“There’s a point in a friendship with someone with Tourette’s… where they ask, I’ve always wondered – can you stop it? Can you, like, just stop?” – Colin

Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder that appears in the form of uncontrollable body and/or facial tics, and sometimes verbal tics.  Once thought to be rare, and most often associated with the uncontrollable blurting out of obscenities, it is much more common than first believed.  Tourette’s is hereditary, and although the symptoms can first occur in teenagers, most often they begin to show up between the ages of six and eight.

The most common vocal tics include throat clearing, grunting, sniffing, or blurting out words.  Motor tics can occur in any part of the body, and can include facial grimacing, lip-smacking, eye blinking, head jerking, and hand movements.  The severity of tics is wide ranging from very mild, almost unnoticeable, to severe facial contortions and wild body jerking.  The frequency of tics can occur from many times per minute to only a very few times each day.  The type and severity of tics varies with each child, but usually build up to a peak during puberty and then slowly diminish.  Some children afflicted with Tourette Syndrome will experience periods of several days to as long as a year where they hardly display any tic behavior at all.  Studies have demonstrated that in roughly 70% of patients the tics vanish when they reach their early 20’s.  For those that do not see symptoms disappear by then the tics will likely persist throughout their lives.

There is no cure, or specific medical treatment, for those afflicted with Tourette Syndrome.  Knowledge and understanding of the disorder is a critical component of treatment.  As such, educating the patient, their family, and their ‘life community’ (school, friends, coaches, house of worship) about the disorder is key.

Management of the symptoms of Tourette’s, along with the emotional challenges that accompany those with severe tics, oftentimes includes the use of medication, psychological, and behavioral therapies.  While medication is typically utilized only in those cases with the most severe symptoms, counseling can be of considerable help in addressing the depression and social isolation that often accompanies this syndrome.

Even when the tics are mild it may be very appropriate to use medication in treating the often co-occurring conditions of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Depression, and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), as these co-occurring conditions oftentimes lead to greater impairment than the Tourette’s.  For this reason, it is extremely important that when children are being evaluated and treated for Tourette Syndrome that they be thoroughly screened for the presence of these other conditions.

The emotional distress experienced by the child suffering from Tourette Syndrome oftentimes leaves parents and families feeling helpless, not knowing what to do to comfort their loved one.  Since, by far, the most pain and hurt experienced by a patient is as a result of others who do not understand the disorder, be certain to do your part to educate those around you about Tourette’s, especially those that interact with them on a regular basis (teachers, coaches, school officials).

Founded in 1972 in New York, the national Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA) is the only national voluntary non-profit membership organization in the field.  They have more than 30 U.S. Chapters and 125 support groups, and provide a wealth of information and referrals to treatment professionals free of charge.  The Southern California Chapter can be contacted via their website at http://www.tourettesyndrome-sca.org, or by phone at 866-478-1935.

It’s never too late, or too early, to learn, and then educate others, about Tourette Syndrome.