Tourette Syndrome: It is more than you may think

Kori Conerly
Staff Writer

There is a man in the mall. He is of average height, weight, and appearance. As you walk past him he screams “BISCUITS!” What is your first reaction? What’s his problem? You keep walking and notice that he does it again when a man walks past him, and then again when a child does the same.

This man is not weird, crazy, or any other synonymous word you can think of. He has Tourette Syndrome (TS).

The classic stereotype of a person with TS is that they yell swear words at random moments. It is not your fault these stereotypes exist; this is all that you see. Take for example the movie “Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo.” Deuce, the main character, is sitting at a baseball game with his date that has TS, and the entire game she is randomly shouting swear words. While this was comical it was not an accurate description of the behavior of all TS sufferers. Not everyone with TS have the same symptoms.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder categorized by involuntary, repetitive actions or vocalizations better known as tics.

Symptoms of TS are typically noticed between the ages of 3 and 9. A majority of the people with this condition experience their worst tics during their early teenage years. As they get older, the tics may become milder until they are able to lead normal lives. However, TS can also be a chronic disorder that lasts throughout a lifetime. It just depends on the person and their methods of suppressing their symptoms.

There are two categories of tics: simple and complex. Simple tics are usually the more mild effects: eye blinking, shoulder shrugging, throat clearing, or grunting. These tics are usually subtle.

Complex tics, on the other hand, are very distinct and often coordinated. That does not mean that a person tics consciously when a specific action happens. It means that when that action in particular does happen, it triggers their tic.

Take, for instance, the man at the mall. He yelled the word “biscuits” whenever someone walked by him. In this case, the man’s tic would be yelling “biscuits” and the action that triggered it would be someone passing by his frame of vision. Examples of complex tics range from jumping, kicking, echolalia (repeating words), and the ever famous coprolalia (uttering socially unacceptable words) (Tourette).

There is no cure for TS, but just like any other neurological disorder (ADHD, OCD, etc.) there are medications and techniques to lessen its severity. Tics are typically more severe in the presence of excitement, anxiety, or nervousness. They are notably less severe in calm and relaxing environments.

There is no way to control TS. There is therapy and medication but ultimately the only thing to do is try and camouflage or suppress it and hope that it decreases in severity as adulthood approaches.