This month is Tourette Syndrome Awareness Month! The Tourette Association of America currently estimates that one in 162 children in the U.S. has Tourette syndrome. (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/tourette/data.html) Tourettes often show up in early childhood and improve in adulthood. This month was created to support advocacy, awareness, and education on Tourettes.
Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a condition of the nervous system that causes people to experience “tics”. Tics are sudden twitches, movements, or sounds that people do repeatedly. These tics are involuntary and people may not be able to stop the tics. However, the intensity of tics can vary and decrease with calm, focused activities, adequate sleep, and engaging in new activities that are of great interest. Tics are categorized into motor and vocal tics. Motor tics include uncontrollable, repetitive movements that could consist of repeatedly blinking the eyes, or shrugging shoulders and vocal tics are unwanted sounds such as blurting out offensive words. Tics can be triggered in certain situations. Common triggers include stressful events, such as a family fight or poor performance at school, boredom, physical illness, or fatigue, anger or excitement.
Jason Grant describes having TS “as a tic that starts with a thought or suggestion in my head telling me to do something and it won’t go away until I act on it; like a mosquito bite that needs to be scratched. (https://tourette.org/how-it-feels-to-tic-out/ )
Tourette syndrome cannot be cured but can be managed. People with Tourettes can manage their condition with medicines that block dopamine and suppresses tics and behavioral therapies such as Psychotherapy to reduce tics. Biofeedback or supportive therapy can also support someone with emotional aspects of having Tourettes.
This month we hope that everyone expands their knowledge of Tourette Syndrome and how it affects people’s lives. Together we can advocate for children with Tourettes and increase awareness of managing TS as well as reducing the stigma around the condition.
See these links for more information:
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/tourette/data.html
https://tourette.org/how-it-feels-to-tic-out/
https://myhealth.alberta.ca/Health/Pages/conditions.aspx?hwid=ug1096
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/5554-tourette-syndrome
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/tourette/features/tourette-five-things.html