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Hello there Spartans,
This is a rather Off Topic as this is not directly related with narcissistic abuse. However, we've all ended up studying the human brain in some way or another in a sort of unofficial way.
I wanted to share this, as I've never heard of this before until it happened to me.
I always had some easy tendency to mix languages. I don't know if it's related somehow with childhood trauma (?) and the difficulty to express yourself when you want to. I have some thoughts and experiences that point me into thinking that it's kind of related. There's a link to this.
Now I'm struggling to properly speak in Spanish again. After some 'incident' I started speaking English mostly and my Spanish sounded like British. People think I'm trying to fake it to sound cool or something, but I'm not faking it in purpose.
I've also noticed that my brain 'switches' to English with very little control when I'm talking to someone I think 'it's a superior' (like my managers). This is very interesting IMO.
In one hand I was very happy to speak in English (finally) so fluently that it didn't feel uncomfortable at all. However, I understand from the outside people can see very strange, and that it's been done in purpose, which is not.
I struggle to control which language to use, especially when I think there's something important at stake, what makes the situation much more difficult. However, I don't feel shame or anything when this happens, as this feels totally natural inside my head, not something I'm making up. Again, I think from the outside, an observer will be rather confused with this type of reactions... as it doesn't sound like a 'normal' thing to have difficulty speaking your native language.
After reading some information about this, the best way to explain it is this: it feels like your native language has been bombarded or disappeared; then your brain picks up another language that found somewhere in your brain and uses normally with the same confidence as you were speaking your native language, because 'it's your only language now'. The explanation I have is that your brain seems to pick up your second language even you were not aware that was there, as a backup. With time, my native language is being restored by my brain, but it's taking months. Meanwhile I still have some 'glitches' where I get a little stuck speaking my native language.
This experience gave me confidence enough to start learning German again, as I learnt it quite a while ago and never came back to it. The reason I put it aside is because I used to mix languages so much that it became a nightmare handling more than two languages in my head.
I always suspected that speaking other languages is rather a matter of confidence and being able to switch from different 'worlds' in your head than a matter of anything else. It's like I can 'see' now where my English language is 'stored' inside my head, and I can go there and grab it when I want it, or I can grab any other language because I know now that it's a matter of accessing different parts in your brain. I'm also well aware of the so many things our brain stores we're not even aware about, but they're there, somewhere, ready to be picked up if we really want to.
Here's a quote from one of the comments of the links below. Fortunately, I didn't take any medication and it seems to be progressing well so far (I hope).
Cheers.
https://metro.co.uk/2016/10/26/why-do-people-wake-up-from-comas-speaking-other-languages-6216482/
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2016/05/30/7834/#.W8xI7i-B1QI
This is a rather Off Topic as this is not directly related with narcissistic abuse. However, we've all ended up studying the human brain in some way or another in a sort of unofficial way.
I wanted to share this, as I've never heard of this before until it happened to me.
I always had some easy tendency to mix languages. I don't know if it's related somehow with childhood trauma (?) and the difficulty to express yourself when you want to. I have some thoughts and experiences that point me into thinking that it's kind of related. There's a link to this.
Now I'm struggling to properly speak in Spanish again. After some 'incident' I started speaking English mostly and my Spanish sounded like British. People think I'm trying to fake it to sound cool or something, but I'm not faking it in purpose.
I've also noticed that my brain 'switches' to English with very little control when I'm talking to someone I think 'it's a superior' (like my managers). This is very interesting IMO.
In one hand I was very happy to speak in English (finally) so fluently that it didn't feel uncomfortable at all. However, I understand from the outside people can see very strange, and that it's been done in purpose, which is not.
I struggle to control which language to use, especially when I think there's something important at stake, what makes the situation much more difficult. However, I don't feel shame or anything when this happens, as this feels totally natural inside my head, not something I'm making up. Again, I think from the outside, an observer will be rather confused with this type of reactions... as it doesn't sound like a 'normal' thing to have difficulty speaking your native language.
After reading some information about this, the best way to explain it is this: it feels like your native language has been bombarded or disappeared; then your brain picks up another language that found somewhere in your brain and uses normally with the same confidence as you were speaking your native language, because 'it's your only language now'. The explanation I have is that your brain seems to pick up your second language even you were not aware that was there, as a backup. With time, my native language is being restored by my brain, but it's taking months. Meanwhile I still have some 'glitches' where I get a little stuck speaking my native language.
This experience gave me confidence enough to start learning German again, as I learnt it quite a while ago and never came back to it. The reason I put it aside is because I used to mix languages so much that it became a nightmare handling more than two languages in my head.
I always suspected that speaking other languages is rather a matter of confidence and being able to switch from different 'worlds' in your head than a matter of anything else. It's like I can 'see' now where my English language is 'stored' inside my head, and I can go there and grab it when I want it, or I can grab any other language because I know now that it's a matter of accessing different parts in your brain. I'm also well aware of the so many things our brain stores we're not even aware about, but they're there, somewhere, ready to be picked up if we really want to.
Here's a quote from one of the comments of the links below. Fortunately, I didn't take any medication and it seems to be progressing well so far (I hope).
Cheers.
While this may seem humorous to many, it is not. I developed FLS about 4 weeks ago. I am a diabetic. I awoke on the last Sunday of May 2017 with an extreme case of hypoglycemia and passed out twice. When I came to I had a severe headache on the right front and right back of my head. When I tried to speak, it came out in a fluent mix of languages that I have studied years ago, with perfect accents. I keyed the word "aphasia" into my phone to explain to my family what I thought was happening...and then my bf called 911.
When first responders arrived and then the medics, they would not believe my mother and bf that I am "native" to my hometown area and that my native language is American English with a southern accent. At the hospital they had a nurse come in who speaks three languages and is native to Yugoslavia. She was convinced that I was from Germany or Russia, as I was speaking both, with no American accent and certainly no southern accent.
A neurologist examined me and a CT SCAN was done and it was determined I had suffered a stroke and the dangerous clot busting TPA drug was administered. Also, my blood pressure was 204/104. A drug was given to bring down my bp and also to assist with my headache. I was admitted to Intensive Care Unit. After 5 hours, when my BP was reduced, my English language returned and the other languages left. However, I still struggled, and still do now, with speaking certain things in English.
On that Monday morning another Neurologist came in and stated that what I had was not a stroke, but rather a rare form of genetic migraine that usually doesn't occur until a person reaches late 40s to mid 50s.
I am now being given an arsenal of medications to treat this. While it's called a migraine it doesn't necessarily even cause a headache. I didn't have what one traditionally thinks of as a migraine headache. But I do have extreme head pain now.
The neurologist warned that I could slip permanently into the Foreign Language. I currently slip in and out 2-6 times a day. And also every time I now that I have a low blood sugar I also start speaking in FL. When it happens I usually just shut my mouth tight, afraid to speak. It is very disturbing. It changes my whole demeanor. I don't sound like the same person. I have no control over what language comes out when I speak, and sometimes it's languages I studied, all mixed up.. While it may sound funny, for those of us who suffer with it, it's terrible. Also I do hear and understand English during this time.
https://metro.co.uk/2016/10/26/why-do-people-wake-up-from-comas-speaking-other-languages-6216482/
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/neuroskeptic/2016/05/30/7834/#.W8xI7i-B1QI
