• Tourette syndrome is a
condition that affects a
person’s central nervous
system and causes tics.
Tics are unwanted
twitches, movements, or
sounds that people make.
To have Tourette
syndrome, a person must
have two tics that affect
body movement and one
that is a sound.
•
•
•
There are several types of motor
ticks which are simple motor tics
and complex motor tics.
Simple motor ticks includes: eye
blinking, squinting, head jerking,
facial grimacing, nose-twitching,
lip smacking, tongue thrusting,
mouth opening, leg jerking, arm
flexing or flapping, and many
others.
Complex motor tics includes:
hitting self or others, jumping,
touching self or others, smelling
hands or objects, clapping,
pinching, touching objects,
hopping, kicking, throwing,
squating, foot tapping or shaking,
scratching, pulling at clothes, and
many more.
• Vocal ticks also have two types of
ticks which are simple vocal tics
and complex vocal tics.
• Simple vocal ticks includes: throat
clearing, grunts, sniffs, snorts,
squeaking, coughs, humming,
screaming, spitting, whistling,
honking, stuttering, laughing,
shouting, barking, moaning,
hiccups, squealing, and many
more.
• Complex vocal ticks include: any
understandable words of phrases,
and it also may include echoing.
•
•
•
Motor tics can be simple, such as forceful eye
blinking, or complex, such as bending over and
touching the ground.
Vocal tics, which are repetitive involuntary
stereotyped vocalizations, are usually unintelligible
sounds, such as sniffing, grunting or throat
clearing, but they can also be complex, such as
uttering whole phrases.
Other complex motor and vocal phenomena, which
are much less common than simple tics, include
coprolalia (involuntary and affectively inappropriate
swearing), copropraxia (involuntary and affectively
inappropriate use of obscene gestures), echolalia
(involuntary repetition of speech of others),
echopraxia (involuntary imitation of the actions of
others), and palilalia (involuntary repetition of parts
of the individual's own speech).
• Some people can
sometimes suppress
their ticks. However, it
will buildup in tension
when suppressing
their ticks, and they
eventually have to let
it out.
• Some who suffer with
Tourette Syndrome
will often disappear
sometime between
the ages of 20 and 24.
Most of the people
who are suffering this
are not lucky. It
usually appear before
the age of 18, mostly
around the age of 7.
• Some researchers believe that
the evidence from twin and
family studies suggests that
Tourette’s Syndrome is an
inherited disorder.
• Although there may be a few
genes with substantial effect, it
is also possible that many
genes with smaller effects and
environmental factors play a
major role in the development
of Tourette’s Syndrome.
• At-risk males are more likely to
have tics and at-risk-females
are more likely to have
obsessive-compulsive
symptoms.
• Researchers are still unknown
what causes this syndrome,
but current research points to
abnormalities in certain brain
regions such as basal ganglia,
frontal lobes, and the cortex.
They also believe that there is
something wrong with the
circuits that interconnect these
regions, and the
neurotransmitters (dopamine,
serotonin, and norepinephrine)
responsible for communication
among nerve cells.
• TS is often associated with
obsessive-compulsive
symptomatology (examples:
excessive hand washing,
checking rituals, or hoarding
behaviors), attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder, and
other behavioral problems,
although these are not part
of the current diagnostic
criteria.
•
•
•
People with life-disrupting symptoms
can often suppress them with one of
several drugs that affect the chemistry
of the brain, including haloperidol
(Haldol), clonidine (Catapres),
pimozide (Orap), fluphenazine
(Prolixin), clomipramine (Anafranil),
and fluoxetine (Prozac).
However, the medications have side
effects that themselves can be lifedisrupting, like somnolence, and some
people with Tourette's refuse
medication, finding its symptoms less
troublesome than those caused by
drugs.
Family counseling and psychotherapy
may be useful to help cope with
adjustment problems associated with
the social stigma common in more
severe cases.
• Medical Treatment of Tics and
Movements in Tourette
Syndrome: Neuroleptics
(Haldol, Orap, Risperdal),
Clonidine, and serotinin drugs.
• Medical Treatment of OCD in
Tourette Syndrome: Serotonin
Reuptake Inhibitors, Anagranil,
and Augment with dopamine
agents or Klonopin.
• Medical Treatment of Attention
Deficit (ADHD) in Tourette
Syndrome: Ritalin, Tenex,
Clonidine, and Tricyclics.
• It feels awful to have a Tourette
Syndrome. I can not live like a
normal person. I always wanted be
a normal person and have friends. It
is hard for me to make friends
because people think that I am
dangerous, weird, freak, and a loser.
They make fun of the way I walk,
talk, and my actions. School life is
hard for me to operate because of
this syndrome. People look at me
differently and pick on me.
• I can’t stop jerking my
head and my neck! It
is like having a hiccup
and does it by itself.
Many people talk
about me behind my
back, and it really hurt
my feelings. It makes
me not want to go to
school anymore or be
out in the public.
• It is hard not to shrug my
shoulders. I have to do it
until it feels “right.” It is
like feeling itchy and you
have to itch it. I don’t
really want to scratch it,
but I just can’t help it. I try
to hold it in, but eventually
I will have to shrug my
shoulders. That is what it
feels like. I have to keep
doing it constantly until I
feel like it is just right.
• I hate it when I have to keep clearing
my throat. Not only that, I also have
to snort, grunt, or bark often. Yes,
barking. I also usually hop, bend,
twist, and jump often. It is
embarrassing doing all this stuff
during school because people
around me think that I am weird and
a freak. This is what I have to face
everyday at school.
• One of the worst
symptoms of having a
Tourette Syndrome is
that I sometimes
punch myself. I
usually hit myself in
the head. I can not
control it, and it just
does it by itself. I
usually get a bruise
on my head, and I
often visit the doctors.
• I also have some vocal tics. I
keep uttering swear words,
which is called coprolalia. I tend
to utter swear words for no
reason, and kids next to me are
frightened of me and think that I
am a loser. I also repeat words,
which is called echolalia. I keep
repeating the same words over
and over again, and I can tell by
looking other people’s faces
thinking that I am weird.
• Tourette Syndrome also
include other symptoms such
Hyperactivity with or without
Attention Deficit disorder
(ADHD). It includes poor
concentration, impulsivity, and
hyperactivity. I often fidget with
hands or feet. I have difficulty
time remaining seated when I
am required to do so. I am
easily distracted and have
hard time waiting turn in
games or group activities. I
often blurt out answers to
questions before that have
been completed. I also have
difficult time following
instructions.
•
Having a Tourette Syndrome has affected my
academic tremendously. I have a difficult
time organizing my work and have a hard
time listening to others. I also often talk
excessively, interrupt or intrude on others,
often loses things necessary for activities at
school or at home, and often engage in
physically dangerous activities without
considering possible consequences.
One of the symptoms for Tourette Syndrome is having an OCD. Some
obsessions that I encounter includes:
• Being concerned with symmetry, exactness, cleanliness, order.
• Needing to know or remember things.
• Over focusing on minute details.
• Having to have "JUST RIGHT" feeling.
• Being concerned about dirt or germs.
• Having aggressive thoughts, images, impulses.
• Touching objects an exact number of times.
• Needing to start over if interrupted.
• Repeatedly asking the same question.
• Sucking thumb.
• Excessive hand washing, bathing, cleaning.
• Writing and rewriting until paper looks perfect.
• Having Tourette Syndrome has
given me mood changes, quick
temper, difficulties with impulse
control, and a defiant behavior.
This has given me hard time to
make friends. They think that I
am weird and a loser. They
feel like they are not safe
around me.