People ask me where I'm from and they start guessing Cardiff or Bristol and I'm not from anywhere - I'm from Lincolnshire," she adds.

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Before her voice, changed, Coles, who is mum to Zak, 16, and Brooke, 11, worked as a bartender at a Wetherspoons pub but because says her speech issues have lead to her quitting her job.

"I tried to drive to work one day and I just had a massive anxiety attack and I just couldn't go in," she explains. "I thought it was best to leave and then I can always go back when I'm ready."

Coles, who is engaged to fiancé Lee, 39, is hoping that sharing her story might lead to some answers about what has lead to her accent.

"I've been trying to ask my doctor for more information but they just don't have any," she explains. "Something is clearly going on in my brain."

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Coles initially went to the doctors about her new accent and was referred to a specialist at the St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in London.

But she says that because she doesn't live in the catchment area, her referral has been declined. Now she is appealing for an expert or neurologist to help her get to the bottom of what is going on.

"A lot of people think it could me a mental health problem but because nobody knows anything about it, people are just guessing. I want a definite answer."

What is Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS)?

According to the NHS's Health Research Authority Foreign Accent Syndrome (FAS) is a rare condition where a person's speech takes on an accent different from their usual accent and which other people can think sounds 'foreign'.

While most case reports describe foreign accent syndrome starting after a stroke, other brain injuries or disease, there are a small number of reports of FAS occurring where there has not been a brain injury or disease.

In some of these cases there are other functional (also called psychogenic, or conversion) neurological symptoms.

While more research is needed, FAS is believed to have two main causes: neurological conditions or damage and mental health conditions.

A 2019 analysis of 49 people with foreign accent syndrome shared in MedicalNewsToday found that the most common linked conditions were:

• severe headaches or migraine (15 people)

• stroke (12 people)

• surgery to the face or mouth (6 people)

• seizures (5 people)

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As well as coping with the difficult and often sudden nature of speaking with a different accent, those living with the condition often also have to deal with surprising, and sometimes unkind, responses from those around them.

Something Coles understands only too well. "I'll be about to go into the shops and I get anxious because I don't fit in around here anymore - we're not in Wales," she explains.

"I didn't want to go into work with my new accent because the regulars would be saying I'm having them on," she adds.

"And when people would get drunk, I knew I would be a target."

Treatment of FAS

While many causes of FAS are not curable, medication may help manage the symptoms.

In most cases, a doctor will recommend speech therapy to help a person regain their normal speech habits.

Additional reporting SWNS.