I woke up unable to walk or talk after cost of living stress triggered rare neurological condition

A 21-year-old woman with money worries was left unable to walk or talk after the stress triggered a rare neurological condition.

Danni Cooper had been feeling anxious about her finances for months before she lost the use of her legs and was rushed to hospital.

In April 2024, on arriving home from work, Danni, who had suffered from migraines since she was young, felt dizzy but she put her symptoms down to hunger. However, she found herself struggling to walk to the kitchen and called her sister Mollie. They went straight to A&E where Danni claims her symptoms were dismissed as a ‘migraine’ made worse by ‘being on her period’.

The next morning, Danni woke-up having lost the ability to walk or talk. Fearing a stroke, she went back to hospital but all her scans came back clear. After a month on a ward, Danni was diagnosed with functional neurological disorder (FND) - a condition that causes problems with the brain sending and receiving information.

Doctors who treated her believed financial stress, triggered by the cost of living crisis, was to blame for her ''out of the blue'' symptoms.

Danni’s speech returned after nearly a week, but she still struggles to walk and needs a wheelchair for long distances. She can no longer work due to her condition and had to move house to a more accessible building.

Danni, a former support worker, from Wakefield in Yorkshire, said: "I had been worrying for a long time about money. I was having to choose between food or petrol in order to get to work - the cost of living crisis hit me hard. I fell into a deep depression at one point, crying every day and it most likely triggered the condition. 

“FND is like when a computer has too many tabs open, and it crashes. My brain basically shut down and stopped communicating with my body. My life changed overnight.

“A lot of doctors still don’t know what FND is. It’s a lesser-known condition but I hope I can raise awareness.”