Tourette's Syndrome (TS)
Involuntary and often repetitive motions or verbalizations called tics characterize Tourette's syndrome, or TS. There is no question that Tourette's syndrome and OCD are linked and frequently comorbid. A child may have the tics associated with Tourette's syndrome for many years without you realizing it. There is a wide range of symptom severity with Tourette's. Some of these common tics are fairly invisible to others:
Eye-rolling
Coughing
Forehead touching
Frequent intakes of breath
Head turning
Frequently, a parent and even the child with OCD will become aware of the presence of these tics only after they are defined as tics and brought to their attention. Other tics are more obvious and disruptive:
Incessant laughing
The need to say whatever comes into her head
Jerking a hand or arm into the air
For the child with OCD, these tics are often the most noticeable aspect of his disorder and the most difficult to control. Here's how J.Z., age seventeen, described his experience on the OCF Chicago teen Web site:
Tics come and go, and I had quite a parade: sniffing tics, grunting tics, slurping, whistling, humming, tics in my hands, legs, and neck, and even a shrugging tic that gave me whiplash…. In sixth grade the mental anguish of OCD joined the physical torment of Tourette's. I had scrupulosity (fear of hell, compulsive praying), and contamination obsessions. I couldn't sleep because my mind swirled with dread of hanta virus and eternal damnation. I couldn't eat for fear that chemical residue from science class might be on my hands. The grades took a nosedive.
Fortunately, J.Z. found help for both his OCD and Tourette's syndrome from ERP exposures. As he summed up his experience of therapy, “ERP works. I learned how to manage the OCD and get on with my life.”
