Tourette’s syndrome
There are many interesting disorders out in the world. One that is most interesting to me it Tourette’s syndrome (TS). Georges Albest Edouard Brutus Gilles de la Tourette (1857-1904) was the first person to describe the condition and its symptoms. He was a French physician and neurologist. In 1885 he published an account of 9 patients (Nordqvist, 2015). It is currently being further investigated and conducted with experimental research. It is quite hard to treat because the symptoms are very unpredictable. One specific cause cannot be linked directly to TS as of right now. Scientists are hopeful that as time goes on it be clear if treatments and drugs can truly help Tourette things to be explored in this paper will include
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The first sign of TS may be a facial tic most likely in the eye. Each person is different though and tics can start somewhere else. There are 2 types of tics, physical tics (motor tics) and phonic tics (vocal tics). Motor tics include motor movements such as excessive blinking or jerking of any part of the body such as the head. Vocals tics include uttering sounds m such as grunts or squeaks and words or phrases (Nordqvist, 2015). There are also premonitory sensations/feelings before the onset of a tic. Some examples include eyes having a burning feelings that can only be helped by blinking excessively. Stretching or twitching may occur because it helps a growing muscle tension. The throat begins to feel dry and the only thing to do to help that sensation is grunting or clearing the throat (Nordqvist, 2015). Since TS begins at a young age some parents may realize that tics may stop to a minimum while the child is distracted with a separate activity, such as sports, video games or arts and crafts. If a child gets anxious, stressed, fatigued or bored the symptoms of TS can worsen. In some cases by the age of 18 50% of patients with TS can be symptom free (Alvarez, 2015). In some cases TS symptoms are not lifelong but everyone is
Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by motor and phonic tics usually starting in childhood and often accompanied by poor impulse control (Chiu, 2013, p.405). 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 woman (ninds.nih.gov, 2013). Tourette syndrome was once considered to be a rare a condition that causes a person to make repeated, quick movements or sounds that they cannot control. These movements or sounds are called tics, but this symptom is only present in a minority of cases.
One out of every 360 children have Tourettes. Tourette’s is a neurological disorder, which means that it takes place in the nervous system. It affects males three to four times more than females. There’s no exact known reason as to why. Symptoms begin at ages three to nine, and typically, the first sign is excessive blinking. This
In recent years researchers have made significant advances in the field and have come up with many neuroleptic (antipsychotic) medications to treat the disorder. However along with these medical breakthroughs problems have occurred. The most severe side effect is called Tardive Dyskinesia, literally meaning "late movement disorder." (1) Coined in 1964, it is identified by the involvement of numerous "abnormal, involuntary movements of the orofacial area or extremities." . (2) More specifically, it is characterized by rocking, twisting, jerking, toe tapping, lip smacking, blinking, and most commonly an unusual movement of the tongue. . (1) (2)(3). Interestingly enough, these side effects disappear during sleep. (3)
Nonspeech signs associated with hypokinetic dysarthria may include characteristics dealing with the face, eyes, hands, arms, and trunk. The individual may have an expressionless look to their face as well as weakness with gestures in the hands, arms, and face that would normally match the person’s prosody when speaking. Overall, their social interaction with others can be emotionless. Eye blinking occurs less frequently than normal and their head gaze does not match where their eyes are looking. These patients swallow infrequently which leads to drooling. A tremor may be present in the jaw, lips, and tongue as well as limited movement during speech even though strength of these structures is often normal.
Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder where the affected individual will consistently exhibit “tics”. In the majority of cases these ticks are minor in character, it may just be the urge to blink, or make certain facial gestures. Less than 15% of individuals exhibit coprolalia, which is the unwarranted exclamations of profanities or other socially forbidden remarks. Perhaps those in our generation who are aware of Tourette’s syndrome have learned its symptoms through pop culture, which has glamorized (to some extent) the more severe cases of Tourette’s syndrome in YouTube videos or the animated satire of South Park. Most with Tourette’s syndrome have been diagnosed 5-8 years in childhood and experience the waning of the number and severity of tics by the time the graduate high school. For the most part, Tourette’s syndrome alone will not prevent an individual from success in the institutions of society, as it doesn’t affect the intelligence or capability of individuals. These cases, often called pure TS cases, are usually the exception. More often than not, sufferers of Tourette’s syndrome are more limited socially by common comorbid conditions like obsessive compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.
Biological theorists, have very little to say since there seems to be no physical cause of the symptoms, except that there may be some genetic predisposition to Somatoform disorders.
There are a few forms of the disease, but the most common of these is the one that appears in infants. Identified through a “cherry red spot” in the eyes, Tay-Sachs begins with slowed development and movements. It then progresses into the complete loss of motor skills, and as the infant grows into a child, they experience vision loss, hearing loss, paralysis, and seizures. Those affected with this type of Tay-Sachs rarely survive through childhood.
rarely exhibit all of the symptoms, or all of the tics. The vocal and motor tics
Touretts syndrome is mainly known as a tic disorder. Tics are involuntary, rapid, repetitive, and stereotyped movements of individual muscle groups (Bruun, 1984, p. 2). However, Tourette's is not the only tic disorder that one can have. A transient tic disorder begins during the early school years, occurring in up to 15 percent of all children. These tics are said to not persist for more than a year, but it is not uncommon for a child to have a series of transient tics over the course of several years. Chronic tic disorders are differentiated from those that are transient, not only by their duration, but by their relatively unchanging character (1984, p. 4). These tics are said to persist unchanged for years. Chronic multiple tics suggest that an individual has several chronic motor tics, with a hard line between to determine the differences. The most debilitating tic disorder is Tourette syndrome (Fowler, 1996, p. 26). TS is a complex behavioral disorder that is poised between the mind and body, governed by innate vulnerabilities and environment...
Physical manifestations of GAD often include headaches, trembling, twitching, fatigue, irritability, frustration, muscle tension, and inability to concentrate. Sleep disturbances may also occur. Individuals suffering from this disorder may appear to be always tense and unable to relax, or may startle more easily than others. Often they might seem to be constantly moving or fidgeting, unable to sit comfortably through a movie without worrying about something else that needs to be done.
Due to the intense nature of the physical symptoms of PD and its impact of one’s life, various researchers has identified different contributory factors of this disorder. Some studies indicated hyperventilation, over activity in the noradrenergic neurotransmitter system, interceptive classical conditioning, anxiety sensitivity, catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations and safety behaviors are potential factors of PD (Davey, 2014). While, other researchers have stated PD is possibly caused by genetic predisposition, abnormalities in serotonin, and early developmental factors (Sansone et al., 1998). As the etiology of PD remains unknown and further studies are being conducted, it is agreed upon the mental health community that biological, psychological and cognitive factors contribute to the etiology and maintenance of PD.
Humans are naturally nervous creatures who tend to get nervous when put under pressure or put in certain situations that make them uncomfortable. There are many individuals who can handle this easily and know how to release that stress without it turning into a stress forming habit. There are others who are unable to handle these situations properly and develop certain “tics” that help the individual release this nervous tension. These types of behaviors can be things like nail biting, chewing on the insides of one’s gums, hair picking, and lip biting. Many different studies have been done on these types of nervous behaviors to figure out what can be done to help reverse these habits and which type of behavior modification works best for helping an individual stop these self-injurious behaviors.
Nervous habits also identified as body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) are behaviors that occur repeatedly across situations and consist of undesired repetitive, manipulative, problematic and or destructive behaviors directed toward the body such as hand-to-head (e.g., hair pulling, hair twirling), hand-to-mouth (e.g., nail biting, thumb sucking), hand-to-body (e.g., skin picking, skin scratching), and oral behaviors (e.g., teeth grinding, mouth biting) and are often seen to play a role in emotion regulation and can arise during periods of heightened tension (Miltenberger,2005 ; Roberts, O’Connor, Bélanger, 2013; Woods & Miltenberger, 1995). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition, does identify body focused repetitive behaviors under Other Specified Obsessive Compulsive and Related Disorders as a behavior that can cause stress and impairment in areas of functioning however does not meet the full diagnostic criteria of specific obsessive compulsive and related disorders (American Psychiatric Association 2013, pp. 263-264). Roberts et al. (2013) states, “research into BFRBs has been limited in comparison to research into other psychiatric conditions”. One example given by Roberts et al. (2013) referred to the Psychlit database which between the 1975 and 2000 contained 2489 articles pertaining to bipolar disorder, 309 articles pertaining to trichotillomania and only fourteen pertaining to BFRBs. Robert et al. (2013) acknowledges there is a growing interest in BFRBs with hair pulling and skin picking receiving the most research attention (2013). The prevalence rate of BFRBs is hard to determine without more research and understanding.
...e, mouth, face, or whole body; involuntary chewing, sucking, and lip smacking; and jerky movements of the arms, legs, or entire body” (Comer, 2011, p. 379).
Among many psychological disorders, anxiety disorders are the most predominant in the United States. According to Antony (2011), anxiety disorders affect nearly 28.8 percent of the population. An extreme and unrealistic anxiety is the most common symptom that characterizes all the psychological conditions within the category of anxiety disorders. The category includes specific phobia, agoraphobia, social phobia, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. This paper examines obsessive-compulsive disorder discussing the major etymological explanations of anxiety disorders in general, specifically describing the condition, and discussing actual treatments for the disorder.