Billie Eilish: Tourette’s Syndrome is ‘very exhausting’
Recently, pop superstar Billie Eilish opened up about her struggles with Tourette’s Syndrome when speaking on David Letterman’s My Next Guest show on Netflix. The 20-year-old experienced an on-camera tic and explained “If you film me for long enough, you’re going to see lots of tics,”.
Billie said during the interview that she doesn’t experience tics while performing and that some specific tics have gone away over time, but others still occur on a regular basis. “These are things you would never notice if you’re just having a conversation with me,” she says, adding, “but for me, they’re very exhausting.”
Tourettes syndrome is something Over 300,000 children and adults are living with in the UK, according to Tourette’s Action. We spoke with leading psychologist Dr. Alison McClymont (@alisonmcclymontinsta) who stated that Tourette’s “is a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics. It usually starts during childhood, but the tics and other symptoms usually improve after several years and sometimes go away”
Many people think of Tourette’s as something synonymous with “swearing involuntary” ; however, “this form of Tourettes affects less than 10 percent of sufferers”.
“Tourettes is a “tic syndrome” and this can mean that tics can be involuntary movements, noises or words. It is often thought to be co-morbid with OCD due to the similar symptoms of repetitive ritualised behaviour in response to stresses or anxieties, it can also have the same hallmarks of intrusive thought patterns and involuntary responses.”
When asked about how Tourette’s is diagnosed, Dr. McClymont said “there is no set diagnosis pattern for Tourettes but it is common that sufferers will undergo neurological tests including an MRI scan to rule out any physical conditions, it can be diagnosed by a psychologist, psychiatrist or medical doctor.”
Unfortunately, the condition is still stigmatised today and sufferers “can face humiliation or social shaming as a result of their condition.” It’s incredibly important to understand that the condition is a “pronounced form of anxiety”. “It’s likely to become worse if the sufferer feels social anxiety as a result of the condition and the responses they might face.”
There are multiple treatments for those suffering from the condition with the most common being “a mixture of medication and CBT [Cognitive Behavioural Therapy].” These treatments attempt to ”reduce stress and anxiety in order not to induce tics.”
