False Tongue Syndrome

"The patient will slowly forget their native tongue and will speak exclusively in a second or third if they acquired one, those without a second or third will be reduced to incoherent babbling reminiscent of an infant."~On Magical Diseases

False Tongue Syndrome, or Polyglot's Disease, is a condition that causes a person to forget their native tongue over the course of a few months, eventually reaching the point of being completely ignorant of the language. It is unknown if this disease is also able to affect acquired languages as no definitive research has been done on the subject and loss of one's native language is far more alarming and noticeable, making it possible that the cases of the disease removing an acquired language simply going unreported or shrugged off as the individual simply failing to maintain their use of the language.

Causes

The cause of the disease is unknown but is widely believed to be magical in origin as there is no way of physically treating the disease.

Symptoms

The disease causes patients to slowly lose the ability to speak their native language over the course of approximately six to seven months. Proficiency in the language will start to fade slowly, with patients being hung up on words more often than usual or needing repetition where they formerly didn't but proficiency will start to decrease dramatically after the first few months with patients being unable to construct complex sentences and needing a fair amount of effort to put together basic sentences. In the final months of the disease the patient will be at the level of a beginner, only able to use basic common phrases and a few complex words before this too fades from their mind.

Treatment

There is no treatment for the patient during the disease apart from the common practice of frantically studying a foreign language if they do not already know one so they will retain the ability to communicate after the disease has run its course. A few months after the disease has run its course the patient will be able to pick up their native language once more, albeit starting from a true beginner's level, though immersion and support from friends and family often means they are able to reacquire the language relatively quickly, though they will take years to reach native-level proficiency.

Type

Mental

Rarity

Rare