Tourette’s: ‘I shouted at police that I had drugs in my bag’

Jaye, a TikTokker who recently started working for Girl Guiding, says she sometimes tries to suppress or “mask” her tics for fear of coming across as unprofessional.

“Obviously, if you’re saying really funny things, but trying to have a serious conversation, that can be quite a difficult juxtaposition,” she says.

“It almost feels like my brain is trying to be the class clown.”

She says her current word tic is “chicken”, which she says over and over again.

But tics are only part of the condition. Smith, who’s also the global ambassador for the Tourette Association of America, describes it as an “iceberg” condition. Tics are often the visible part, while those living with it also often experience insomnia, depression, anxiety or neurodivergent conditions such as ADHD and OCD.

“One of my most frequent tics is I clench my stomach and that makes me inhale air, which means that I’m constantly bloated,” Smith says. “I’m constantly in pain.”

Davidson also spoke about this, explaining to Access All the condition takes a physical toll on a person as they age.

“We often have secondary disabilities that come along because of the effects of the Tourette’s. I get muscle strains all the time, I’ve got sore joints all the time with repeated tics. I get headaches an awful lot.

“And the anxiety sometimes can be so crippling that I don’t even want to leave the house.”

Jaye says her tics tend to be accompanied by a “horrible feeling” that builds up in her back. She finds deep pressure, like weighted blankets, helps alleviate the sensation. Being around animals helps her too, she says.

“I had a rabbit and if I was playing with her my tics would really calm down,” she says. “Some people get that with babies as well. Your brain just sort of switches into a different mode and it overrides the tics.”

When she is out and about and ticking, Seren says she personally finds people laughing along with her helps “ease the tension” if what she’s doing is funny, like shouting “chicken”.

But if it’s a simple tic, like whistling, then she says ignoring it is “the best thing” for her.