#I *really* need to get my tic disorder diagnosed @-@

[eleilinnrallin]

On a stimulant (methylphenidate short release (ritalin sr)) and nonstimulant (guanfacine xr) for ADHD, neither of them make me feel slower when I'm taking all my meds properly. (While we were still finding the right balance of meds, the nonstimulant did drop my blood pressure and lead to fatigue; it didn't make me feel slower, just tired more easily, and now that I've got a working meds balance this is a non-issue. My blood pressure is back to normal and I have the energy to get through the day.) The right balance helps me stay on task, be present, and generally just self-regulate so much better.

What does make me feel slower (and generally like shit) is when I don't take my meds. If it's the methylphenidate that I miss, I get antsy, nervous (yes, I get more nervous when I'm not on my stimulant; it helps my emotional regulation), easily frustrated, and spacey. I can't focus on even things that I like. My short-term memory goes down the drain and makes everything difficult. If it's the guanfacine (which I needed to titrate onto and therefore should NOT just go off, ever) I'm laid out flat for one, maybe two days because of dizziness/vertigo, exhaustion, and sometimes nausea. With both, I'm more likely to mildly dissociate (usually depersonalize or derealize, once almost crashed into a car while biking off meds because I didn't feel real enough to apply brakes at a stoplight), can't do my schoolwork or hobbies (because I leave tasks and forget halfway through, once left a quiz open for several hours since I got distracted and forgot it existed), and am more hyperactive (usually fidgetty, sometimes need to get up and Do things, which is a problem with Dizzy).

(Unfortunately, I have to skip a day of guanfacine every two months or so because my local pharmacy refuses to fill on time and I end up one day short. Usually I just tell my teachers I can't come to class that day. With methylphenidate, I do selectively skip some weekend morning doses to prevent situations where I'd have to stop/skip during the school week due to that pharmacy's tendency for error. This does not have a positive impact on my life and health; I would not recommend anyone do it, probably shouldn't be doing it myself but it is what it is.)

For your character: if he's diagnosed and medicated, the medication is going to greatly help his drumming because it's going to let him focus on practicing, generally improving his skills, things that are really hard with inattentive symptoms. He's going to be able to be more present in his performances when he's on meds--though if they're evening performances he might feel more distractable and perform worse because of meds wearing off. (I'm much less productive after 6-8 p.m. because my then my afternoon stimulant dose has run its course and I'm left fending off the inattention myself. Still much more possible than days when I skip meds, because I have more mental energy to work with my symptoms since meds have been helping regulate all day!) Meds will also help him function in his daily life, which will help make him less stressed and better able to engage in his hobbies. He'll have more energy for fun things because he isn't constantly fighting his brain to get things done.

Things that are easier for me on meds: physically getting to school, doing assignments in and out of class, making and eating food (despite that my appetite is negatively impacted by my stimulant), laundry and dishes (still hard but now doable), reading and writing (hobbies), playing D&D with my friends, holding conversations, regulating my emotions (RSD included), grocery shopping, basically EVERYTHING that I do.

(In my experience though meds don't magically fix everything--they're effective in tandem with other coping mechanisms and techniques. There's a reason when I want to get serious work done, I go and study in a dedicated space like the library, or use things like pomodoros (... not exactly since I'm pretty dang time blind, I use "work song, rest song"), body doubling, focus cues like shoes on or music on, etc. However, these things weren't very effective without meds to bridge the gap between Brain Don't Work and Work Needs Done.)

(^University student w/ combined type ADHD and some other things going on)

hi, so I’m probably undiagnosed ADHD and I wanna write a character who is diagnosed ADHD and the problem I’m having is with meds. How I was planning to write them is that they’re a drummer and the character doesn’t always take their medicine when they are going to drum because it makes them feel like a bit slower and almost have like a delayed response or something. I’m still working at the kinks, but I feel like that could come off as really insensitive towards how ADHD meds work and like I don’t fully know how ADHD meds make you feel because I’m undiagnosed and I don’t wanna write it wrong and all of that.

-🥁

Hello!

That's... not really accurate to how ADHD meds work at all. Though this would be insensitive, my main concern is the inaccuracy and the harmful misinformation that this is spreading.

First thing: ADHD medication -- like any daily medication -- isn't something that can just be taken when you want to take it. It's one thing to forget a dose every so often but deliberately missing doses on a regular basis is very harmful.

Not taking it regularly can cause the medication to be less effective for your character and can cause them to be hit worse (by their symptoms and their withdrawal) every time they miss a dose. It can also cause the medication to just... stop working for your character as they develop a tolerance for it.

I take Concerta (also known by the name Ritalin) and when I miss a dose, I certainly end up feeling it.

For me, the first thing I notice is just a weird feeling. Like something in the world is different. It's hard to describe but, to other people, I'm told that it looks like I'm spacier and in my own world.

I have a very hard time focusing and can't last more than a few minutes without spacing out -- even if I'm actively involved in a conversation. It makes it impossible for me to attend my lectures and take notes, let alone take a test or an exam.

Because I also have anxiety and several other mental conditions, this also has a major impact on them. The increased rejection-sensitive dysphoria (RSD) that I experience triggers an increase in my anxiety (even if I've taken my anxiety meds), which in turn causes an increase in my dissociative symptoms.

The brain is a complex organ -- one we don't fully understand yet. Nothing happens in isolation.

Aside from the ADHD-specific side of things, there's also the withdrawal.

While it's not as bad as the withdrawal from my venlafaxine (the meds I take for my PTSD, anxiety, depression, and dissociative disorder. Three cheers for medication that multitasks!), withdrawal from my Concerta is still not great.

When I miss a dose, I end up sleeping almost the entire day. I just can't stay awake. I also get a horrible headache that can't be touched by Advil or Tylenol and I end up with no appetite (though apparently most people experience the opposite -- an increase in appetite). I also experience an increase in my depression.

Though it will of course be different for everyone (especially if your character is on a different type of medication), what I'm getting at here is that ADHD medication doesn't work like this. You can't pick and choose when to take it.

Taking ADHD medication doesn't make you feel "slower" or have a "delayed response" or anything like that. In fact, those feelings are more likely to come from missing a dose.

Something else that needs to be considered here is that ADHD medication is constantly portrayed as being bad/evil/negative and especially as something that's only done to dull the character with ADHD and make them more "palatable" to those around them. It's shown as something that stifles their creativity and forces them to become exactly like everyone else.

This can't be further from the truth.

Although it is true that ADHD is often over-diagnosed and over-medicated, the effect that ADHD meds have on those who need them can be life-changing.

These harmful misrepresentations of ADHD medication have major consequences in the real world. Not only do they undermine the struggles of having ADHD and reinforce the idea that ADHD is just being hyper/unfocused, they also discourage people from seeking the treatment that can help them.

When I was first diagnosed, I didn't want to go on medication and my parents didn't want me to either. They thought it would make me dull and lifeless and kill my creativity. Even after I'd done my own research and decided to try it, my father spent weeks telling me that ADHD was just "western propaganda" and didn't actually exist.

I see this same attitude in teachers, other parents, and even doctors all the time.

Although some people can be quick to diagnose a child with ADHD and medicate them when there may be another cause for their behaviour, overcorrecting in the opposite direction helps nobody.

If you want to write a character with ADHD and especially one that's on medication for it, please do your research first. You don't have to have ADHD or be on medication to do that. This article [Link] discusses the impact of poor ADHD representation while this one [Link] talks about what happens when you miss a dose of ADHD medication.

In short: please don't do this. ADHD isn't just the "silly hyper can't sit still" disorder and the medication for it is an actual treatment that helps so many people. Treat it as seriously as you'd treat any other disorder.

Cheers,

~ Mod Icarus

[ur-local-ghost-pal]

Hey! Able-bodied people who know someone with tics or want to learn more! Pls stop to read this really quick if you can. I'm someone with tourettes and I would like to kindly remind you to not do the following. 1. please for the love of fuck do not give someone who is ticcing (or in general disabled) fake pity looks. You know the ones where you look at us in an almost pitying way, but it isn't really that genuine because you kinda care but it's not effecting you and you can't really bring yourself to care much. Yeah, cut that shit out. 2. if someone's tics cause them to hit themselves, don't get mad when/if they hit you. Most likely it will happen if you are around them a good amount. You can be hurt - obviously tics like that hurt - but if I see you demanding comfort, pity, and apologies angrily from the person ticcing I'm going to stomp you with my cane. Especially if you don't show you care when they are hitting themselves nonstop daily. 3. I shouldn't have to say this but even if the person ticcing doesn't seem overly upset, don't trigger their tics on purpose. Just don't. The person ticcing might not care much but why do you feel the need to? Like, unless explicitly asked for whatever reason, just don't. It's kinda rude, can be dangerous, and you don't have any reason to (again unless asked). 4. please, please, please don't be awkward when someone is complaining about the pain their tics put them in. Don't just stare at them weird after they talk as if they did something wrong or it's so odd that they just expressed any amount of discomfort of their disability. And for the love of goodness do not be rude to them about it or gaslight them. 5. in general you shouldn't do this at all but we're talking about tourettes so here we go. If someone needs a mobility aid due to tics, don't touch it. Don't pick it up without permission or play with it. Don't try to take it as a form of punishment (parents this is for you). don't doubt they need it. Again, don't gaslight them into thinking they don't need it. Don't tell them they're being dramatic. 6. the last one. Do NOT fakeclaim ANYONE. Please. Tics can develop at any age and tourettes is not the only tic disorder. Sure, you can't be diagnosed with tourettes if you developed them after 18, but you can have tics. Tics can be sudden or gradual when developing. If you want to fakeclaim your friend, roommate, family member, or even that rando on the internet. Just shut your mouth. It's not that hard. Most people don't do this so don't feel targeted unless you have done these. If you have done these, just stop. It's not that hard.

[crippleprophet]

do you have any thoughts on functional neurological disorder?

it’s one of the cruelest inventions of modern medicine.

for a bit of context on my positionality i don’t currently have an fnd diagnosis but i am at huge risk of one (my rheumatologist already thinks i have a conversion disorder) & it’s one of the many reasons i’m terrified to pursue a second neurologist after my first one dumped me. fnd is, like, maybe not the pinnacle but definitely a major player in the field of doctors gaslighting us as hard as possible & being furious every time it doesn’t work.

i’m not gonna find these articles bc it gets to a point of self harm for me to (re)read some of this shit but literally doctors are like “the more convinced patients are there’s something wrong the more they’re lying,” “the more symptoms patients have the more likely it is to be fnd and not something really wrong,” etc. again just unfathomably cruel. also the fact that mainstream medicine can unironically write that people with hypermobility are “more likely to have fnd” rather than going huh maybe there’s a neurological component here is just. what the fuck are y’all doing.

a really fun (fucked up) “i told you so” moment with the social construction of the ‘real vs fake’ tics false binary was when doctors literally can’t tell the difference based on their own bullshit criteria.

i highly recommend checking out @fndportal for incredibly insightful thoughts on a lot of these issues. sociological research on post-hysteria diagnoses & the genealogy of hysteria has also been super helpful for me although it’s obviously a very difficult history.

on a peer support level i think disability community is especially vital in the face of these kinds of psychological warfare from doctors. & to anybody who’s been diagnosed with fnd or similar conditions: i believe you. something is really wrong, it is not your fault (& it would be okay, & you’d still deserve effective compassionate care, if it was), you’re not making it up.

obviously i personally want to destroy the whole thing from the ground up, but if i could change one thing about the medical field, it’d be that it needs, desperately & urgently, to create space for not knowing. to say “something is happening here but science hasn’t caught up with it yet.” …unfortunately, to do so would be to destroy medicine from the ground up, because the whole project is predicated on the manufactured authority of knowing our bodies wholly & irrevocably, of rendering our own knowledge irrelevant at best & lies at worst.

also imo cbt, especially for a physical symptom, is evil & in situations where people can ghost their doctors rather than go i wholeheartedly support that.

[nerves-nebula]

I still think that out of all of the disorders I got diagnosed with, OCD is quite possibly the funniest one to be surprised by. I literally describe myself as obsessive (I lowkey worship the concept of obsession but we don’t have time for that) and I talk about things I do compulsively. Compulsive laughter, head twitching tics, all of which I chalked up to being ptsd and like. It is. But also!

So it’s like I guess I thought I didn’t have a OCD because ??? I don’t know. I guess I don’t really know what OCD is?

Because I did do a lot of research into it and I also you know watched videos from people who had all kinds of OCD but it just never really sounded like what I was dealing with? I read so many articles!!! And I still don’t really understand!!! Because to me it kind of just sounds like symptoms of my PTSD? Like having constant flashbacks and needing music and other things to distract myself from thoughts and shit?? Well the thoughts are usually related to trauma or violence I’ve been traumatized into thinking about a lot (see: violent home life, my dad constantly telling me I’d get raped and murdered, etc) so like what exactly is the difference between ocd and cptsd?

Whatever. I don’t care I’ll just use whatever methods work to ease this shit. Shrug.

[timoogismain]

do you have any cute gerita/itager headcanons?🇩🇪🤍🇮🇹

HIIIEEEEEE hiiieeeee :3

Yes!! Of course I do!! So, GerIta was my first ever ship in like anything! I was so captivated by their dynamic and how they interact in hetalia it made my heart flutter a lot!! I just can’t describe how giddy GerIta makes me!! ENOUGH BABBLING HERE ARE MY HEADCANONS!!!

(Keep in mind, a lot of these developed from my middle/high school interpretation!! So yeah!!)

My biggest headcanon for them is that Germany is Holy Rome! I know in more recent years Hima has denied this and what not, but a lot of it feels like back tracking to me?? Like it doesn’t add up with hints given earlier in the series?? Idk!! So, to this day I like to believe Germany is Holy Rome and he finally found Italy again!! It makes my younger middle school self happy!

Italy’s hands are always warm and Germany’s hands are always cold! I’m a sucker for these kinds of things!! I think Italy constantly takes Germany’s hands in his own to warm them up, and he peppers them with tons of kisses (which usually makes Germany flustered BAHAH)

A long standing headcanon l’ve had for specifically Italy is that he has some sort of tic disorder/tourettes. I was diagnosed with Tourette’s when I was 14, so you can see where this probably started BAHAH. But it makes sense from my point of view! He’s constantly moving around, singing and humming, etc etc. I also headcanon this specifically because of his “Ve” sound. This very much reads to me like a vocal tic, as I make similar noises. And thanks to Italy being one of my favorite characters, I have also adopted the “Ve” tic in my real life (which does not help me seem cool and mysterious in public 🙄) The reason I bring this up is because I think when Italy’s tics get really overwhelming/he’s having a tic attack, Germany is the perfect candidate to apply deep pressure therapy. It’s probably one of the few times Germany initiates physical contact instead of Italy initiating it! He’ll hug Italy tight, tight enough to apply firm pressure and calm his nervous system down!

Germany is a workaholic, we all know this! So I headcanon that Italy takes care of him when he works himself too hard. Italy constantly checks in to make sure he’s drinking water, makes sure he’s eaten, and often tries to get him to take breaks! If he realizes Germany is not keen on taking breaks, Italy will suggest one under the guise of needing help. “Germany, I’m trying to reach something in the closet but I can’t get it. Can you come help me?” And once Germany is out of his office, he’ll try his best to keep him from working as long as he can! He can be pretty sneaky and mischievous as long as it’s for the greater good! Germany very well has caught onto these tricks, but his loyal need to help Italy no matter what usually overrides his need to work.

Germany is the big spoon and Italy is the little spoon! Germany is quite protective of his loved ones, and he feels best when he can provide them with safety. This results in him being the big spoon when he and Italy cuddle this way. He gets to hold Italy close and keep him out of harms way, all to himself. And then once the sensation of Italy’s body pressed against his kicks in, he (like always) gets very flustered. He’ll hide his face in the crook of Italy’s neck as he tries to calm down his racing heart. No matter how many times they get this close, Germany always gets flustered!

Italy was the first one (besides Prussia) to see Germany cry. Italy was very shocked when he first realized it was happening, but the shock had completely subsided once he realized how stressed and how scared Germany must’ve felt. He took him in his arms hurriedly, holding him gently to try and bring him comfort. Italy knew he could be pretty “useless” at the time, but if he could provide just an inkling of comfort to Germany then he did a job well done. To his surprise, Germany clung to him with so much force, Italy felt like he might’ve been crushed!

LAST ONE FOR NOW!!!! Italy often asks Germany to model for him for paintings! He loves painting Germany!! He is just so enamored by his beauty, he loves getting to make art of him, for him, etc etc! Italy has a little art studio where he does all of his paintings, and most of his paintings are of his partner! Germany is just very artistically inspiring!!!

[tealeafandtarotcards]

Disability Pride Month

Hey guys, Mollymauk here. If you don't know already, I am disabled. Majorly. I have been professionally diagnosed with, among other things, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Bipolar 1, Severe Depression, Fibromyalgia, Elhers-Danlos Syndrome, Schizophrenia, and Tourette's Syndrome. And I'm going to be completely honest: It's absolutely fucking horrific. I have days that I can't get out of bed. I have days where the pain is so bad that I spend most of my time crying. I have days where my Tourette's is so bad that I break things (most notably, myself - I've broken ribs, toes, my collarbone, almost broke my nose once, too), and harm other people. My joints pop out of place constantly. I've been in and out of the hospital for years, as well as psych wards. None of this is fun. It's not quirky. It's not "UwU I'm so injured look at me". It's horrifying. It's terrifying. It's embarrassing and crippling and a million other things.

I get made fun of for using disability aids. I get told I'm faking if I DON'T use mobility aids. If I manage to go to work I'm "brave" and "so strong", or I'm "clearly not that disabled". If I have to call in to work, I'm "lazy" and "just want attention". Sometimes, I get lucky. With my current job, my manager and the assistant managers are some of the most understanding and kind people I've met, to the point they've ALL threatened to quit on the spot if the District Manager threatened to fire me one more time, over something I couldn't control (and had turned in all needed paperwork over). My coworkers check in on me regularly to see how I'm doing, whether I'm at work or not. Sometimes, I'm not so lucky. I've had people kick my crutches out from under me. I've had customers shove me out of the chair I'm given at work because "You're young, so get off your ass and work!" I've had people push me out of my wheelchair for the same reasons. I've had people mock my tics, film me because I'm "clearly faking", get in my face and scream at me. Hell, I've even had more than one person call corporate on me because I had a chair while at work. Fuck, I've even had someone CALL THE COPS ON ME because I was "lurking". At my job. Where I was on break. Because I was sitting down.

Being disabled in any way isn't funny. It isn't a joke. It isn't "quirky", it isn't "fun", it isn't some "hip new fashion trend" or whatever. This is my life. These are the cards I've been dealt. It's not fun or easy to deal with. It effects my life every moment of every day, whether I'm awake or not; whether I'm aware of it or not. So just... be kind to people this month. If not for me, then for everyone else. You never really can tell what someone's going through. Just be kind to each other, that's all I ask.

[writing-tics]

getting diagnosed with a tic disorder

I just wanted to try out talking about that experience. maybe someone will relate, or find it useful.

i don't really remember how my tics started. i have a tendency of not acknowledging my feelings and brushing things off. i have always been a little jumpy, so I just blamed my weird shrugs and other weird unwanted movements on being easily scared.

they got really bad after my 18th birthday. and soon i asked my parents to see a neurologist.

before that we had conversations about me seeing a specialist, but i didn't want to hear about it. i wanted to pretend that everything was normal.

i went to the neurologist privately. which means that i didn't have to wait too long for the visit but I had to pay for it. my school needed a confirmation that i do have that disorder for my final exams.

i was very stressed, but the doctor was super nice. i had prepared a whole document in which i described all my symptoms, with dates if i could remember them, what my tics feel like, what makes them worse, what makes them better, family history of tics, or similar conditions, etc.

she was really nice and understanding. i don't remember the specific questions that she asked, but something about what is distracting/difficult about them. stuff like that.

she asked me to close my eyes and touch my nose, or left ear, stuff like that. also she had a little stick (like the ones doctor use to look into someones throat) and she would lead it from my fingertips up to my shoulders. she also checked my knee jerk reaction.

over all it was more of a chat, than an actual physical test.

she gave me a prescription for a brain scan (magnetic resonance, which i couldn't do due to having braces, and we switched to an MRI with contrast) - nothing wrong with it, thank fuck. and she prescribed me medication. i fucking hated those meds. they were Awful.

I never got a diagnosis from her. She gave me meds, and reassurance that this is probably psychological, which was enough at the time. Even tho she was a really good neurologist, tics were not her speciality, so i tried another guy.

AND BOY O BOY

he was supposed to be the lead specialist on tic disorders in my country. and maybe he was.

i spend 4h traveling from my city to the capital, just so i could see him.

i knew that he would probably asked my father my childhood, so i was prepared that my dad would be present for a while during the visit. but no, the doctor ever asked him to go out of the room, after the conversation about my childhood ended (it was brief, i had no symptoms in childhood). the doctor would ask my dad about other stuff as well, stuff i could have easily have talked about myself.

and then he asked me about my self harm, and depression, and suicidal thoughts (with my father still present in the room). i answered truthfully, even tho I REALLY wanted to lie. i came out of that visit with my F95.9 diagnosis, and a bunch of other diagnosis like anxiety and stuff. and a prescription for anti-anxiety drugs that i never bought.

i am not sure if the F95.9 is my disorder, but it does fit my symptoms somewhat, so that's why i use it. it's definitely not TS, and at this point idc anymore. the guy saw me one time, and with my dad present, so the diagnosis is very questionable imo, but hey. whatever.

[its-ticsticstics]

Hey, I saw your post on things that can give you tics and what can’t and I have a few questions.

About 1/2 a year ago I developed tics, and I mean BAD. Happened over the course of a few days and it hit me like a damn semi (mainly because I’m in middle school in a small town and people are assholes, they’ve chilled out by now though).

A few months ago I went in to see a professional psychologist (at least I think that’s what he was, it’s something along the lines of that), when I got my results back I was told that the only things I had were minor ADHD, depression, and severe social anxiety. I was told that literally all of my major issues (unable to stay still, randomly going nonverbal, inability to make eye contact, and the tics) were because of the anxiety and now I’m seeing a bunch of posts like yours and I really don’t know who to believe.

Could you maybe provide me with a few articles so I can figure, like, figure a few things out?

(Also I would like to add that I have 41 tics as of current)

Hope I’m not being too too much of a bother/rude! Have a good day/night/afternoon.

(One more thing, I am writing this on 2 hours of sleep so anything I said that was stupid/grammar mistakes can be blamed on that)

First!

I can't diagnose you, but in my almost (haven't graduated from uni yet) professional opinion would to get a Cunningham blood panel test for PANS/PANDAS/BGE.

The sudden onset paired with periods of mutism (inability to speak) along with tics sounds like the source could be brain inflammation in the very early stages.

If a blood test rules this out, it could just be the classic Tourettic Triad of symptoms of ADHD/OCD/ASD but this would also need to be diagnosed by a neurologist. Reading about tics is not enough to give yourself a diagnosis- it is a neurological disorder and not the same as self diagnosing ADHD or autism. People can DIE from misdiagnosed tics.

Unfortunately, especially those who are AFAB, are likely to be misdiagnosed and have a harder time being diagnosed with a tic disorder or Tourettes than AFAB counterparts.

The fact that you weren't sent to a neurologist to evaluate your symptoms is medical neglect and you deserved better.

Second-

The argument that anxiety can't cause tics really comes from the fact that there are NO studies to prove anxiety causes tics. There are no studies to say they don't, because there is no clinical or scientific evidence that they do in the first place. It's sort of like asking "use scientific studies to prove to me that Santa Claus doesn't exist" .. You can't find those studies because everyone already knows Santa Clause doesn't exist so no one does a study on that in the first place. In this scenario, anxiety tics and Santa Claus are the same thing.

All studies agree that anxiety can worsen EXISTING tics, but none say that anxiety alone c a u s e s tics. Those are two very very different things. Ticcing when anxious does not mean being anxious makes you tic, it means that being anxious worsens and makes noticable tics that you already have.

What I can give resources to though, are genuine Tourettes and Tic Disorder websites:

[imagine-silk]

I got diagnosed with a tic disorder today and I think it'd be interesting to explore how tics could affect a spider person. Like my right hand tics a lot so I imagine properly shooting webs out of it would be extra challenging, and being stealth would be hard because of my vocal tics. I love the idea of platonic yanderes Peter B Parker, Miguel, Hobie, Miles, Gwen, and Pavitr all being willing to beat the crap out of somebody giving me crap for my tics lol

It's good you got a diagnosis, it's very helpful and I hope the best.

Stealth is not going to be your friend. You would go on missions focused on run in run out, shock troops and such. Those also have their troubles but you blurring something doesn't matter and your slip ups will be dealt with immediately because of how fast paced it is.

As for everyone, they help you out, but adding yandere to them changes things.

Miguel will put you in situations you'll mess up in to save you and say you should stay with him. Sometimes it does risk the mission but it's worth it to get you on desk duty where he can be certain you're safe and selfishly indulging in your company. It's so unfortunate you slipped up with your shooter. He'd hate for you to feel embarrassed. So stay in. And you don’t need to know about the camera feed on the bottom of screens.

Miles is known for pushing his luck so when he goes out, for any reason, he will do his best to take you, especially when he's not supposed to. He's pretty good at getting around so sneaking you to and from is not that difficult, climbing and swinging if need be. You might think it is difficult but your tics don't matter, he's fast to adapt so he'll always catch you if you even move an inch. He's also very catty out on the street; every passing comment he'll step on their shoe or something. It was an accident, he promises. His foot slipped, just like their mouth.

Hobie is known for not following rules and for you that is in no doubt. You're not supposed to go on his missions but that might as well have been a rule that said, "Take [Name] with you everywhere." He has very strange ways to deal with your tics and they work most of the time. He's manipulative in the sense he's always a few steps ahead in a race no one knows is really happening. You have a solid sense of comfort with him that the others are going to have to catch up to. His lack of reservations and nonchalant attitude is so desirable he makes you feel normal.

Gwen is very much a person to keep distance but for a darling she will be very close and find reasons to, but for you it’s pretty easy; she’s just helping you out. And then she just happens to be there. Then the thing you went to go do she’s also doing, what a coincidence. She won’t use your tics against you, she just deals with them on the spot and reassures you it’s fine. Out of everyone she’s the most out and about on the street to be a full blown civilian so being in public is routine and she’s very confrontational with people who make their unwanted opinions known. Honestly, you will witness her beating the shit out of someone once you’ve known each other long enough, because that’s the point she’s done hiding it. It’s just, she wants you to feel comfortable walking the streets, and those people need to be out of the way for that.

Pavitr has a very basic understanding of tics in general but he’s also a star student so it’s not that way for long. His practices are mostly clinical in nature because it comes from books but the effort is fully there. As a Spider he takes it in strides. Mumbattan is dense and alive, running around on the street or in the air he always says he’ll save you. He makes good on it too. Every slip up he catches, every unwanted blurt is met with loving reassurance, and if you ask for him to wait he stops completely for you. When he tells you he’s at your disposal he means it. He’s also the one most comfortable with killing away from you. He wants you to be happy and for that to happen some trash needs to be taken out.

And then there’s Peter. He is so blatant with his habits you can’t see them. He’ll mention your tics just enough to make it obvious he is helping you but not bringing so much attention that you feel any way about it. Mayday is going to be dropped on you a lot and due to her unique abilities you really can’t hurt her in any way. If you spasm she will not tumble and if she does she’s happy to hang off of you. Blurt out something you’re not supposed to she doesn’t know English yet, no harm done. It’s a very good way to ground you while also keeping you to himself for a good chunk of time.

[fentrashcat]

Tourettes Awareness Month, day 8!

I forgot how time works and let days 6 and 7 pass wo a post 😅

Today I think I'm just going to talk about my family and how they react to my Tourette's.

Soft TW for some ableism, but it was from ignorance not malice.

⚠️Everyone who has TS or tic disorders will have different experiences, this is just mine.

Grandma

I want to preface this with the fact that my grandma didn't mean anything by this but it was kind of hurtful right after I got diagnosed. When she found out she said "oh I know what that is! There's this guy who comes to the shops and stomps around and chants dirt words under his breath, [grandma's friend] said he has that. Does this mean you're going to start cursing all the time now?"

Now I cursed like a sailor already, but never around my family, ESPECIALLY never around my grandma, and as a newly diagnosed 17yo, that made me really anxious.

Later one when I developed my "duck-duck" tic the first time she heard it she asked "was that what I think it was" and I clarified it was DUCK not FUCK. For the next week or so afterwards, anytime she heard it she'd be like "oh its still good, okay". I made some kind of comment (I don't remember it now, but knowing me I made a joke of it) about how I'd be upset if my happy tic was vulgar, and she stopped mentioning it.

Also when she found out sudden loud noises trigger tics (and saw me ticcing myself dizzy bc thunder), she would always tell me to come over if storms were too much for me, since we live nearby, or she'd text to make sure I was okay in big storms.

Grandpa

So my grandpa has had a lot of growth in the past few years regarding mental health and disabilities, and a lot of it is because he's been around me more. He was often the one to drive me home when I had tic attacks at work. He used to pressure me a lot about not being able to drive, but after seeing how twitchy I get with bad drivers, he kind of dropped it 😅.

I also ended up talking to him about the trouble I had trying to get disability, and later that day he sent me some resources. He also started asking and trying to learn more about my TS, although his timing wasn't always great as he'd ask me during an attack so I usually couldn't answer right away.

Also when I mentioned that I had a good day while at the disability evaluation and should've gone on a bad day he said something like "Yeah, sitting here talking to you like this I'd never know, but I've seen it when it get bad, and it's rough".

Mom

My mom isn't diagnosed but gets tics, it's usually either echolalia, or a response to mine. She mimics the generic Samsung text tone (but hasn't changed it), and will answer some of my tics with something kind of related. A "duck-duck" from me might get a "goose" from her, my "ding" causes her to "dong", my "bing" gets her to "bong".

Whenever I get ticcy around her she tries to help, either distracting me, getting me somewhere I can calm down, or reminding me I don't need to apologize or suppress if she notices me doing that.

I'm running out of energy so just doing these ones for now, might do a part 2 with my Aunt, Cousin, and Baby Cousin. For now though thank you for reading, and feel free to leave an ask if you have any questions 😊

Also forgot to mention if you check out the fentics tag below there's more stuff on tics and Tourettes that I've posted or reblogged.

[via-rant]

I have to vent about this cause it's so confusing and i really don't know what to do. I got diagnosed with FND (Functional Neurological Disorder) about a year ago which explained so much. (Random pains anywhere and everywhere mainly headaches and back pain, where my tics come from, why I zone out so much, why I forget a lot of things multiple times a day etc...) and I can't get the help I need because of the shitty healthcare system here. I've thought about moving to another country where it's free, but I don't have that kind of money and I'd feel too bad, and don't have the motivation to learn about their culture and whatnot. The job I have is barely paying me and I'm trying to find a second job but it's gone sour so far because I don't have enough experience. Not to mention my FND makes it hard because the places I don't need experience in are fast pace environments and getting headaches and zoning out everyday is going to definitely effect that.

Disability benefits could help but I don't want to apply for those right now because I feel like my parents aren't going to take me seriously since they didn't before which is why it took so long to get disgnosed in the first place and I really don't want to be stuck with them.

The best I've thought of is to wait it out until I can move with someone whose willing to help me with this. Until I can afford to do that. Sorry this was long. I hate asking for advice but if anyone has some please give me some.

[bluegoblinfox]

Good news but that also sucks...

I have an appointment with a psychiatrist next week, from the community mental health team. Is to discuss my plural identity and symptoms of dissociative identity disorder. Now I don't think I meet the criteria for dissociative identity disorder, I do think I might be diagnosable with a different kind of dissociative disorder and I want to explore my experience of my brain, how that translates in terms of diagnosis. Putting a name to it isn't really important to me per se but it's a lot easier to explain my experiences to Professionals and people from the Department of Work and Pensions etc if I have a piece of paper that says what it is.

Whilst I am very pleased to be getting a appointment relatively quickly as I was only referred a few months ago, I know from previous experiences of assessment with psychiatrists that I'm going to need to talk about all of the trauma. Yes all of the trauma and it's impact on me, my PTSD symptoms and my autism, tendency to become non-verbal and all that shit. I also know from previous experience that digging all that shit up is not pleasant.

Also to further complicate the layers of horror that this appointment is already going to be, it's going to be held at the psychiatric unit my eldest was admitted to last year. The location of a lot of recent trauma for me.

My partner is gonna come and stay with me for the night before and the night after this appointment. I'm definitely going to disassociate. I'm probably going to become non-verbal for a while after. It's definitely gonna make my functional neurological disorder flare up. I'm going to tic a lot. Probably going to have a lot of right sided weakness and that might even become a migraine. If I'm really unlucky I'm gonna have a few flashbacks as well. So much fun!

So I'm gonna make sure that I've got lots of things set up when I get home to make life easy. All my sensory stuff together, my blindfold and medication ready should I need it. I'm gonna make sure I have lots of salty snacks and cola in as when I have a migraine I crave salt and sugar so bad.

I'm also going to make sure that I've cleared my diary for for 5 days after. It's this that I think people struggle to understand or appreciate without being told about it. That a difficult meeting like this it's gonna wipe me out for the best part of week. That the emotional turmoil and the ramifications of them aren't just in the moment or in proceeding hours. It will for days and days after.

I know a lot of people take for granted just being able to do a thing move on from it. My brain and my body don't work like that anymore. To be honest I'm not sure they ever did!

[actinidiafruit]

TW: tics, diagnosis, talking about myself.

Just to preface, I know I need to bring this up with my doctor (should've years ago).

I've dealt with what I've come to believe are tics for at least 6 years now-- 6 years is as much as I can remember dealing with them (I'm 20). I use the world 'believe' because I haven't been diagnosed, and I feel like my experience doesn't quite match up with others who have talked about it. I also have a very poor memory of my childhood, so I can't really provide any detailed knowledge about kid-me's symptoms.

ANYWAYS. But yeah. I've had the same facial tics (scrunching my nose, raising 1 or both brows, rolling my eyes and looking up to the left, flexing my jaw, blinking) off and on for at least 6 years. Potentially a sniffing tic as well, I genuinely don't notice it a lot of the time, though, but my family tells me I do it a lot. The tics get worse when I think about them or think about tics, get worse with stress, and become more frequent when I take my ADHD meds.

My tics are pretty mild. There are periods of days to a month where I don't notice them a lot. I'd say my most common state is about 2-3 an hour. Then there are other periods where I'll be ticcing nonstop for an hour or two a day (I also get super restless when this happens).

My problem is, when I've read online about various tic disorders, they all mention: 1. A premonitory urge, 2. Tics being uncontrollable (and sometimes not noticable to the ticcing person?), 3. People getting irritated with their own tics, 4. Tics being described as not feeling good. I don't fully relate to some of these-- or at least they don't read like my experience.

1. I do get a sort of "itch" feeling that goes away when the tic is performed. I'll typically tic until I feel better / feel right / the itch is gone (all are synonymous with each other). I have OCD, so the "just right" feeling throws up a red flag for me. Dealing with my OCD doesn't seem to affect them, however, so I don't know what to think.

2. I'd like to think I'm pretty aware of my tics. I don't find that most of them just occur without an itch that builds up in intensity over time. And even then, I can usually control whether to tic or not; it doesn't feel the best though, kinda like holding in a cough when you have a bad tickle.

3. I personally don't feel very impeded by my tics; this could be due to their mild nature though. I only really get irritated with them when I've been ticcing for an hour straight and my face becomes numb from it. I also feel embarassment when I get the urge to do the eye rolling and look up to the left ones. I don't want to come off as I'm being rude and rolling my eyes, but I can't help it. I find it way harder to stop my blinking / eye related tics.

4. My tics don't feel bad? Only if I'm having a bad day and have one of those "you're gonna tic for an hour nonstop" moments, I get really tired after those. I generally feel neutral towards them. The eye rolling one feels good to me (I'm extremely lucky that I usually don't have it a ton of times in a row-- it becomes painful if done more than 5 times).

But yeah. So I dunno whether to truly think I have tics, but it's the greatest thing I can come up with that fits my symptoms. I describe myself as "doing" them because I do have a level of control over them and it feels good to relieve that itch. Anyways, I'm absolutely gonna bring it up with my doctor next time I see them, though.

[mirandamckenni1]

Autistic People are STILL Being Mocked Online Get an exclusive @Surfshark Holiday deal! Enter promo code NOWWHAT to get up to 6 extra months free at https://ift.tt/ah8B3wT Autistic People are STILL Being Mocked Online Can you believe this subreddit has almost 300,000 members?? 🐌 I have a new Patreon community! You can get 2 exclusive videos a month, access to the Discord server, and more 🐌: https://ift.tt/vIQyx0A 💛WATCH NEXT💛: Does TikTok Think You're Autistic? | 4 Bizarre Autism Tests: https://youtu.be/3mXB-xF78_M Autistic Influencer BULLIED off Social Media: https://youtu.be/Jv0EW2CJws0 📹 My Videos mentioned 📹: Not Stimming is MORE dangerous than you think...: https://youtu.be/RTw-32j0vm0 📒 Sources 📒: Fake Disorder Cringe: https://ift.tt/yeI1VYn TikTok Rap: https://ift.tt/mbx8gsd TikTok Rap by other person: https://ift.tt/o6hzPZE BPS Article: https://ift.tt/7hozKIJ Stimming National Autistic Society: https://ift.tt/SucMzm1 Wikipedia page Stimming: https://ift.tt/ATdrH2g LUSH: https://ift.tt/24DLzRg Stimming vs Tics: https://ift.tt/v9JpeQm Why do some autistic people stim?: https://ift.tt/4WST6gQ DSM-5: https://ift.tt/makdzu2 Not A Mental Illness: https://ift.tt/y5VZr9l Number of Undiagnosed Autistic People: https://ift.tt/C3z4J6d Autism Identity and the Lost Generation: https://ift.tt/E7hzpUY Development and Validation of a Novel Self-Report Measure of Monotropism in Autistic and Non-Autistic People: The Monotropism Questionnaire: https://osf.io/ft73y/ “It feels like holding back something you need to say”: Autistic and Non-Autistic Adults accounts of sensory experiences and stimming: https://ift.tt/8X0iqW4 00:00 The most Ableist place? 00:30 You have BPD, actually. 05:05 You don't understand stimming is, sir 12:00 Self-diagnosis is pushing back mental health care? 19:53 RUN away from this Dr 20:27 When self-diagnosis is NOT valid 📖 *Books I'd Recommend about Autism 📖 : Aspergirls by Rudy Simone: https://amzn.to/3xSZ6Mg Different not Less by Chloe Hayden (read if you want to cry): https://amzn.to/40fKx2m Unmasking Autism by Devon Price: https://amzn.to/3LhMV3j *These are affiliate links. The channel will receive a small commission if you buy anything on Amazon after clicking through with this link. There's no extra cost to you; any money will go towards putting out more content. I'd love to post twice a week and put more time into research for these videos. Thank you so much - I really appreciate every like and comment! DISCLAIMER: I am a second-year psychology student and a late-diagnosed #actuallyautistic individual. I am not a qualified healthcare professional. via YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ms7NOHAZ-Vk

[urfavoritesecretadmirer]

As someone who has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression (genetic sadly), tics, and is currently in the process of inner self healing and self help until I get my therapist for possible ADHD and my dissociative identity disorder, I have a lot to say.

I AM USING MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AS EXAMPLES‼️‼️

Most of this is about the self diagnosis.

TW: Mentions of medication, kinda syscourse, lots about mental health, mentions of trauma, slight mention of violence and rape

1. If someone has a depressive disorder, they don’t have the motivation to heal. When someone is depressed, they feel hopeless, sad, and the last thing they are focused on is “healing”. This is the case for a lot of mental health.

2. Not everyone can afford therapy. Not everyone is in a safe household. Not everyone is in a supportive household. Some people physically cannot get medical assistance even if they tried. I’m saying this as someone who did try and get diagnosed, and my family did not support my mental health. Sometimes, self diagnosing is the only option.

3. Some people have trauma caused by therapists and/or doctors. Even if they want to get diagnosed, they don’t want to bring back the trauma they experienced. My last therapist was a creep, after that the last thing on my mind was self help and inner healing from that. I was focused on “damn I really need a break from therapy for a long time”.

4. Most people I have met that self diagnose are either one, in the same place that I explained in paragraph two and three, or have done years of research. People who wake up one day and go ‘oh I feel kinda sad I must have depression’ are not self diagnosing. They’re faking, looking to label themselves with something for fun or attention, or are just misinformed. A I’ve been researching DID/OSDD since I was 11, and only self diagnosed because I had no choice.

5. Some people don’t want to get diagnosed or be medically acknowledged. They don’t want to get treated differently, it may ruin their career choice, it may even ruin how they live their everyday lives. Being diagnosed has its downsides.

6. No one who self diagnoses and doesn’t get professional help is trashy or anti-recovery. You can get help in more ways than one, but forcing someone to “get professional help” when they are not ready is harmful too. I have depression genetically and I didn’t want to see a therapist when I was six years old. Seeing professionals for mental health is scary. You can get help from supportive family, friends, etc. You may also discover more about yourself, learning about the disorder you have, labeling yourself with it, accepting the fact you have it, meeting others with it, etc can lead you to healing.

7. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s hard to find a good medical professional who will properly diagnose you without trying to force medication down your throat. When I was diagnosed with anxiety, no one even thought to get me the correct professional help or offer me ways of self help and inner healing. They told me all I needed was medication and that’s all they gave me.

8. Misinformation. This is a very important word when it comes to mental health. Some people are told they don’t even have to worry about inner healing and that all it takes is meds. I took meds, they gave me a bunch of different types of meds. None of them help, they caused me to be underweight, constantly tired, have sleeping problems, etc. Some people also don’t find a therapist that is an expert on how they feel and end up getting misinformed. When I expressed to a past therapist that I heard “voices”, she told me it was normal because the voices weren’t telling me to rip someone’s head off or rape someone (her words not mine).

9. Putting a label on how you feel doesn’t make it a personality trait. Labels can be crucial to someone, if I didn’t put a label on my tics then people would look at me weird and probably think the devil had possessed me (my school has a lot of Catholic and Christian people).

10. If someone has a disability or mental disorder, they don’t even think about healing at first. A lot of mental health pops out during youth (as young as 5 years old for me), and don’t know how to heal from it. And that brings me back to my earlier points, getting help can be expensive.

11. Some disorders and disabilities can be really obvious. Before I got diagnosed with tics, it was really fucking obvious I had tics. So obviously, I self diagnosed and told people I had tics until I got diagnosed. And then they found out my tics were caused by my anxiety, so that was two diagnoses.

12. Some people are in denial. With my tics, I would argue with my grandma that I didn’t while my neck was twitching. I would claim I just have a bad habit of popping my neck and other useless claims. Someone can deep down know that they have something but be in denial. Being in denial would get in the way of inner healing and getting medical help.

13. With some disorders like a dissociative disorder (example), the point of that disorder is that your brain hides it from you. Your brain tries to hide your system from you, causing confusion and denial. Which usually gets in the way from inner healing.

14. It’s hard to talk to a therapist, especially as a minor, about mental disorders without being sent on a grippy socks vacation. If you get diagnosed, there’s an even higher chance of being admitted into a mental hospital.

15. Some disorders and disabilities, you can’t heal from.

16. People who say stuff like this are always only ever talking about mental disorders like anxiety, bpd, systems, etc. Which are good to acknowledge, but saying that someone who doesn’t make an effort to heal is trash and anti-recovery is awful.

What about people who want to be abused? What about people who want to be raped? What about people with a self harm addiction? These are just a few examples. I agree, people who do this need support and help, but sometimes they can’t find that support themselves. And I’m using these as examples because these can cause mental health problems later that they will either self diagnose or get diagnosed with. I’m pretty sure if someone was groomed and they it caused PTSD, they can self diagnose.

Might add onto this later. This all is respectful and I mean no disrespect to OP.

there is no point to 'self diagnose' yourself with anything if you have no incentive to seek medical assistance or atleast do any other forms of self help and inner healing. at that point you're simply looking for a label to identify yourself with as if it's a personality trait, and not an actual disability. it's trashy at best, anti recovery at worst.

[its-ticsticstics]

Ok so I’m. So confused right now because I’ve been seeing a bunch of posts from you and @withasideoftourettes saying anxiety tics aren’t real but that’s my diagnosis? Like I don’t have official anxiety or anything but I went to my doctor and she was like “no yeah they’re anxiety tics” and then gave me this big long explanation about anxiety tics and how they work and stuff? Should I try to see a neurologist? I’m just shy of a year of my tics starting (a year this November) so even if there is something wrong I couldn’t really get a diagnosis

1000% percent you need to see a neurologist if you are having tics (unvoluntary movements and sounds).

Some doctors use the phrase 'anxiety tics' to mean shuddering, skin picking, leg bouncing, lip biting, and other anxious behaviours but its not a tourettes-like or tic disorder-like condition. Its just a poorly worded term for anxious behaviour/self-soothing.

If the above is not your case, then a neurologist is needed. Doctors are not the ones meant to diagnose these things, only to give referals, and its fair to say your being medically neglected if otherwise has happened.

So many things can cause tics and they should never EVER be brushed off casually, and I'm terribly sorry if thats what has happened to you.