Nervous Habits

Eight-year-old Yitzy has a twitch. His mouth curls up (on one side only) into something between a smile and a grimace — over and over again. It makes Yitzy look a bit odd so his parents and siblings keep telling him to “stop it.” Everyone is stressed over it. For his part Yitzy claims to have no control. “I’m not doing it on purpose — I just can’t help it ” he insists. Mom is getting worried. “What’s wrong with that child?” she wonders. “He looks like a nervous wreck!”

Tics

Yitzy may be no more nervous than anyone else despite his “nervous habits.” Repetitive movements or vocalizations are called “tics” and they have more to do with the wiring of a person’s brain than with emotional conditions like nervousness or anxiety. Whereas an anxious child may have fears and phobias or may worry incessantly a child with a tic disorder may just have tics — no fears or worries included.

The child may chronically sniffle or clear his throat or make small grunts squeaks or barking sounds. Repetitive noises like these are called “vocal tics.” Or he may wrinkle his nose or pull his shoulder backward or twist his neck a bit over and over again as if he needs to straighten something out. Repetitive movements are called “motor tics.” In the case of Tourette’s syndrome he may do both repetitive sounds and movements. A tic can be suppressed for a while but then it must be released. While it’s true that tics occur more frequently during periods of stress they aren’t caused by stress. They are caused by genetic factors. Some tic conditions are transient meaning they appear for a time (commonly around age seven to nine in children) and then disappear on their own.

Sometimes however tics can persist throughout life. A child cannot stop persistent tic behavior on his own; he needs professional assistance. Medical psychological and even naturopathic interventions (i.e. Bach Flower Therapy or homeopathy) have been known to help. Getting upset with a child not only does not help this condition it may increase the kind of stress that leads to an increase in tic behavior!