What is aphasia?

APHASIA formulates from brain damage and can affect one’s ability to communicate.

On Wednesday, March 30, 2022, Bruce Willis‘ family announced he is stepping down from acting due to a diagnosis of aphasia.

What is aphasia?

Aphasia is a medical condition resulting in the inability to understand words and communicate clearly, and it typically occurs after a stroke or head injury.

The onset of aphasia may be related to disease or brain tumor causing degenerative damage.

Treatment for aphasia comes in the form of speech and language therapy, where the diagnosed may learn new ways to communicate.

There are different patterns of aphasia: expressive, comprehensive, and global.

What do the different patterns of aphasia mean?

Expressive aphasia is also known as Broca’s or nonfluent aphasia.

Those with this diagnosis may still have the ability to understand others, but not necessarily respond or speak themselves.

Paralysis of the right side or extensive weakness may also be a result of this pattern of aphasia.

With comprehensive aphasia, also known as fluent or Wernicke’s, the diagnosed may have the ability to speak but their words may seem nonsensical.

The ability to understand spoken language is often damaged and results in poor comprehension skills.

Global aphasia is basically a combination of the two, resulting in severe disabilities when it comes to expression.

Does Bruce Willis have an aphasia diagnosis?

The daughter of Bruce Willis, Rumer, took to her Instagram account on Wednesday afternoon to announce her father is stepping down from his career.

“To Bruce’s amazing supporters, as a family we wanted to share that our beloved Bruce has been experiencing some health issues and has recently been diagnosed with aphasia, which is impacting his cognitive abilities,” the caption read.

“As a result of this and with much consideration Bruce is stepping away from the career that has meant so much to him.”

“This is a really challenging time for our family and we are so appreciative of your continued love, compassion and support,” she continued.

“We are moving through this as a strong family unit, and wanted to bring his fans in because we know how much he means to you, as you do to him.”

The post concluded: “As Bruce always says, ‘Live it up’ and together we plan to do just that.”