Money and work-related stress left the 21-year-old unable to walk or speak due to a rare neurological condition that doctors say she may never recover from.

According to news reports, Danny Cooper, a London resident, had been worried about her financial affairs for several months, but later she became paralyzed and her legs stopped working. She was rushed to the hospital. Doctors say Danny’s troubles began when one day she returned home from work and felt dizzy and nauseated. However, she dismissed these symptoms as mere fatigue.

Gradually, however, the fit, young woman began to have difficulty walking to the kitchen and went to the hospital emergency ward, where her symptoms were dismissed as a migraine made worse by menstruation. The next morning, the former support worker had lost the ability to speak or move.

Diagnosis of functional neurological disorder

After that, extensive tests were conducted, and Danny was eventually diagnosed with functional neurological disorder or FND – a condition that causes problems in the way the brain sends and receives information. According to his doctors, financial and work-related stress triggered by the cost of living crisis were the main reasons behind his condition.

Dani said that because of the high rent, she is finding it difficult to even afford food and housing.

Although she regained her ability to speak within a week, she still has trouble walking and uses a wheelchair to get around. “I was worried about money for a long time. I had to choose between food or petrol to get to work – the cost of living really upset me. At one point I went into a deep depression, crying every day and that’s probably what started this condition,” said Dani, who is no longer able to go to work. “FND is like having too many tabs open on the computer and it crashes. My brain shuts down and stops communicating with my body. My life changed overnight,” she told The Sun.

What is a functional neurological disorder?

According to experts, FND is not caused by any disease or injury. For unknown reasons, the nervous system does not function properly and causes extreme weakness, paralysis of the limbs, frequent seizures, tremors and jerks, and other nervous system symptoms.

Doctors say FND is uncommon in children under the age of 10. Before age 50, it is more likely to occur in women and after that, it affects both men and women equally. Although the cause of FND is unclear, the condition and its symptoms are real. It causes severe discomfort and cannot be turned on or off at will.

Signs and Symptoms of FND

FND causes a variety of symptoms that affect your body movement, senses and thinking:

• vision problems that cause double vision or blindness
• Speech problems
• Numbness or loss of sensation
• hearing problems
• Memory problems
• Trouble concentrating
• Pain
• Tiredness
• weakness or paralysis
• tremors, spasms, jerks, tics
• involuntary repetitive movements
• Difficulty walking
• Loss of balance
• difficulty swallowing
• seizures or tremors and loss of consciousness

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