Linkedin – Michael S Okun’s Post

I had the opportunity to write this piece for The Conversation about something we often underestimate in Tourette syndrome: the extraordinary amount of effort many people expend trying to suppress their tics. People may appear relatively tic-free in a classroom, workplace, clinic or on a stage, but that outward appearance can hide an exhausting internal struggle. Suppression is not simply “stopping” a tic; it can require sustained attention, awareness of premonitory urges and enormous mental energy, and the tics may rebound later. The encouraging part is that this same ability to recognize urges and modify responses is also central to behavioral treatments such as CBIT. I have spent much of my career learning from people living with Tourette syndrome, and I continue to be reminded that what we see from the outside rarely tells the whole story. The lesson for all of us is simple: look beyond the tic, listen to the person, and recognize the effort we may not be able to see.