16 Answers

Jeanne Barkemeijer de Wit, Just your (semi)average old fart, growing old with as LITTLE grace as possible!

Updated Jan 5, 2016

 

 

I have Tourette's and I it has NEVER never caused me to swear or spew obscenities.  I twitch, pure and simple.  I am so tired of people thinking I'm going to lose it and start spewing obscenities.

That said, Tourette's sufferers have a certain amount of control.  I can feel twitches coming on, and can hold them off for a while.  It's sort of like trying not to blink ... you can do it for a while, but eventually you end up blinking more than you would have.

Because I can feel Tourette's coming on, I usually make a beeline to the bathroom, bedroom or someplace private, where no one can see me.  By and large, few people see me when I'm having an attack.

My Tourette's is triggered by stress, anxiety, fatigue and certain sounds.  My most common symptoms are as follows.

I twitch ... sort of like a huge jump.  My shoulders hunch up, my eyes blink shut, and my head goes down.

Sometimes my face scrunches up.  My eyes close and I grimace.

I rock back and forth.

I whisper repetitive things under my breath (I don't swear)

The words go something like this. 

yabadaba, yabadabado, yabayabayaba, yabadabadabadaba,

My Dad had Tourette's (it runs on families and BOTH parents must have the gene in order to pass it on to their kids)

Dad made silly sound effects at the movies, mostly during romantic scenes.  Kissing sounds, snorts, etc., which made most people crack up.  He was also prone to spontaneous farting, and could seemingly fart on demand.  He LOVED asking people to pull his finger, at which point he'd let out a loud fart. This also made people crack up.

When he was stressed, he would shrug like I do, additionally his eyes would blink like mine.

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Tracy Marsh, Author/editor of book on Tourette Syndrome in Childhood.

Answered Jul 2

 

 

They usually don’t. As others have said, copralalia affects 10% of people with TS. Most people with TS say other words or sounds. The media picks up on the swear words because it grabs attention of an audience. TS affects the brain in that it causes lack of inhibitory control. We all have a “filter” that keeps us from saying much of what goes thru our head, often we aren’t even aware of all that runs thru our heads. With TS this filter doesn’t work right. It’s not just swear words but often any inappropriate word for that specific situation. I’ll give an example. Say you are white and you are in a store full of white people. A black person walks in. What is the least appropriate thing you could say at that moment? The N word right? With TS sometimes that word is the word they are pressured to say. Or you are in a crowded movie theater. The worst thing would be to scream “fire”. Guess what word the person with TS finds forcing it’s way out? It’s a brain issue, not something anyone would do on purpose or would want to have in their life. So please be sensitive. Say you are being helped in a store by a very large, overweight person. What would be the last thing you would want to say outloud? It’s in your head isn’t it? Somewhere, even if you are very sensitive to weight issues. We all have these things somewhere in our brain but we are able to use social appropriate behavior. The person with TS wants to be appropriate but they can’t always do it.

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Nan Waldman, Counsel to parents for the education of their children

Answered Nov 22, 2014

 

 

I once worked in the development department of a nonprofit mental health center.

My first interviews went very well and I was looking forward to working with my new boss. We would be side by side on chairs with wheels. Tables were placed on every wall, and a bank of monitors and keyboards were placed in front of us; Development had about ten computers in that room to keep track of donors and donations, asks and bequests. It was so long ago I forget what else. My boss was going to teach me what he wanted me to do.

He looked at me and the most horrible filth came out of his mouth. I couldn't believe it. I saw he had multiple tics and figured he had Tourette's. We didn't discuss it.

The first week progressed painfully and slowly for me. I tried very hard not to take what he said personally.

After the first week he said the manifestations of his symptoms were increasing because he was embarrassed around me -- and so I found another place to use my skills.

Although most people with Tourette's do not  have the manifestation of coprolalia, it is not made up or fake or something only seen in second rate TV shows.

Coprolalia really does exist. It is the verbal tic causing unwanted filth to spew. And the harder he tried to stop it, the worse it was, and the worse we both felt. I was young, impressionable and naive then.  As difficult as it may have been for me to spend that time with him, it was much more difficult for him; he was clearly unable to stop the flow. I admired his skill at the job, and to this day, I think often of his courage.

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Rod Vessels, retired lawyer, supporter of the Humanity Party

Answered Apr 1, 2016

 

 

"Why do people with Tourette's syndrome swear rather than say more appropriate words?" 

You have amble feedback that Tourette's syndrome does not usually involve swearing.  You have been taught the correct term for involuntary swearing, or the involuntary utterance of obscene words or socially inappropriate and derogatory remarks--coprolalia.

Your misunderstanding is not be as egregious as past judgments of victims of these tics and involuntary utterances.  Years ago, as well as centuries ago, humans with these condition were thought to be "possessed by the devil" or controlled by "evil spirits."  All forms of mental illness were suspect, when ignorant beliefs in demons and evil spirits were prevalent.

Today, belief in demonic possession may itself be evidence of mental illness.  There is nothing healthy about Religionists' attempts to put the "fear of God" into people by preaching of demons, devils and evil spirits.

In EVERY case where science has been involved in the investigation of alleged evil/demonic influences, demonic possession was not proven and medical or psychiatric conditions were shown to be involved.  There is no proof of evil spirits.  There is no proof that tics involving Tourette's or involuntary expressions involving coprolalia have anything to do with any cause other than medical.

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Katie Cooper, Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome

Answered Jul 1

 

 

Vocal tics can be any sort of word. Contrary to what you might see in the media, swearing tics (a phenomenon called coprolalia) only occurs in about 10% of people with Tourettes. Tics can be any sort of word. For instance, I tend to tic the word “wow” or make a sort of abrupt humming noise.

The important thing to remember is that even when people with Tourettes do have swearing tics, they can’t control what words they say and should not be made to feel ashamed for it.

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Stephen Martin, I have struggled with depression for 50 years.

Updated Jul 11, 2016

 

 

Why do people with Tourette's syndrome swear rather than say more appropriate words?

I have a speculation about coprolalia. Profanity is emotionally charged. It's possible that expletives uttered in frustration, from sudden pain, from being startled, etc. are initiated by the limbic system. The prefrontal cortex in individuals with coprolalia may lack the ability to suppress these outbursts initiated by the limbic system.

I hope a neuroscientist answers this question.

Image from http://escritoresenlenguahispana...

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Sha Tahaa

Answered Nov 29, 2015

 

 

Not everyone who suffers from Tourettes Syndrome suffers from Koprolalie, too.
It is just what media broadcasts more then other manifests of Tourettes, because it distresses people more then if - for example- someone would "just" clap his hands all the time.

The Tourettes Syndrom is an illness which leads to tics. Those tics are different from person to person. Some shake their heads or something like that. Others make certain sounds. And some swear.

To use in-appropiate words in the form of a tic is called Koprolalie.
Why this illness exists is unknown, which is true for almost every mental illness.

I was once told fron a person who suffers from Tourettes (in his case manifested as a certain fast movement of his arms) that his sickness gets worse the more he is emberrassed about it.

Which means that his tic got more intense the more inappropiate it was. I guess this is true for patients with Koprolalie, too.

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Kyreena Hay, Digital Experience Strategist and doodler, with a passion for the Sciences.

Answered Dec 29, 2013

 

 

The term you are looking for is "Coprolalia", which is a form of Tourettes. Only around 10% of people with Tourettes syndrome actually exhibit Coprolalia, contrary to what popular media would have you believe.

As to why Coprolalia exists? I am no expert on that, someone else will have to answer that.

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Grant Crumpton, Artist, Musician, Tictastic Touretter.

Answered Jul 1

 

 

So many more people yell out every day words rather than curse words. Curse words are just more interesting so they get more attention in the public eye! For the most part in the rare occasion people swear, it’s not that Tourettes makes them swear. It’s more that Tourettes pushes them to say risky things like racist comments, embarrassing comments about the self or others, swear words, etc. If the person didn’t know swear words, they’d most likely say things like “loser” haha. Just comments that they really don’t actually want to say are things that surface more often for the 10% that have coprolalia.

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Joshua Renzema, 10 years as a first-hand Tourette Syndrome experiencer

Updated Jul 11

 

 

It’s a tick called coprolalia. I don’t have a medical or neurological explanation, but about 10% of people with Tourette’s have coprolalia. People with this tick don’t choose to swear. Their brain does it for them, and makes them do it.

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Mike King, Owner (1999-present)

Answered Nov 3, 2016

 

 

Most who have Tourette Syndrome don’t swear but have tics involving involuntary movements they have no control over. Those that utter oaths do so involuntarily. For them, the words are appropriate and they don’t mean to offend anyone.

Thanks for the request.

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Pete Ashly

Might mention some pvnt of populace has some form of tic.

Tory Miller, Poet and maker of things (1970-present)

Answered Jun 2

 

 

People with Tourette's disorder can tell you best, and they have! I know that Oliver Sacks, famous writer and neurologist, made friends with an artist who may perhaps have the worst case I've seen. YouTube may have some clips.

Corprolalia is one of the rarest of the possibly the hardest tic. Please look up tourette's syndrome, many great films about meet ups and celebration for being able to still enjoy life, with it.

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Steve Dadds, Born and raised near a Sanitorium. My Father an RMN

Answered Jul 1

 

 

When growing up there were a couple of Tourettes sufferers around the village and one of them did swear occasionally. It appears around 10% of sufferers swear as a part of their tics.

Here’s an interview with Jess Thom who can explain her experiences. You will hear the words biscuit and hedgehog quite a lot but I didn’t hear any swear word tics…

" data-yt-id="rZ9hsqGT2Vw" style="background-attachment: scroll; background-clip: border-box; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(https://img.youtube.com/vi/rZ9hsqGT2Vw/0.jpg); background-origin: padding-box; background-position-x: center; background-position-y: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 295px; left: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; top: auto; width: 602px;"> 

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Olivia Reinert, has had Tourette's since I was six years old

Answered Jan 31

 

 

I have Tourette’s, and it doesn’t make me swear. It never has, because people with Tourette’s, believe it or not, USUALLY DON’T HAVE SWEARING TICS.

*Deep sigh*

That is called Coprolalia, and it only affects 10% of the Tourette population! And it’s not as if they can control what they say, it doesn’t work like that. Swearing tics for people with Coprolalia is like my own tics—we can’t really control what we do or say, if we could, we would.

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Mabel Amber, studied at Nutsseminarium Amsterdam (1972)

Answered Mar 12, 2017

 

 

Replying to Jeanne Barkemeier de Wit, where she says:

“(it runs on families and BOTH parents must have the gene in order to pass it on to their kids)”

UNtrue. My mother was not afflicted with this syndrome. My father only in the mildest way.
Yet I have it (motor tics, vocal tic - accompanied with concentration issues as well as panic attacks).

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Ana Blank

Answered May 19

 

 

because they cant choose the tics that happen and if a tic is the f word than it is the f word if they could choose the tics they would if they could but they cant so they shant

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Melissa Bonet

Is there a way to excite the turrets in a persons brain to make them think they are cursing every...

3 Answers Collapsed (Why?)