Tourette's/Tic Tips and Tricks

What is a tic?

A tic is an involuntary movement/vocalization that can be caused by many different things, such as stress, anxiety, adhd, autism, or a tic disorder. You don't have to have tourette's or a tic disorder to have tics.

Many people with tics can sense a tic before it happens.

Some people can suppress their tics for a short amount of time, but this can cause all those tics to build up and come out at once, resulting in a tic attack (not fun btw).

You may have noticed if you are active on Tiktok that a lot of users with tics have a few of the same one (e.g. "beans" or "beetroot"). This is because people who have tics can "pick up" tics from others. I personally have picked up several vocal tics and one very unfortunate motor tic from a tiktoker i watch frequently. Not cool.

The way I'd describe a tic urge is like when you feel like you're gonna sneeze but you can't tell when? Like you know it's gonna happen but you can't tell if it's gonna happen right then or a few seconds later. It differs from person to person i think.

Tics can be motor tics or verbal/vocal tics.

Tics are usually separated into two categories: simple and complex.

Examples provided below:

Simple motor tics: small twitches, shuddering, blinking.

Complex motor tics: clapping, jumping, sticking tongue out.

Simple vocal tics: coughing, clearing throat, gasping.

Complex vocal tics: saying words/sentences, whistling, yelling.

Those are just examples and most of them are from personal experience.

This is pretty much all i could think to put in this chapter, so please give suggestions for other chapters!! I'll try to update semi frequently:)