Until you have met it, you just don't get it - that's the tagline for a campaign for Aphasia Awareness Month, which runs through June.
Aphasia is a language disorder that rose to prominence after actor Bruce Willis announced he had it, but it's more common in New Zealand than Parkinson's disease - even if it's still much less understood.
Newshub spoke to one patient about how aphasia has impacted her life.
She was living the high life - fast-paced, action-packed, and socially driven.
But the life Debbie Malloch knew and loved disappeared in an instant.
"It's not one minute, it's a second your life changes, so live your life, be positive, shit happens - just do it right," she told Newshub.
Her life changed in 2020 when, aged 50, she came down with what she thought was a bad headache.
Then she lost feeling in her right side and everything went blank. She was having a stroke.
"I thought 'that's it'," Malloch said.
She was diagnosed with a blood clot in her brain caused by a spinal fluid leak. Her case was rare - one in a million.
"It was everyone around me that was scared. And neurosurgeons - when they are scared, right, that's serious," she said.
Malloch defied the odds and survived. But a year later she had another clot, another stroke.
And while the mother of one again pulled through, the strokes left her with aphasia - a language disorder that affects her ability to communicate.
"People think dumb. They think mental," she said.
But, given patience, she can still make a point by conjuring up some vivid imagery.
"I've not lost intelligence, I'm still in there. I just lost my words, because my filing cabinet in brain fallen over and words are all scattered, and I can't pick word out."
Aphasia is caused mainly by strokes, but also head injuries or brain tumours. It was recently made topical by Die Hard star Willis who announced his retirement from acting after being diagnosed with the disorder.
Tonight, about 17,000 Kiwis are living with aphasia.
Patients struggle with isolation and exclusion. But an online aphasia group has opened up a new lifeline for Malloch.
"We are all getting treated the same," she said.
Malloch now logs in every Friday and loves every moment.
The group is led by community aphasia advisor Eleanor Maxwell, who said communication is key.
"If you don't use it you lose it, so by speaking and exercising language, that's how you will get - hopefully get - the most improvement and the best outcomes," Maxwell said.
"Oh they are like little family right, because they get us, no judgement," Malloch said.
Little one-year-old Bacardi is also proving vital for Debbie, he's being trained to be her service assistance dog.
"He refocuses my brain if somebody doesn't understand," Malloch explained.
June is Aphasia Awareness Month, and this year the focus is the impact on families. A fundraising campaign has also been launched, called 'Say Nothing, Give a Little'.
Malloch also wants the public to give patients a little more time and understanding.
