Tourette Syndrome

[Cruor]

First off: Yes I knew about the disease ages ago, South Park just reminded me of it. Also I know there are different levels, some people can live a 98% normal life, others have it really bad.

The South Park Tourette Syndrome episode was on the other day (awesome episode if you have not seen it) Anyway, knowing South Park usually does things really well with a funny spin, I googled to see if people with Tourette's really curse. The first examples, no, they didn't, but others did, like this example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6_JvF9CTY

Now first of all, this is not to insult people with Tourette Syndrome, I know they can't help it. I think the 11 year old described it best for someone who doesn't have it: No, you can't stop the ticks, you can try, but it's like a sneeze... it comes on quick, and you can stifle it but not fully stop it, so they get to the point of just letting it do its full thing. However, here is the part I can't understand: The cursing. Curse words are just sounds made by humans that we give meaning to. We only know "fuck" and "shit" are bad words because our parents told us so... if I heard a Russian or Chinese curse word... I'd have no clue it was a curse. So, I think some part of these kids who do curse (a bunch do but it seems the majority actually don't) have to of, if even subconsciously, picked that word because it is "bad"... thoughts?

I just always found Tourette's very interesting, even as a little kid, I remember there was a kid who lived in my building who had it and I would ask my parents about it all the time. Can anyone who has it, or knows someone who has it explain why they "pick" the words they do? The woman in the video says she does not know why she picked the word "biscuit" but there has to be a reason. Maybe she loved biscuits *cough COOKIES cough* as a kid? Again, I understand the twitch would be 100% involuntary, but words only have the meaning we gave them... thus some part of the brain must have chosen that word for some reason.

[Mifuyne]

You can not "pick" the word if you have Tourettes.

Now - unconciously there probably is something at play but nothing "proper" is known about it.
What is known is that in certain situations people that have the vocal type Tourettes sometimes say taboo words in certain situations.

The tourette tics are usually very prone to appear in stressful situations, let's say flying on a plane when that person is afraid of flying.
Words that come out due to the tics might be related to flying or mostly, trying to stop the flying; bomb, terrorist, cussing.

[chubbybunny]

If you want to know about tourettes then i'd suggest you watch some of lewis Qballs videos : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8...o1fvmAxWCIkPrw

[chazus]

You basically spent a lot of time explaining how you know about it, and then pretty much stated the answer.

Most don't. Simply put. A very small percentage do.

[Mifuyne]

Syndromes are very ehm..how do you say it, fascinating.
It's shit to have/that they exist but it's fascinating to see how it all works - or doesn't work.

[Cruor]

You can not "pick" the word if you have Tourettes.

Now - unconciously there probably is something at play but nothing "proper" is known about it.
What is known is that in certain situations people that have the vocal type Tourettes sometimes say taboo words in certain situations.

The tourette tics are usually very prone to appear in stressful situations, let's say flying on a plane when that person is afraid of flying.
Words that come out due to the tics might be related to flying or mostly, trying to stop the flying; bomb, terrorist, cussing.

Right... I get they don't "pick" it like we pick what to have for dinner but something has to be at play... like the boy in the video says first it was ticks, then came random words, THEN the cursing... the question is why curse? If he is stressed by people looking at him, I would think "fuck" would be the last word the brain would pick, as it is just going to draw extra attention? Again... even if he isn't consciously picking it, some part of the brain knows the word is "bad" and chose it. That is what I am interested by.

- - - Updated - - -

If you want to know about tourettes then i'd suggest you watch some of lewis Qballs videos : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc8...o1fvmAxWCIkPrw

Thanks, will do.

Edit - So how to put this - If you took an exact clone of the guy in these videos as a baby, and raised by like.. Amish (or I dunno, someone who NEVER curses) what would he say instead?

[Mifuyne]

Right... I get they don't "pick" it like we pick what to have for dinner but something has to be at play... like the boy in the video says first it was ticks, then came random words, THEN the cursing... the question is why curse? If he is stressed by people looking at him, I would think "fuck" would be the last word the brain would pick, as it is just going to draw extra attention? Again... even if he isn't consciously picking it, some part of the brain knows the word is "bad" and chose it. That is what I am interested by.

The swearing seems to be there due to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolalia , which can happen without Tourettes as well.
WHY they use such words , even tho they also personally know it makes situations worse/extra attention is why it is a syndrome or a fault in the wires.

[derpkitteh]

i wanna know what people say if they've never heard a curse word before and don't know about them.

or never heard a taboo word before either, like sex or something.

- - - Updated - - -

The swearing seems to be there due to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprolalia , which can happen without Tourettes as well.
WHY they use such words , even tho they also personally know it makes situations worse/extra attention is why it is a syndrome or a fault in the wires.

it just tickles me pink that a legitimate medical term can be boiled down to meaning "shittalk".

[Deleted]

My friend has Tourette too. When it starts it cannot be stopped. His common words are: "I", "need", "healing". He also mains genji in overwatch.

[Mifuyne]

it just tickles me pink that a legitimate medical term can be boiled down to meaning "shittalk".

Involuntary shittalking!

i wanna know what people say if they've never heard a curse word before and don't know about them.
or never heard a taboo word before either, like sex or something.

Coprolalia can also manifest in other sounds that are non-informative such as barking, puking sounds, etc.
So if they don't use swear words, anything that is "taboo" or "unacceptable" works.

Oh, and yes you can hold a tic back but the longer you hold it back the more it builds up until eventually you have to give in and let it go. It's helpful for escaping a publicly embarrassing situation but you always have to pay that piper eventually.

Can you describe the feeling of "having to let it out"?
Does it feel like a itch? Is it a physical feeling or a emotional/psychological feeling?

One part of my feels you are slightly lucky in that people can see/hear that there is something "different" about you.
As a person with PDDNOS, it is invisible and people won't know unless I tell them.
It's like a bear trap covered with leaves and people (or I myself) step in it.

My other side feels like it is pretty terrible as well, considering it's "out in the open", making you unlucky.
How are you coping with it all?

- - - Updated - - -

My friend has Tourette too. When it starts it cannot be stopped. His common words are: "I", "need", "healing". He also mains genji in overwatch.

Pretty funny but also not cool at the same time
Same way I can laugh at jokes aimed at autists and feel embarrased at the same time.

[33kamous3]

A few years back there was a similar documentary, also British, that focused on several adolescents going to a summer camp for kids with Tourettes' in the US. I guess it was filmed in the early 2000's. There's a part where they're at a park in Chicago, and out of nowhere one of them goes "TWIN TOWERS!!!!!TWIN TOWERS!!!" I think they were afraid that the Americans around would get upset, but the other people in the park just seemed kind of perplexed. Much of their tick activity wasn't really profane, just what you would describe as strange or inappropriate. I was a bit worried when they were saying the "N" word, though.

It seems like it would be really rough to have it as an adolescent, because almost every situation you're in feels awkward and embarrassing anyway. Most young people that age will do anything they can to avoid drawing attention to themselves in public situations. Adding that the obvious involuntary behaviors seem to be triggered more in awkward situations must be really rough. And then there's all of the people who think you're just faking. I have to admit, when the kids are joking around and laughing about it, it's easy to find yourself thinking that maybe they're just faking or embellishing. So its basically like people probably expect that they should always be sad and dejected and constantly apologizing, or else totally sequestered and secluded from the outside world. So its nice to see these lads enjoying each others' company and supporting each other.

I think the older documentary was called "Tourette's Camp" or something like that.

[Independent voter]

In the small town I grew up in we had a man with Tourettes, he was on disability for it. He would hang out in the library all day. When someone fat would come in he would say "fat, fat, fat, fat." He would make noises, grunts and barks. He was on medication of some kind as well. The librarians never asked him to leave.

[33kamous3]

I worked with a dishwasher who may have had some form of Tourettes, but I'm not sure. When people would come back to the dish area, he would get visibly nervous and distracted, and he'd often let out some kind of snorts or growls, and twitchy arm movements, that he seemed to be trying to hold back. But whenever I would ask him about video games or something like that he's seem pretty calm and articulate.

[Deleted]

If Tourette makes one have no control over what they say, then why is "horse cock" in the repertoire? Is the person thinking of that when discussing clothing?

[Cruor]

I have Tourette's Syndrome, though I do not have coprolalia as my verbal tic. I do, however, experience echolalia but I only echo words that end in a "t" or "k" sound. Why? no fucking clue. There's really not a lot known about TS but, like the kids in the South Park episode who actually have it, I can assure you there is nothing fun about it and no one would intentionally choose to constantly embarrass themselves and their families. I'm sure there's some reason why we have the particular tics we have, but no one has really figured it out quite yet.

Believe me, it really sucks to have to take a medicine with all sorts of nasty possible side effects for the rest of your life just to not act abnormally in public.

Oh, and yes you can hold a tic back but the longer you hold it back the more it builds up until eventually you have to give in and let it go. It's helpful for escaping a publicly embarrassing situation but you always have to pay that piper eventually.

If you are concentrating on something like gaming (I assume you are a gamer being on mmo champion) can you stop it for a minute, or get it less? Like you said you can hold it back a bit, can you hold it for moments you need to or is it too uncomfortable? Or would you be on a boss fight in WoW or a fight in PUBG and die because of the tic? Also driving... how does driving work out?

- - - Updated - - -

If Tourette makes one have no control over what they say, then why is "horse cock" in the repertoire? Is the person thinking of that when discussing clothing?

Right, thats my question... for the ones that do curse, what is the deal? are they thinking of so hard of what NOT to say, they DO say it, or were they thinking of that stuff at some point?

[Deleted]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooOEfuT-TQE

I think it can be funny at some times but you should never laugh in the presence of one afflicted by it.

[Aydinx2]

Can you describe the feeling of "having to let it out"?
Does it feel like a itch? Is it a physical feeling or a emotional/psychological feeling?.

It’s like a musquieto bite inside your brain that never stops itching.
You need to scratch it at some point, but it only helps for a few seconds.

- - - Updated - - -

My husband has very mild Tourette's and his tick is kinda like a snort sound through his nose. He does it maybe 10 times a day, but it’s not bothersome or even noticeable to others (just sounds like he’s clearing his nose) unless you know why he does it. I don’t know the percentage of people with Tourette’s that curse, but I think it’s been highly over-exaggerating by TV because it can be funny.

Yeah I heard somewhere that the cursinng % is tiny.

[zenkai]

First off: Yes I knew about the disease ages ago, South Park just reminded me of it. Also I know there are different levels, some people can live a 98% normal life, others have it really bad.

The South Park Tourette Syndrome episode was on the other day (awesome episode if you have not seen it) Anyway, knowing South Park usually does things really well with a funny spin, I googled to see if people with Tourette's really curse. The first examples, no, they didn't, but others did, like this example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6_JvF9CTY

Now first of all, this is not to insult people with Tourette Syndrome, I know they can't help it. I think the 11 year old described it best for someone who doesn't have it: No, you can't stop the ticks, you can try, but it's like a sneeze... it comes on quick, and you can stifle it but not fully stop it, so they get to the point of just letting it do its full thing. However, here is the part I can't understand: The cursing. Curse words are just sounds made by humans that we give meaning to. We only know "fuck" and "shit" are bad words because our parents told us so... if I heard a Russian or Chinese curse word... I'd have no clue it was a curse. So, I think some part of these kids who do curse (a bunch do but it seems the majority actually don't) have to of, if even subconsciously, picked that word because it is "bad"... thoughts?

I just always found Tourette's very interesting, even as a little kid, I remember there was a kid who lived in my building who had it and I would ask my parents about it all the time. Can anyone who has it, or knows someone who has it explain why they "pick" the words they do? The woman in the video says she does not know why she picked the word "biscuit" but there has to be a reason. Maybe she loved biscuits *cough COOKIES cough* as a kid? Again, I understand the twitch would be 100% involuntary, but words only have the meaning we gave them... thus some part of the brain must have chosen that word for some reason.

I worked with a guy who had Tourette's, he never used any words, he just had ticks. He would coo, twitch and straighten his tie a lot. .

[Deleted]

ah this reminds be of an episode 20 years ago, was in a pub in london with mates and our other halves at the time, this fella and his mates across the room where on a round table and one guy was spouting, oi fucking homo, you slag, shes a slag, slag - etc, .

ofc i went over and had some hard words, it was explained to me that the fella has tourettes, to which i apologised to him, but not his mates who were just laughing. his mates i assume should be "helping" him.

Anyway, fast forward something like 6 months, and he was there in pub again as was i , but only with one friend, and aimed language at some right rough scum looking pikeys who were up for a right old fight, i waded in and quickly calmed it down, and then joined the fella for a drink, we are still friends to this day and still meet up once or twice for a bevvie.

[Gwennie]

Here's a recent AMA from someone with Tourette's and copralalia, that answers your questions, including "why cussing when it's just words"
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/commen..._syndrome_ama/