Fictional character Bob Wiley is a good-natured man that suffers from multiple phobias. In the story, Bob spends makes friends with his psychiatrist's son Siggy. There is a famous scene in the picture during when staying over during a thunderstorm Bob and Siggy are jumping on the beds and yelling obscenities at the top of their lungs; pretending to have Tourette Syndrome (TS).
Where this movie (and scene) has done a lot to get people thinking about Tourette's. In the movie it's funny, but for those of us who live with it, it's not always a laughing matter. Unfortunately the movie scene has also stigmatized TS sufferers as people who uncontrollably swear and make obscene noises (corprolalia). Where in fact, less than a tenth of TS sufferers have coprolalia.
Tourette Syndrome (TS or simply Tourette's), is a common neurological disorder characterized by multiple motor tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. Tics are sudden, repetitive, nonrhythmic movements (motor tics) and utterances (phonic tics) that involve discrete muscle groups. Motor tics are movement-based tics, while phonic tics are involuntary sounds produced by moving air through the nose, mouth, or throat. Tics characteristically wax and wane, and are typically preceded by an unwanted urge or sensation in the affected muscles; sort of like a sneeze. In some instances the tic can be temporarily suppressed, but it's going to come out (sort of like trying to forcefully stop yourself from a hiccup).
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I have palilalia (repeating of words), which for me is a contiguous repeating of syllables, words and phases. Some of us also have echolalia (repeating sounds). As an adult, more often than not, my tics come and go without notice. But sometimes they are so obvious people who are unaware of the affliction either ask me (in a condescending tone) "are you right there," or to "just stop doing that". Worse are the people who know someone with TS, and think that because your tics are different that their tics, you must be faking it. People cannot fake tics, as they are uncontrollable and involuntary actions.
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Beyond the tics, Tourette's is:
* riddled with stigma regarding the affliction
* can be depressive for its sufferer's
* can cause undue social anxiety
It is my hope that others who have Tourette Syndrome, or are friends/relatives of people with TS, can post here and gain benefit of my experience living with, coping with, and conquering TS (err... oops... I didn't conquer it)
SB
