The Life Of Someone Who Has Tourettes Syndrome.
Hello there! This article is going to tell you (reader) about my life dealing with Tourettes Syndrome (TS), How i cope with it, And when i realized i had TS!
HOW I DEAL WITH TS
Well, having TS is hard because it can cause panic attacks, anxiety attacks, or in the worst case scenario; suicide. But in my case it isn’t so bad, i have both Phonic(Vocal) and Motor(Physical) tics, most of them are normal ones like random noises and words but i do have a couple curse word tics and other tics that can cause trouble.
HOW I DEAL WITH TS; Phonic Tics
Phonic tics, they can be troublesome at times because well some people have words like pussy, dick, bitch, ect ect in their tic-vocabulary, and others have tics that are simply words like what, huh, and wait in their tic-vocabulary, of course in both of these instances the person experiencing Phonic tics (PT) they will also have noises as Phonic tics. My Phonic tics are mostly noises but i do have a particularly troublesome Phonic tic, and that would be the word penis/dick, you can see why it would be hard to explain if i do have this particular Phonic tic in public or around people who don’t know i have TS. My other Phonic tics in my tic-vocabulary include “heehoo”, “weewoo”, “hello”, and other miscellaneous noises and words. I deal with my Phonic tics by leaving the room or saying i’m going to have a Phonic tic before it happens, though of course sometimes they don’t work how i want them to.
HOW I DEAL WITH TS; Motor Tics
Motor tics, the worst ones in my opinion. Motor tics unlike Phonic tics are very troublesome, some people have Motor tics that include throwing things, slapping things/people, kicking things/people, and punching things/people while others have more unproblematic Motor tics like shoulder twitches, hand twitches, head twitches, cocking their eyebrow, and excessive blinking, though the other person and first person may share Motor tics (MT) like head twitches, shoulder twitches, slapping things/people, and kicking things/people, please remember that TS is like a mix-n-match game in the way that people can have different experiences but share some things. My motor tics include, slapping things/people, head twitches, shoulder twitches, putting up the middle finger, full-body movements, there are two specific Motor tics that can be hard to explain if i have them in public or around people who don’t know i have TS. I deal with Motor tics by leaving the room or full-body tensing-up, though of course sometimes they don’t work how i want them to.
HOW I COPE WITH TS
Coping with TS is a pretty easy thing to do seeing as i’m always around a device that can get me to what calms me down, though sometimes if i have more than one TS attack it can cause me to get Panic attacks or Anxiety attacks, in the worst case scenario i’ll wear the same clothes for a long time, i wont sleep or eat, i’ll stay in one spot for the whole day, and i wont go outside, but lucky for me that doesn’t happen all that often.
HOW I COPE WITH TS; Phonic Tics
Coping with Phonic tics is moderately easy, i don’t experience Phonic tics that can trigger me but it’s rather people’s reactions to my Phonic tics that gets me down in the depths, here’s an example; I have my Phonic tic that causes me to say Penis/Dick, a close friend of mine is angry/disgusted, you can probably guess why i would get sad about that, and for me sadness leads to frustration, frustration leads to stress, stress leads to anger, anger leads to an Anxiety attack. Though i’m very glad that the example doesn’t happen very often, it may seem pushy or odd to do what i do but i always emphasize that i have TS to the people i meet, but just because i emphasize it doesn’t mean people will always not mind it. I cope with my Phonic tics (PT) with art, either it being me aimlessly scrolling through Pinterest looking at art or me drawing, usually when i draw it’ll be drift-drawing because drift-drawing lets me just sketch whatever i want no matter how abstract it is, but the best part is the process of turning it from a random doodle into a colored masterpiece, though i’m not very confident in my art skills.
HOW I COPE WITH TS; Motor tics
Coping with Motor tics is both easier than coping with Phonic tics and harder than coping with Phonic tics. I don’t experience extremely extravagant Motor tics but its rather people’s reactions to my Motor tics that gets me all sad, here’s an example; I have my Motor tic that causes me to put the middle finger up, one of my closest friends is angry, you can see why i’d become distressed/sad, and like i stated in “HOW I COPE WITH TS; Phonic Tics” it would lead me to have a Panic/Anxiety attack. But i’m very grateful that the example doesn’t happen a lot, and of course just like how i stated in “HOW I COPE WITH TS; Phonic Tics” i like to emphasize that i have TS to new people i meet, and sometimes even if i tell people i have TS i can still offend them in a way. I cope with my Motor tics with music, whether it being me singing my heart out to nobody or me silently listening to my favorite playlist of music, i sing many varieties of music but when i’m down in the depths i sing sad music or revengeful music, the best part of it is that i like hearing a small hum turn into a song i would sing at a concert if i could go and perform at one, though i don’t exactly like my voice when i sing.
WHEN I REALIZED I HAD TS
Realizing you have TS can be hard either body wise or mental wise, and the worst part is sometimes you can be in a bad head space when you find out and it can lead to suicide or self harm, i don’t do it a lot but i self harm sometimes, but rarely because of me having TS.
WHEN I REALIZED I HAD TS; Phonic & Motor Tics
I was about five or six when i came to the conclusion i had TS, but i really started believing it when i turned seven, at the time i was having heaps upon heaps of Phonic and Motor tic attacks (PTSA & MTSA) though unfortunately my mother didn’t quite believe me, she still sadly doesn’t but i won’t get into that. I didn’t understand why i was suddenly developing these long lasting tic attacks and i couldn’t control myself, it got so bad that one time at school i had a breakdown in class because i felt a tic attack coming on, i was lucky that i was transferred from a different class because my previous teacher wasn’t the nicest, but my new teacher was very sweet and kind, i told her everything from why i was getting these random bursts of movement or noise and how i couldn’t get diagnosed right away because my mother didn’t believe me, she was very understanding and took me to the nurses office, after maybe two or three years i had finally convinced my mom’s sister (My aunt) to get me diagnosed without my mom knowing, so we went and i got diagnosed with TS and then my aunt drove me home, we didn’t tell her because she’d be mad at both of us, i haven’t talked to my mom about having TS since because i’m scared one day i might slip.
Did you read this far? if you did i’m happy you stuck around till the end!! I made this article to bring awareness about TS but also add some of my personal opinions and experiences into it! But please don’t only use mine or someone else’s article like its perfectly accurate, everyone has different experiences and opinions on things, thanks for reading!! and thank you to my friend for sparking my motivation to write, i wouldn’t have made this article if it weren’t for you!