Along with the fact that Willia Ford is releasing new music, she has also opened up about a health issue she’s been facing. The pop star revealed she’s been experiencing psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) since December 2023.
What are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures? “Functional seizures (FS), also known as psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), are episodes that look and feel like seizures caused by epilepsy,” according to the Cleveland Clinic. “But they aren’t caused by abnormal electrical activity in your brain. Instead, these seizures are a physical reaction of your nervous system to: Physical triggers, like injury or pain; Stressors in your environment; [or a] Past traumatic event.”
Although Ford is now talking about the issue, she wasn’t always so willing to be open about her seizures.
Willa Explains Why She ‘Wasn’t Going to Tell People’
Getty“I wasn’t going to tell people because I think it scares [them],” Ford told People while talking about experiencing seizures. “Like, ‘Oh, she’s going to have one on stage.'”
She also explained what happens during her seizures, saying her “brain disconnects, so it actually doesn’t injure my brain.”
“It’s the better of the seizures to have, if I’m being honest,” she added. “My body just flails or I get frozen, but I’m coherent. I can talk to you [and] do math, unless my mouth is doing weird things.”
Noting that she wasn’t able to work or drive at the time, she also points out that PNES can affect people in different ways.
Willa Also Revealed What Caused Her Seizures
Ford revealed to People that her PNES seizures were “caused by a traumatic event.” While she wasn’t willing to share what exactly led to the health issue, she told People, “What I will say is it had nothing to do with my label [Atlantic Records], my labelmates or a producer or anything. It wasn’t anybody I worked with. It is an out of this world story that doesn’t even sound real.”
She also explained that she isn’t experiencing seizures as much as she used to — thanks, in part, to therapy, an anti-anxiety medication and a “rescue med” when needed — noting, “I probably have one [seizure] a month.”
The singer also dealt with the trauma by working on new music, saying, “That’s all I could do.”
Beyond the interview with People, Ford shared a song on Instagram and added a caption, writing, “This is one of the most personal songs on the new record. It’s about the seziures I started having due to past trauma. This song, and all of the others on this record, got me through such a hard time in my life.”
Seizures can be due to gluten/dairy/soy/sugar etc.. Cells are not made right if gluten hurts the gut lining so less nutrients absorb. Dairy/soy/sugar may cause swelling and clog blood vessels which may allow seizures. Gluten is in wheat/barley/rye…oats/corn/rice. Rice is low in gluten. Wild rice/buckwheat have no gluten. Fixing her diet/hair test to see good minerals and heavy metals and taking supplements to restore nutrients and detoxing may help stop the seizures.