Coping Techniques, and a Quick Thank You

This past Friday, I decided to let my friends and family know about this blog and, by extension, about my Tourette's diagnosis. It occurs to me that my first sentence should have listed my unveilings in order of importance (Tourette's, then blog), but I can't delete with this darn typewriter.

So yes, I finally knuckled up and got around to doing what I said I'd do in a blog post from two months ago. To any of my friends and family who decided to stick with it, Hi! Thanks for all the kindness you've shown me either on Facebook, in person, or over the phone. I wish I'd told you all earlier. To the fifty or so of you who've been reading these posts since the end of August, thanks for helping me get here! Interacting with you on Twitter has been exceptionally helpful to me both in writing this blog and in coming to terms with my TS diagnosis. Luckily I'm still pretty messed up in the head, so the posts continue!

I figure tonight might be a good time to talk about coping techniques I've utilized in handling the multifaceted butt-diamond that is Tourette's Syndrome. As I talked about in another different post, I've spent a lot of time reading and playing video games. In addition to the sheer escapism and control fantasies they provide, I think part of the benefit is the degree to which they remove my mind from my body. The transportative aspect of a game or a book helps give my brain and my body a little bit of distance from one another. By the time I'm ready to put the book or the controller down, my brain and body are mostly the same person again and we can go about our day. I find that with age though, I have less patience for a less-than-stellar book or game, which can lead to frustration (not saying I could do better). Between being a husband, a dad, and a full-time worker, I DEMAND that all my non-obligatory experiences be SPECTACULAR. Basically what I'm saying is that I'm getting less satisfaction from these old standby diversions and I haven't yet come up with a better alternative.

I also started watching/listening to ASMR videos and streams a few months ago. It's probably not a go-to tactic for everyone, but they sure help me relax. If you're interested, just search YouTube for ASMR and take your pick. Find a nice quiet (and maybe dark) place, put on a decent pair of headphones, and try to chill. I find that enjoying these helps me reduce tics and my general stress level back to a point where I feel like a functional human again.With earbuds, I can even enjoy this at work, which makes rough work days a little easier to get through. These could probably be helpful to anyone, TS or not.

How about you, reader? Got any TS coping strategies to share? Tell me on Twitter!

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