Why do tics start?
The best way to put it is the body picks up a normal movement and then for whatever reason repetitively performs the movement over and over again. But we don’t know why. Q: Do tics continue indefinitely once they start? A: Actually, no. There are two different kinds of tic disorders. A transient tic disorder is far and away the most common. It occurs for more than four weeks but no longer than 12 months. Tourette’s syndrome consists of multiple motor and vocal tics, but they don’t have to occur at the same time, and they have to occur for more than year. In kids who are younger, you can’t ask this, but in older kids who are aware of this, there’s often an urge to perform the tic. You can suppress the urge for a short time, but eventually you have to perform the tic as if it’s a compulsion. Often with tics, there’s an association with ADHD (attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder) and OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Q: If you notice that your child is exhibiting tics, should you t
