Awareness for mental disorders: Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome is a congenital neuropsychiatric ailment. It emerges during childhood, pigeonholed by a combination of involuntary noises and movements referred as tic. Tics can be vocal (sounds) such as grunting, coughing or shouting out words or physical (movements)  such as jolting of the head or jumping up and down. These tics usually wax and diminish, can be crushed temporarily, and are preceded by a premonitory urge.

Tics normally appear between ages 2 and 15, with the average being around 6 years of age. Male child is more prone to this syndrome as compared to female child.

Children, adolescents and adults who are gripped with Tourette syndrome often have troubles in social functioning that may be related with tics and with co-occurring conditions such as ADHD or anxiety.

Children suffering from this syndrome may have lack of social acceptability, develop low social self-esteem and problem with establishing and maintaining friendships.

Major causes Tourette's syndrome:

Medical researchers could not explored the main causes of this rare and bizarre Tourette's syndrome. It is believed that this syndrome is associated with the disturbance in a part of the brain called the basal ganglia, which helps regulate body movements.

Common motor tics in Tourette syndrome:

Simple tics:

Eye blinking      

Head jerking     

Shoulder shrugging   

Eye darting         Obscene 

Nose twitching  

Mouth movements    

Complex tics:

Touching or smelling objects

Repeating observed movements

Stepping in a certain pattern

Obscene gesturing

Bending or twisting

Hopping

Common vocal tics in Tourette syndrome:

Simple tics: 

     

Grunting  

Coughing

Throat clearing 

Barking

Complex tics:

Repeating one's own words or phrases

Repeating others' words or phrases

Using vulgar, obscene or swear words

Treatment techniques of Tourette’s syndrome:

Though the medical science is highly advanced but currently there is no cure of this syndrome.

Child diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome is treated with application of behavioural therapy. There are two types of behavioural therapy which have demonstrated good results the intensity of tics.

First is Habit reversal therapy which involves observing the pattern and frequency of the tics and detecting any sensations that generate them. The next stage is to find an alternative, less obvious method of relieving the sensations that cause a tic. This is called a competing response.

Second is exposure with response prevention (ERP) which involves increasing exposure to the urge to tic to overpower the tic response for longer. This is useful as patients get used to the feeling of craving to tic until the urge, and any related anxiety, weakens.

Certain medications are prescribed by doctor in case of frequent tics.

 To encapsulate, Tourette's syndrome is one of those early onset diseases typically beginning in childhood or adolescence. It has potential to influence population at large. Cognitive functioning most complex area of Tourette's syndrome. This syndrome is basically neurological disease that affects an ability to control movement and in some cases speaking. Such children or adults must need social support to lessen the symptoms of syndrome.