Question: Hi, I’ve been wondering if I should be officially diagnosed with Tourette’s.

Hi, I’ve been wondering if I should be officially diagnosed with Tourette’s.

Hello,
When I was really young, like toddler to around eight years old I had really bad teeth grinding during sleep. I grew out of it later but around nine I started developing motor tics. I’d start compulsively doing odd twitches or find myself repeating gestures without controlling it consciously.

My tics have faded or changed over the years and due to some things when I was in my early to mid teens I developed PTSD and depression. I’m on medication for depression but I also have OCD and anxiety.

Just recently after a lot of stress building up my vocal tics started going out of control. Normally my tics are more manageable and I’ve been able to pass them off as idiosyncrasies or just a penchant for liking the word “like” a lot in conversations. But now I’m started to form several vocal tics like “Sorry,” “that’s what she said” and “hell” in different tones.

I even get the shivery or burning feeling before a tic happens and my vocal tics are usually very compulsive. I can suppress them if I try but it can be difficult or very unsatisfying. I do get triggered by hearing certain things or listening to other people with tics.

I guess I’m just sort of doubting myself because I’ve had it for so long it just seems part of normal life now, and it doesn’t seem as “severe” as a lot of people. I think knowing from a professional if I can be officially diagnosed would make me feel a lot more... valid, I guess. And more comfortable in social settings.

Hello,
When I was really young, like toddler to around eight years old I had really bad teeth grinding during sleep. I grew out of it later but around nine I started developing motor tics. I’d start compulsively doing odd twitches or find myself repeating gestures without controlling it consciously.

My tics have faded or changed over the years and due to some things when I was in my early to mid teens I developed PTSD and depression. I’m on medication for depression but I also have OCD and anxiety.

Just recently after a lot of stress building up my vocal tics started going out of control. Normally my tics are more manageable and I’ve been able to pass them off as idiosyncrasies or just a penchant for liking the word “like” a lot in conversations. But now I’m started to form several vocal tics like “Sorry,” “that’s what she said” and “hell” in different tones.

I even get the shivery or burning feeling before a tic happens and my vocal tics are usually very compulsive. I can suppress them if I try but it can be difficult or very unsatisfying. I do get triggered by hearing certain things or listening to other people with tics.

I guess I’m just sort of doubting myself because I’ve had it for so long it just seems part of normal life now, and it doesn’t seem as “severe” as a lot of people. I think knowing from a professional if I can be officially diagnosed would make me feel a lot more... valid, I guess. And more comfortable in social settings.