Bell Let's Talk - About The “Pluses” of Tourette

This article was originally posted on www.tourette.ca and is re-published here by the original author. This article was published on January 28th, 2021 for #BellLetsTalk Day and remains the property of Tourette Canada.

Bel Let's Talk Day 2021 is here! And while the national Canadian initiative focuses on mental health, this year we are bringing Tourette Syndrome (TS) into the conversation, because it's time to talk about everything about TS you do not see - the mental health side of Tourette Syndrome known as Tourette Syndrome Plus (TS+).

Tourette Syndrome has always been more than just tics and this has been recognized by the international community, in its recognition of the term TS+. The term TS+ encompasses a variety of other disorders and mental health complications that can occur in combination with the classic Tourette symptoms (such as anxiety, ADHD/ADD, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or depression).

But despite efforts from the international TS advocacy organizations around the world, a Tourette Syndrome podcast, and many online personalities voicing their statements in the name of TS and TS+ awareness, we STILL find ignorant rhetoric in social media and beyond.

Bell's initiative today, BellLetsTalk, is an important day, especially this year, to recognize the global conversation around mental health. It is a conversation in which the use of Tourette as a “punch line” to a joke is unacceptable, and not welcome by anyone in our community including organizations like Tourette Canada.

Tourette Syndrome has not been a significant subject in this global conversation for many years either, which also needs to change this year in my point of view.

So what better day than today, to spread truth and knowledge about TS, and end unnecessary stigma that may be re-ignited by hate rhetoric.

This kind of rhetoric about Tourette Syndrome is completely false and is NOT acceptable in our National Canadian TS community or in any TS community in the world. We MUST band together as a country and work harder to educate those who still stigmatize Tourette Syndrome and it's associated disorders to end the stigma.

To start, we can spread awareness through undisputed facts. Here are just a few pulled from "Understanding Tourette Syndrome: A Handbook for Families" available on our shop page.

• Obsessive-compulsive symptoms may occur in up to two-thirds of people who have TS. It is very important to remember that OCD is an anxiety disorder and that its manifestations are neurochemically based.

• OCD can be one of the most difficult disorders to deal with, for the child, the parents, siblings, and caregivers. A child who struggles with OCD can become desperate to satisfy the urge to perform the rituals. These can be misinterpreted as bad behaviour.

• Both positive and negative stressors can increase tics. Stress is cyclical in individuals living with TS, with the environment affecting their chemical balance, and their chemical balance affecting their behavior.

• ADHD is often combined with restlessness and impulsive behaviour. There are three different types of ADHD: predominantly hyperactive and impulsive type, predominantly inattentive (without hyperactivity) type, and combined type

• “Looping” or “being stuck” is the inability to stop thinking a particular thought or series of thoughts. “Being stuck” can occur spontaneously because of an intrusive thought or because of perceptions of real-life events.

• Children with any neurobiological disorder are at a higher risk for depression. Some signs of depression in children are: sleeping too much (or inability to sleep), agitation and irritability, withdrawal from activities formerly enjoyed, thoughts of harming self.

It's 2021, a year where many of us are re-evaluating many aspects of our lives that were uprooted by COVID. So why don't we add this to the list: Let's make this year the one where we start talking about Tourette Syndrome, not just as tics, but everything you DON'T SEE. Not just as a neurological condition, but on a wider neurological spectrum that includes mental health.