Are these tics?

[juls]

My son has had tics for four years (usually verbal tics) but with supplements they are usually pretty controlled. But certain things trigger him to do an odd arm movement. For instance, when someone points at something it causes this arm movement. (It also causes my son to yell at the person to stop pointing.)

 

Yesterday he told me that seeing the leftover glue from a sticker that is hard to remove also causes the same movement. He furiously picks to get the sticky stuff off so that the "tic" stops. Once the problem is solved the "tic" is solved. Is this an obsession? A compulsion? My son calls it a tic but I don't think it fits the definition.

 

I never see classic OCD but I sometimes see this stuff. Comments?

 

Juls

[Chemar]

sounds like what we call tics and OCD "morphing" into each other

 

 

 

this has always been the most bothersome for my son

[airbucket]

hi Juls,

 

your post caught my eye. my son, 9, does similar things. he had bad tics for several years, with a recent unexplained reduction. He will say that a certain voice drives him crazy and makes him have to complete some ritual, or that a word or a picture will. I asked myself if any of this seemed related to something bothering him emotionally that he tried to solve through a ritual. I wonder also how fine the line is between tics and OCD compulsions? with my son is it seems very OCD, like he is convinced he HAS to do "it", but i wonder if it has the quality of a more interior tic, some action that cant be controlled? If your son doesnt have classic OCD as you said, maybe this is evidence of the co morbidity found with tic disorders, that a tic is in part an OCD obssession. I have been told recently that he can possibly be taught replacement behaviors so that he doesnt have to perform some ritual, like touching my forehead just so, or some kind of attack on the object of the provocation, and can do something else instead that is satisfying. Good luck!

 

 

My son has had tics for four years (usually verbal tics) but with supplements they are usually pretty controlled. But certain things trigger him to do an odd arm movement. For instance, when someone points at something it causes this arm movement. (It also causes my son to yell at the person to stop pointing.)

 

Yesterday he told me that seeing the leftover glue from a sticker that is hard to remove also causes the same movement. He furiously picks to get the sticky stuff off so that the "tic" stops. Once the problem is solved the "tic" is solved. Is this an obsession? A compulsion? My son calls it a tic but I don't think it fits the definition.

 

I never see classic OCD but I sometimes see this stuff. Comments?

 

Juls

[guy123]

Tourettic OCD.

 

Google it. There's not much info, and most results will take you to medical journals that want you to pay for the article. Don't pay for it. Find the author, go to his homepage, and you can download it for free. That's what I did. I would tell you his name but honestly I forgot. But it's easy to find.

[JSCCMOM]

My husband has OCD and that sounds like it to me. Basically, if you can reason in your mind that what your doing/obsessing over doesn't make sense, but you are unable to stop yourself---you're "compelled" to do it...that is OCD. My son had TS and he doesn't really have OCD. He had major attention problems.

[guy123]

Tourettic OCD.

 

Google it. There's not much info, and most results will take you to medical journals that want you to pay for the article. Don't pay for it. Find the author, go to his homepage, and you can download it for free. That's what I did. I would tell you his name but honestly I forgot. But it's easy to find.

 

It's Charles S. Mansueto, Ph.D.

[juls]

Thanks! I'll look him up.

[samsmom]

Took me a while to find this so thought I'd pass on the link - www.ocfoundation.org in the winter 2008 newsletter. It's a lot to take in! Guy, thanks for the link.

[juls]

Yes, thanks so very much! I found it too and just finished reading it. The link between tics, nontraditional ocd (or tourettic ocd), ADHD and sensory processing disorder fits very closely for my son. For us the ADHD and the sensory processing difficulties have almost disappeared. The tics and the tourettic ocd wax and wane. My son also describes "brain explosions" from time to time. These really overwhelm him. I wish I knew what these were and how to stop them...

[airbucket]

thank you Guy123, i have not had a chance to actually READ this yet, but i plan to do so tonite. thank you for posting, this sounds right on so far! And Juls, my son also describes a brain explosion or the "brain crazies", its very strange. We still deal with all kinds of physical stuff, sensory, touching issues, but not tics any more, go figure. it seems like all the bodily tics got up and banded together and decided to invade the mind instead and give him horrible OCD and anxiety for months instead! i didnt know much about internal tics, its something our OLD psychiatrist described to me and i thought, ok, internal tics = OCD?? because thats what it looks like! and why does it seem like everything is worse every FALL? wierd. what does your son describe his "brain explosions" as being like?

 

good luck and thanks guy123

 

Yes, thanks so very much! I found it too and just finished reading it. The link between tics, nontraditional ocd (or tourettic ocd), ADHD and sensory processing disorder fits very closely for my son. For us the ADHD and the sensory processing difficulties have almost disappeared. The tics and the tourettic ocd wax and wane. My son also describes "brain explosions" from time to time. These really overwhelm him. I wish I knew what these were and how to stop them...

[juls]

He once grabbed a white board and drew me a picture of a "normal brain"- his version had patterned, orderly lines. Then he drew his brain going through an explosion- he scribbled hard all over it so it looked like chaos. It usually happens when he is overwhelmed and trying to think of something or do school work. When it happens he can not think straight and needs to chill out.