Socially masking with Tourette's Syndrome
Does anyone bother to do this? In a desperate bid to appear normal and because of being scolded for doing tics as a child, when I am out in public, or at a social venue, I hide my tics. I carefully watch people to check they aren't paying attention to me and then let a tic out. It could be a back-arching tic, or an eyeball scrunching tic, or anything really.
I'm like a ninja doing this in a room full of people, watching down to the micro-second when people turn their attention away from me and to someone else so they don't see me do it.
If I get overwhelmed I pretend to go to the toilet. I remember being at a party a few years ago & because I got overwhlemed, I ended up letting out lots of neck tics in the bathroom, and then re-masking against going out of the bathroom door.
It's all very draining.
Gosh that sounds exhausting. I have no experience with this, but I have a friend with a tick that she can't mask and it just happens. It's a verbal thing. She apologises the first time she meets someone and explains it, but once you know her she just let's it happen without apologies. It's as inconsequential to us as breathing.
In the right friend group, no one will care about your ticks. I do really hope you can find people you can be yourself with.
In the right friend group, no one will care about your ticks. I do really hope you can find people you can be yourself with.
Yeah, here's hoping. Most of the people I have come across do the equivalent of socially walking backwards, and then turning their back if I start doing tics, whilst looking vaguely disgusted & outwardly uncomfortable.
In the right friend group, no one will care about your ticks. I do really hope you can find people you can be yourself with.
I had to stifle an "Allah Akbar" scream in a train station once, (a verbal tic as part of Tourette's Syndrome) whilst there were armed police in a train station as my city has been on alert for terrorist activity occasionally in the past few years, as many cities have been in the UK. Legit' was walking my fastest through a crowd to go the other direction so I didn't do something disabled and attract unwanted attention.
My boyfriend has Tourette's and I love his vocal tics. He does little chirps and squeals and he repeats words or phrases he likes. My favorite thing he does is repeat my jokes a bunch under his breath if he finds them funny, which makes me feel so loved. I understand the social pressure to mask, but as others have said in this thread, the right people will accept it.
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I did a dog bark in a supermarket once.
More recently, I could not contain swinging my head around like a wild horse whilst pushing a trolley in Tesco (whilst wearing my signature sunglasses). I got some funny looks to the say least...
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