Mythbuster
I was a big fan of Mythbusters while it was on the air. The hosts did a good job entertaining while teaching viewers the basics of the scientific method. I always enjoyed episodes where they riffed on a famous movie or made something explode really big-like, or, optimally, made something explode really big-like while riffing on a famous movie. Just like with movie special effects and urban legends, Tourette's Syndrome has a bunch of myths surrounding it. I can't speak with any clinical authority, but I'd like to take a shot at explaining some of them. This list will by no means be exhaustive.
1) There's a popular belief that Tourette's is a childhood condition, which is partially correct while still not telling the whole story. Most, but not all, TS patients become symptomatic in childhood. I started displaying tics when I was 8-9ish, which I believe to be fairly typical. Lots of TS patients grow out of the disorder in their teens and early adulthood, but a recent study (which I cannot for the life of me presently find a link to) found that something like 25% of TS patients tic into adulthood. It's like winning a lottery that was only open to people who'd already won the lottery, but not awesome.
2) We don't all curse in public, but whether or not we do shouldn't matter. Coprolalia is the most well known and stigmatized aspect of Tourette's, at least as far as the general public is concerned. A relatively small percentage of TS patients live with coprolalia. Again, the not-awesome lottery. I've caught myself in moments of shittiness where I think to myself, "Well, at least I don't do THAT", and I immediately regret putting up a wall between me and a person who could use my support or whose support I could use. But no, just because a person does not suffer from coprolalia doesn't mean she doesn't have Tourette's. TS is like an onion with all its layers, and it stinks just as bad. I mentioned this in my previous post, but the coprolalia stereotype is one of the reasons I dread telling people I have Tourette's Syndrome. If my symptoms don't perfectly match their preconceptions, I worry they'll just think I'm seeking attention.
3) We really can't control it just through willpower, honest to God. I mean yeah, I can try to force myself to sit still for a few seconds and I can usually make it to a count of ten, but that whole time I can practically hear the Tourette's in my head being like, "Dude I am so going to ruin the next five minutes of your life for this." You know how at the end of a race, there's that little ribbon going across the road that the winner gets to run through? Suppressing tics is like putting one of those ribbons between a five year old and his presents on Christmas morning: Yeah, fine, it was there, but it got so totally jacked up by that little kid that it probably wasn't even worth putting it there in the first place, and now the kid is frustrated by that tiny obstacle and he's throwing wrapping paper everywhere and mixing up the decals with the wrong action figures. So while yes, I can put up a token resistance against my tics, no, I'm not going to. I don't have a lot of choices I can make in regards to my tics, so this is one I'm going to make and own.
That's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are more, and I'd love to hear some TS myths you'd like dispelled!
1) There's a popular belief that Tourette's is a childhood condition, which is partially correct while still not telling the whole story. Most, but not all, TS patients become symptomatic in childhood. I started displaying tics when I was 8-9ish, which I believe to be fairly typical. Lots of TS patients grow out of the disorder in their teens and early adulthood, but a recent study (which I cannot for the life of me presently find a link to) found that something like 25% of TS patients tic into adulthood. It's like winning a lottery that was only open to people who'd already won the lottery, but not awesome.
2) We don't all curse in public, but whether or not we do shouldn't matter. Coprolalia is the most well known and stigmatized aspect of Tourette's, at least as far as the general public is concerned. A relatively small percentage of TS patients live with coprolalia. Again, the not-awesome lottery. I've caught myself in moments of shittiness where I think to myself, "Well, at least I don't do THAT", and I immediately regret putting up a wall between me and a person who could use my support or whose support I could use. But no, just because a person does not suffer from coprolalia doesn't mean she doesn't have Tourette's. TS is like an onion with all its layers, and it stinks just as bad. I mentioned this in my previous post, but the coprolalia stereotype is one of the reasons I dread telling people I have Tourette's Syndrome. If my symptoms don't perfectly match their preconceptions, I worry they'll just think I'm seeking attention.
3) We really can't control it just through willpower, honest to God. I mean yeah, I can try to force myself to sit still for a few seconds and I can usually make it to a count of ten, but that whole time I can practically hear the Tourette's in my head being like, "Dude I am so going to ruin the next five minutes of your life for this." You know how at the end of a race, there's that little ribbon going across the road that the winner gets to run through? Suppressing tics is like putting one of those ribbons between a five year old and his presents on Christmas morning: Yeah, fine, it was there, but it got so totally jacked up by that little kid that it probably wasn't even worth putting it there in the first place, and now the kid is frustrated by that tiny obstacle and he's throwing wrapping paper everywhere and mixing up the decals with the wrong action figures. So while yes, I can put up a token resistance against my tics, no, I'm not going to. I don't have a lot of choices I can make in regards to my tics, so this is one I'm going to make and own.
That's about all I can think of right now. I'm sure there are more, and I'd love to hear some TS myths you'd like dispelled!
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