A woman who had selective mutism so badly as a child she could not answer the register says lockdown changed her life - and is now a chatty barmaid.

Isabella Turner, 19, credits the pandemic with changing her outlook - describing it as a "real turning point".

She would previously freeze up in any social situation and feared being asked her name at school.

Now Isabella, from Grays, will not "shut up" - and is regularly chewing peoples' ears off.

She thinks it all started when she was aged two.

Isabelle said: “I was on holiday and went away on holiday with family – I ended up grabbing a stranger's hand thinking it was one of my parents and I think it something just switched.

"Lockdown was a real turning point for me – I had a lot of time to sit at home and assess my problems and had a total reset.”

Isabella says she was unable to communicate with anyone apart from her parents growing up - and did not even speak to her grandparents until she was 12.

She said: “I had lots of psychological evaluations when I was a child, but selective mutism was even less understood back then.

“My schools knew about it but found it difficult to handle.

Isabella, who has eight siblings, could only speak to them via her parents and couldn’t speak to any of her teachers.

She says she only had a select few friends throughout her school years who she could confide in.

“It was a very difficult time, and my parents had a really hard time dealing with it," she said.

Isabella feared staying mute into adulthood - then lockdown hit

She got an office job but got bored of it, and then decided to get a job working a bar.

Isabella says she’s has more or less overcome her condition and now loves chatting to drunken punters at the bar.

She said: “It’s kind of the last thing you’d expect someone with selective mutism to do.

“It’s been a big turnaround. I’m happy to be able to thrive in social situations whereas before I’d freeze up.

“If I’m feeling anxious, I can still be a bit quiet sometimes.

"And I do struggle to talk about my feelings but the extreme side of it has gone.”

She believes there should be more research into the condition, which is remains not very well understood.

Isabella said: “I want to spread awareness to other parents who are struggling to handle mental health issues with their children that they can be overcome and you do have a future.”