...This is the essay I submitted to the New Jersey Center for Tourette Syndrome for their 2012 Children’s Scholarship Award contest. I hope you enjoy it! And here is my profile on the NJCTS website. It’s hard for me to talk about my life with Tourette. For years, I shut everyone out and became enraged if my family even said that word out loud. I know my mom was always trying to help — all the times she tried to show me the stories on TV and the movies about kids with Tourette. She’d talk about the soccer player and the drummer and other people who had my disorder and accomplished things. She’d try to introduce me to others who had Tourette, which only made me rage more because I wanted no part of it. It was always in my face growing up, and all I wanted to do was slam the door shut and never come out. I made noises all the time. I made terrible noises such as barking like a dog and snorting like a pig. I couldn’t stop, and people noticed. Bullies made fun of me at the playground, and I never wanted to go back. My tics ruled my life growing up. I couldn’t stop moving and twitching, and I was totally aware of everything my body was doing — and all the people who could see me. I was so angry that there was nothing I could do about it that I would rage all over my mom when I got home. She would be so nice to me, and all I would do was rage. She raised me and my brother alone and had no one to lean on, and all I would do was rage on her. Afterward, the feelings of guilt for...
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...Intro: Why am I here Medical Aspect of TS: Connect with audience- question: Who knows what Tourette’s is? personalize Brief description of TS and symptoms Mild to severe Description of causes TS and genetics Include studies Methods of diagnosis Related disorders OCD ADHD * Social Aspect of TS: Challenges TS cause Reality and perception of TS Why do people with TS use slurs? TS and making friends Living successful with TS Not curable, just treatable Natural remission Cases of famous people with TS Conclusion: Reiterate the challenges and underline the resolutions to TS TS can be overcome Hello, my name is Ramon. Today, I will be speaking about Tourette Syndrome or TS, for short. * Before I start going into this, how many of you know or have an idea of what TS is? Raise your hand if you do. For those of you who don’t know what it is, TS is a neurological disorder characterized by involuntary motor and/or vocal tics such as eye blinking, throat clearing, sniffing, or even head jerking. * On a side note, if any of you notice me doing any of the mentioned tics, it’s because I myself am diagnosed with TS ever I was 12. Both types of TS often range from mild to severe. Studies show that TS is inherited only 50% of the time. The gene is carried by the parent, but that doesn’t mean that the parent has it as well. Most often, the TS gene skips a generation. * This means that anyone who has TS may have received it due to his/her grandparents...
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...Tourette's syndrome, also called Tourette's disorder is named after the neurologist, Gilles de la Tourette. Sometimes it is referred to as GTS but more often it is simply called Tourette's or ‘TS’. It is an inherited neurological disorder marked by movement-based (motor) tics which are abrupt, repetitive, stereotyped, non-rhythmic movements, as well as vocal (verbal or phonic) tics which are involuntary sounds produced by moving air through the nose, mouth, or throat. Tourette's is defined as part of a spectrum of tic disorders, which includes transient and chronic tics. This disorder may appear in multiple family members, and often appears (co-morbid) with other behavioral disorders, in particular - “obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)” (Hawley 2008). People with this disorder have normal life expectancy and intelligence, but symptoms can lead to decrease in normal activities (Walkup, Mink & Hollenbeck 2006). Tourette’s syndrome, as described in the psychiatric diagnostic tool DSM-IV-TR criteria is “associated with distress or social or functional impairment” (Hawley 2008). Onset and Diagnosis. The most common first sign to alert people to visit the doctor for a possible presence of Tourette’s is a facial tic such as “rapidly blinking eyes or twitches of the mouth” (NTSA 2009). Unintended, involuntary sounds such as throat clearing, shrugging or tics of the limbs may be initial signs but in certain case, although rare...
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...Todd’s Syndrome is a neurological disorder that effects ones visual perception of physical objects and their surroundings. An athlete begins to experience episodes of micropsia and macropsia (objects within their visual focus appear to be smaller or larger than they actually are). This can cause the athlete to perceive that their own body is bigger or smaller in size than they actually are. Surrounding objects can also appear farther or closer than they seem but, because of the athlete’s visual sight being distorted it can lead to the athlete to see non-uniformed shapes (Metamorphopsia). Todd’s Syndrome has also been given the name Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AWS) due to the signs and symptoms being similar to what occurs in the...
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...Amelie Response An idee fixe is an idea or desire that dominates the mind; an obsession. Usually a minor fixation where the average person had a strong like or dislike about a specific thing. From the moment the film Amelie starts the narrator talks about Amelie’s dysfunctional family and all their bizarre idee fixe . Her parents are odd people, as detailed in their "likes" and "dislikes" by the narrator which later causes Amelie to develop some fixations of her own. Amelie’s father Raphael was an emotionless man. He dislikes peeing next to someone, catching scornful glances at his sandals, and clingy wet swimming trunks. He really likes to peel large strips off wallpaper, emptying out his tool box, cleaning it out, and putting everything back. Amelie’s mother Amandine is a schoolmistress with a nervous tic in her eye. Amandine has an fixaton with figure skaters costume on TV, polishing the parquet, emptying her handbag, cleaning it out, and putting everything back. She dislikes puckered fingers in the bath, having her hands touched by strangers and finally pillow marks on her cheeks in the morning. Amandine was killed when a woman committing suicide landed on her. From that day Amelie’s father developed a new idee fixe, he became obsessed with building a shrine to her ashes . Amelie's father gave her yearly check-ups, and his nearness made her so nervous (because he was not demonstrative in their love, and Amelie wanted to be hugged) that her heart would beat very fast....
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...Many people wonder what Tourette’s syndrome is exactly. Although I sure people have seen from movies, would think someone with Tourette’s would curse a lot loudly, or say inappropriate expressions, but that is lease likely to occur. Tourette’s syndrome is one of many disorders in a human. It is a neurological disorder that makes people lose control of their body, twitch uncontrollably, and shout out unusual words, also may cause blinking repeatedly, these are known as tics. This disorder is known to be hereditary, but also may just so happen due to stress and what not. It is known when having Tourette’s syndrome; you may also have another sort of disorder. Sadly, there is no cure for this mysterious disorder, but with professional help and medication, the tics can be less severe. But hopefully soon enough, maybe later on in the future there will be a cure for this disorder. If having tics for over a year a doctor would say you have a chronic tic disorder, in most cases its part of Tourette’s, which was first determined, in 1825 by a doctor named Georges Gilles de la Tourette, a French neurologist. In 1885, he proclaimed a cause of the syndrome on a few patients. Most of his patients were young men. It was known that having this disorder was very rare. He found that the disorder was running in families. While finding ways to describe the disorder, it has been named after him. With having this disorder it is mostly found during childhood, usually within the ages of 7 and 10 years...
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...October 14, 2012 Matthew Hoffman Mental Illness: OCD Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is an anxiety disorder characterized by the inability to control or even stop unwanted thoughts and actions. From the 14th to the 16th century in Europe, OCD was thought to be a devilish influence and treated through exorcisms (“Who discovered OCD?”). As time went on, this anxiety disorder was thought as a form on insanity; this was until the 19th century. In the 19th century, the obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions were debated as neurosis (“A short history of OCD”, 2009). Finally in 1910, OCD was known to be the “touching disorder” by Sigmund Freud. Freud and Pierre Janet were the first to identify that the disorder is a psychological disorder (“A short history of OCD”, 2009; “Who discovered OCD?”, Karr, 2010). Obsessive-compulsive disorder affects about 1 percent of the United States and 1.8 percent of Canadians. The cradle to grave occurrence of obsessive-compulsive disorder is approximately 1.7 to 4 percent (Moscou & Snipe, 2009). In adults, men and women are equally affected by OCD, according to the American Psychiatric Association in the DSM-IV-TR (2000). According to Medical Doctor, Sang H. Suh, men with OCD have symptoms show up at a younger age than women; men as 6 to 15 years old and women being in their 20’s (2004). Some researchers say that minorities—mostly African and Mexican Americans—are more susceptible to anxiety disorders, such as OCD. This is very controversial...
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...Lisa Stoltey January 13, 2013 Obsessive-compulsion disorder HCA/240 Obsessive-compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts; feelings, ideas, sensations or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something. People that suffer from OCD are often entirely consumed by these compulsions that it can be difficult to function normally on a regular basis. There are many facts, myths, and beliefs about how OCD works, came about, treated and coped with. The history of when OCD was first noticed is not set in stone but it is believed that the first belief was around the European Renaissance about 14th to 16th centuries. “One belief that began to be abandoned was the superstitious notion that mental illnesses were caused by the devil, demons, or supernatural forces.” ("Short history of," 2009) Compulsions brought on by OCD were called scrupulosity. Sufferers of OCD where mainly treated in the clergy. By the 1700’s the clergy were deferring to physicians to help people suffering from OCD. There were not very many treatments at this time and had to use the tools they did have to try and help the compulsions. The first treatment reported was bloodletting or a phlebotomy. This is when the doctor would drain blood from the sufferer in a effort to adjust the bodily “humors”("Short history of," 2009)In the 1700’s they did not know how to treat OCD as a whole but focused on the compulsion instead. For example, one woman reported having...
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...DISEASES in the BRAIN -Locked-in Syndrome http://www.cdrex.com/ -is a condition in which a patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. Total locked-in syndrome is a version of locked-in syndrome where the eyes are paralyzed as well.A rare neurological disorder characterized by complete paralysis of voluntary muscles in all parts of the body except for those that control eye movement. It may result from traumatic brain injury, diseases of the circulatory system, diseases that destroy the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells, or medication overdose. Individuals with locked-in syndrome are conscious and can think and reason, but are unable to speak or move. The disorder leaves individuals completely mute and paralyzed. Communication may be possible with blinking eye movements. -Tourette's(http://tourettecamp.com/index.php) syndrome is an inherited neurological disorder. Early onset may be during childhood, and is characterized by physical tics and verbal tics. The exact cause of Tourette's, other than genetic factors, is unknown. -Huntington's(http://huntingtonsaustralia.asn.au/)& http://www.huntingtonsociety.ca/english/content/?page=Staff%20Bio, http://www.hdsa.org/about/our-mission/what-is-hd.html Huntington's Disease: a devastating, hereditary, degenerative brain disorder for which there is, at present, no cure and only one...
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...What is Tourette syndrome? Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. The disorder is named for Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, the pioneering French neurologist who in 1885 first described the condition in an 86-year-old French noblewoman. The early symptoms of TS are typically noticed first in childhood, with the average onset between the ages of 3 and 9 years. TS occurs in people from all ethnic groups; males are affected about three to four times more often than females. It is estimated that 200,000 Americans have the most severe form of TS, and as many as one in 100 exhibit milder and less complex symptoms such as chronic motor or vocal tics. Although TS can be a chronic condition with symptoms lasting a lifetime, most people with the condition experience their worst tic symptoms in their early teens, with improvement occurring in the late teens and continuing into adulthood. What are the symptoms? Tics are classified as either simple or complex. Simple motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements that involve a limited number of muscle groups. Some of the more common simple tics include eye blinking and other eye movements, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Simple vocalizations might include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds. Complex tics are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involving several...
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...an afflicted patient. It is primarily a compulsive psychological disorder, although it may manifest itself physically in involuntary motor movements e.g. jerking gestures, arm flailing, groaning and grunting, shouting obscenities etc (Mink, 2008, p. 211). This is a publication that extensively covers the recent advances in neurology; it covers Tourette’s syndrome and Coprolalia in extension. It expounds on the Coprolalia disorder, its symptoms, causes, manifestations and its relation with its comorbid disorders. Coprolalia disorder is a symptom of other malaises like Tourette’s syndrome or schizophrenia and has links with other medical disorders or conditions. The word Coprolalia stems from two Greek words, ‘kopros’, which means feces, and ‘lalien’, which means to talk. Therefore, Coprolalia is characterized by the profuse and uncontrolled usage of foul or obscene language punctuated by words related to feces. Coprolalia occurs solely or as a manifestation of several other associated comorbid conditions such as ADHD (Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder), OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder) Tourette’s syndrome, tics and schizophrenia. The presence of these comorbid disorders raises the probability of a patient suffering from Coprolalia quite significantly. Coprolalia includes phrases remarks and words that are tabooed in a culture and are thus unacceptable for social use especially when they are used in out of context situations. Indeed,...
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...Strategies for Teaching Students with Tourette Syndrome By: Carolyn Bryant Submitted to Austin Peay State University College of Education Summer 2012 Dr. Moniqueka Gold An estimated 2% of the population has Tourette syndrome and this disability was added too IDEA in 2004. This syndrome falls under the category listed in IDEA as and other health impairment. Most people mistake Tourette syndrome as a behavioral or emotional condition when actually it is a neurological condition. Students that have Tourette syndrome will not automatically be eligible for related services or special education. There are factors that are looked at, evaluations to be studied, and it depends on whether having Tourette syndrome negatively affects school performance. “Tourette syndrome is a neurobiological disorder characterized by tics (involuntary, rapid, sudden movements) and/or vocal outbursts that occur repeatedly.” (National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, 2009) This syndrome is also inherited and first identified in childhood normally from ages 7 through 10. Tourette syndrome is four times as likely to be diagnosed in boys as in girls. Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, poor impulse control, behavioral outbursts, and obsessive compulsive disorder also can co-occur with the syndrome, which further complicates the lives of those affected. (Shaw, Woo, & Val, 2007) Normally when people hear the term Tourette syndrome they automatically think about...
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...Kat Biddle Mr. Martinous Composition II 28 November 2012 Life’s a Twitch: The Misconceptions and Personal Impact of Tourette Syndrome Georges Albert Edouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette was a French physician who today would be known as a neurologist and the physician whose name is the eponym for Tourette syndrome. Tourette syndrome was discovered more than a hundred years ago, in 1885, by Gilles de la Tourette while he was a physician at the Salpetriere Hospital in Paris, France. Tourette syndrome (also called, Tourette's disorder, Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, GTS or, simply Tourette's or TS) is an inherited neuropsychiatric disorder with onset in childhood, characterized by multiple physical (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) tic. These tics characteristically wax and wane, can be suppressed temporarily, and are preceded by a premonitory urge. Tourette's is defined as part of a spectrum of tic disorders, which includes transient and chronic tics. (Mashpedia.com) Tourette syndrome (TS) is easily misunderstood and as a society we scrutinize these people for having bad behaviors or parents for not being able to control their children. Tourette’s can impact a person/family’s life socially and emotionally because of the misconceptions of Tourette’s. With the first symptoms of TS appearing in early childhood, they become more apparent closer to adolescences and TS can be a chronic lifelong condition with no cure, with progressing symptoms appearing...
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...Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex condition that involves unwanted distressing thoughts and compulsive rituals. Even though the DSM-5 doesn’t categorize OCD as an anxiety disorder, according to the American Psychiatric Association they define it as “an anxiety disorder in which time-people have recurring, unwanted thoughts, ideas or sensations (obsessions) that make them feel driven to do something repetitively (compulsions).” Obsessions and compulsions are time consuming and take up more than an hour a day or cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. (5th ed., p. 129) This was present in the six British teens in the 2013 documentary “Extreme OCD Camp.” The British teens Jack, Josh, Imation, Libya, Andrew, and Meagan were plagued with a life of obsessions and compulsions. Each individual expressed unique but similar symptoms due to their OCD. A few of the unique symptoms Jack expressed due to his fear of germs were to wear gloves in public, not to use unsterilized cups, plates and utensils, avoid eating improper handled food and to not touch anything that wasn’t sterilized first. Josh has a symmetry disorder, if he touches something with one hand he has to do the same with the other. Imation is plagued by terrible thoughts of death, avoids certain foods, and has to tap everything she passes. Libya has a fear of contamination, being dirty and bad smells. Andrew avoids the number 13 and...
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...Obsessive Compulsive Disorder What is OCD? OCD is an anxiety disorder where sufferers experience persistent and intrusive thoughts occurring as obsessions, compulsions or a combination of the two. Obsessions are things that people think about and can comprise of inappropriate ideas and visual images that aren’t based on reality, such as being convinced that there are germs everywhere. Compulsions are what people do as a result of those obsessions; they are an attempt to reduce distress or prevent feared events, though there is little chance of them doing so. Symptoms of OCD. Obsessive symptoms. Common obsessions include: * Contamination, eg by germs. * Fear of losing control, eg through impulses to hurt someone. * Perfectionism, eg fear of not being the best. * Religion, eg fear of being immoral. Common obsessions include: * Contamination, eg by germs. * Fear of losing control, eg through impulses to hurt someone. * Perfectionism, eg fear of not being the best. * Religion, eg fear of being immoral. Behavioural. * Hinders everyday functioning – having obsessive ideas of an inappropriate type creates such anxiety that the ability to perform everyday tasks is severely hindered, for example, being able to work effectively. * Social impairment – anxiety levels generated are so high as to limit the ability to conduct meaningful interpersonal relationships. Emotional. * Extreme anxiety – persistent inappropriate or forbidden ideas...
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