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Question 60: HI, I'M 19 AND HAVE TOURETTE'S. MY MOST DISTURBING SYMPTOM IS MENTAL COPRALALIA. USUALLY MY OTHER SYMPTOMS ONLY FLARE UP WHEN THIS GOES OFF AND WHEN IT'S BAD I FREEZE UP UNTIL I GET OVER THAT EPISODE. I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND MUCH ON THIS SYMPTOM AND I WAS WONDERING IF THERE WAS ANYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS. THANKS, J.W. OH. USA.

Hello J.W.!

It doesn't surprise me that you haven't found much specific information on your mental coprolalia J. -- typically, and from a research or clinical perspective, "a tic is a tic" in the sense that, regardless of what the particular noise or movement is, they all follow the same "rules" and come from the same neurology. While there are certain tics (like eyeblinking) that are common to most people with TS, to have tics that are unique to you as an individual is not at all unusual. To not find anything on mental coprolalia specifically shouldn't concern you -- the same tricks, the same psychological interventions, the same strategies, and the same medications that you read or hear about that help tics in general would also apply to this tic.

What you describe as "freezing up" is also something that is often seen in TS and is called "blocking". Blocking is defined as a "Short-lived sense of being unable to initiate or implement a movement even with effort". Other movement disorders, like akinesia, can involve the inability to move but these episodes tend to be of longer duration than those seen in TS. Also, this inability to move can be overcome with sustained effort in akinesia. I myself on occasion have experienced blocking -- in my situation it usually arose when I was experiencing self-injurious and painful tics................it was as if the 'self-preservation' side of me was fighting the TS side of me, and I was immobilized until a victor was declared for that particular round.

One last thing I would want to say is that you may want to learn more about obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) if you aren't already familiar with it. OCD is common in people with TS and involve more mental symptoms like the one you describe (particularly if you sometimes engage in certain rituals or actions to help resolve or get rid of that thought).

I hope this helps J.W.! Have a great upcoming weekend sir.........
Dr. Dunc.

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