If you asked people on the street what Tourette syndrome is, I’d bet my house that most would say it consisted of swearing.
Maybe I am being pessimistic, and things have improved. But we still have work to do to change perceptions whilst understanding that some people do suffer with Coprolalia (tics involving inappropriate words or phrases).
Stats taken from the tic log page:
Below are dedicated articles to the types of tics that can be experienced, depending on how they occur. I am sure there are more, I will do my best to add them when I encounter them.
Clonic – rapid, sudden movement
Tonic – brief muscle tensing without movement
Dystonic – sustained muscle contraction or abnormal postures
Blocking tic – sudden interruption of speech or movement
Mental tics – tics carried out in the mind
Internal tics – tics carried out in the body
Vocal/phonic – random sounds
Vocal/phonic – random words and/or phrases
Echolalia – repeating another person’s words
Palilalia – repeating one’s own words
Coprolalia – inappropriate or offensive words
Copropraxia – inappropriate or offensive gestures
Coprographia – Writing or drawing obscene and inappropriate things
6 responses
My primary movement tic is squishing my eyes together like a clenched fist. For the most part it wasn’t too disruptive. But now in the age of zoom meetings every day, I feel like I’m the only face in motion in a screen full of calm faces. I guess I’m doing my own little part of TS awareness. When people make fun of coprolalia, I try to point out how hard it would be to go through life shouting out the n-word in a public setting. Not really funny at all.
Thank you so much Jeff for sharing. I feel eye tics are very common among TS sufferers, whether it is blinking or clenching like you say. I have had this in the past, although it is more eye rolling for me now and eyebrow moving and not so much clenching as you do. But I know someone with this tic (I am not sure if they know it is a tic!) and understand it must be frustrating when you have to do zoom calls with people. Do you think it worsens when you are being watched, or do you just notice it more?
It must be very hard having coprolalia, I really feel for those that shout out things, especially offensive things that they know may have a repercussion. It isn’t funny but TV and media have done a very good job of making people think it is sadly.
Great post, thank you!
Thanks Emily 🙂
I find this all fascinating; I know a little about Tourette’s (a friend of my sister’s has it), but I’m always keen to understand how our individual neurologies differ and what causes that. For the record, I am diagnosed with ADHD and dyspraxia, and am waiting an assessment for autism (which my adult daughter is dx’d with).
No signs of Tourette’s in me, just minor motor tics (my head flicks to the left, usually accompanied by some short-lived rapid blinking, especially when I’m tired, but this pretty much goes unobserved).
Interestingly (to me, at least!), I read that between 30 and 100% of people have tics (love that wide range!). This is something I came across while on stimulant meds for my ADHD, and my tics either became apparent or got worse (mostly common stuff such as teeth grinding, jaw stretching and tongue stimming against my lower front teeth). Left me with a sore jaw, earache (I kept thinking I was going down with a cold until I worked it out), and bite marks all over my tongue.
I came across your blog after googling ‘Tourettic OCD’, which I’d read about in the blog of Riko Ryuki, who has PDA and who discovered that her own tics actually came under T-OCD.
Do keep writing: I find your observations and thoughts really interesting 🙂
Thank you so much for reading, I am pleased to hear you stumbled upon my site and found it of value. I agree that it is fascinating how we all differ, and all the best with your assessment.
So many of these conditions overlap one another don’t they? I am eager to do some assessments myself with a specialist and understand myself better. And understanding more about Tourettic OCD and the like really helps me to map our my own mind.
I would love for you to keep reading my articles as I publish, and would love you for you to subscribe if you haven’t already. Comments like this truly motivate me so thanks a million 😀