Anger and TS

[Guest Guest_Denise]

My 5 year old son has had tics off and on (mostly on for the last year) for 2 years. At this point, he has not been diagnosed with Tourrettes, but I seemed to hear that kids with TS have major anger issues. In the last few months, my son has gone from being a very sweet kid, to one that is full of anger and who has angry, violent outbursts. They are pretty unpredictable (and mostly but not only directed towards me). At other times, he can be back to his sweet self, but during these periods he is uncontrollable. Has anyone experienced this? Is this typical of TS?

 

Thanks!!

[Chemar]

Hi Denise

 

Rage and anger issues are not a symptom of Tourette Syndrome per se, but can often manifest with it, either as co-morbid disorders OR as a result of frustration/misunderstanding and other psycological issues that folks with TS sometimes endure. Your son seems rather young to have the latter condition so it may well be that he is experiencing some form of co-morbid issue.

 

ALSO rage can be triggered by adverse reaction to foods or environmental triggers etc

 

Do start to read thru some of the very valuable info here, as even things like allergies or junk food (eg artificial colouring or MSG etc) can trigger moods like rage outbursts.

 

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is very beneficial in helping with anger management .

 

Just as a footnote here......my son has ADD & OCD & SID (sensory integration dysfunction) as well as central auditory processing disorder......

We have noticed that anger can sometimes be triggered by something impacting one of these issues..for example, if he has a label in a shirt irritating him because of his SID and it persists, he can suddenly have a spurt of fury because of it, or if he is focussed on something obsessively and someone talks or interrupts...again anger can erupt

 

Since we began natural treatments and also detoxed him from heavy metals (especially mercury) and Candida (yeast) , as well as avoiding artificial food additives and other yuck stuff.......we have noticed that his moods are far more stable and that he isnt as "short fused"

 

the eruption at Mom is actually a strange compliment......it seems our kids feel comfortable to "let it out" with us ......still, unbridled anger is something that does need to be reigned in GENTLY and with deep understanding as it will cause lots of social issues if not dealt with.

 

The important thing is for you to try to get to the root cause...is it chemical imbalance, allergen, toxin etc causing it? and then seek to deal with it.

 

Hope you will stay in touch and let us know how things go and what you find to be the cause(s)

 

HTH

[Guest Guest]

My son's unpredicable behavior which included anger went away when we changed his diet. Seems that after blood testing, he had a load of food allergies. Which meant the food was like a poision to him. Remember we have souls but our bodies are based on chemistry.

[Ronnas]

The only time we see rage/anger with my son is when he has had milk. Eliminating all dairy has made a big difference for him. His vocal tics also disappeared with the elimination of milk.

[Guest lynee]

Rage and anger have been a huge part of my son's condition from the time he was about 10...he is now 18. We did go the med route in trying to deal with this before I knew about any of the supplements, and did get some relief, but there's no question this is a co-morbid part of his TS. And yes, it's primarily aimed at me.

I know that means he feels safe with me, but that doesn't make it any easier. You do have to find some way to deal with it because it does tend to become a problem for them socially. You're not alone in this one!

[susanna]

My 6 yr old son who was diagnosed with TS also had major "anger management"/rage issues. The elimination of artificial junk had a positive impact on his rages (and his tics). Since then I've also had him tested for food sensitivies....we've been eliminating the foods for which he tested positive as being sensitive to for the past two months...still not sure if that's making any difference other than the fact that he's eating healthier in general and has slimmed down a bit. He still has anger issues at times, but not nearly has bad as they were before eliminating the artificial stuff. Tics are a non-issues these days, other than a short flare up which ended up being related to illness/strep.