Tourette's Syndrome Essay

Imagine living in a world where you have no control over certain motor movements or vocalizing certain things that come out of your mouth, these actions are called tics. Tics are sounds or movements they can’t control. Children ages 6-18 years of age and a few adults living with Tourette syndrome have to deal with on a daily basis. Commonly known for its vocalization, Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder that affects the Nervous System. Individuals that are affected by this disorder tend to make sudden movements or sounds, also known as tics, they can’t control. An example of TS is someone blinking their eyes repeatedly over and over again or they may blurt out words or statements they don’t intend to say. Having these tics is similar to having
Some motions associated with motor ticks are arm or head jerking, blinking, making a face, mouth twitching, and shoulder shrugging. Whereas vocal tics, the individual could experience barking or yelping, clearing their throat, coughing, grunting, shouting, sniffing, swearing, or also repeating what someone else has said. There is also both simple and complex tics. With simple tics it involves just a few parts of the body, whereas complex tics it involves several different parts of the body and can have a pattern. Prior to someone experiencing a tic, they will have a sensation that resembles a tingle or tension. In order for the sensation to go away, they must go through the motion of the
One treatment is Behavioral Therapy which teaches people with TS ways to manage their tics. It helps with the combination of the number, severity, and the impacts of tics the person experiences. Another treatment is Habit Reversal. In the first part of this treatment is called Awareness Training where people will identify each tic out loud. Then the second part in the treatment known as Competing Response, the person will learn to make a new behavior that cannot be done at the same time as the tic. For instance, if the tic is head rubbing, the person will learn to cross their hands instead, so the head rubbing may not take place. Depending on the severity of tics especially in response from stress, anxiety, excitement, fatigue, and illness, medication can be of help to control it. Some medications may include Adderall for the co-occurring condition ADHD, antidepressants to help with the anxiety or depression, or Haldol, Orap, and Proxlixin which works on brain chemicals called dopamine that helps to control