Living with Tourette Syndrome

I have Tourette Syndrome. Sometimes my body jerks uncontrollably, and sometimes I shout inappropriate phrases in public places. Long movies in quiet theatres are a challenge for me. I spend the car ride home jerking about until my body is satisfied. Once I threw an apple at a girl during school lunch and pretended I didn’t know who’d done it. But I also have a wonderful family, many friends and a great boyfriend. I write poet. I like to go dancing, and I love to eat. Since I have displayed symptoms of the disorder, I have worked to understand and accept Tourette's as a part of myself, without letting it take over. 

I don’t like having Tourette's; it’s disturbing not to have control over my body. I used to imagine that there was a demented little puppeteer hiding in the back of my mind, pulling me this way and that. I would see every day as a battle with my Tourette's. Coming to terms with my Tourette's is a very personal process that I struggle with every day. However, I am not alone in this struggle. 

It is currently estimated that between 31 and 156 children out of 1000 have the disorder. There are many medical definitions of Tourette syndrome in dry scientific journals, but here’s my definition: Tourette's makes a person do weird stuff. This weird stuff involves a wide range of activities such as repeatedly clearing the throat, cursing, shouting, or jumping up and down. And here’s the kicker: Nobody really knows what causes Tourette syndrome. In the old days people were thought to be possessed by the devil, but now theories vary from genetic links to dopaminergic pathways to post-infectious autoimmune mechanisms, and a whole bunch of other words that I don’t understand.