Tourette Syndrome Essay

In "A Plague of Tics," David Sedaris's describes his life from childhood to adulthood. He suffers from OCD (Obsessive-compulsive disorder). Sedaris writes, "If I were to lose count of my steps, I'd have to return to school and begin again" (360). This showcases the extreme case of Sedaris's OCD; that if he does not make his route absolutely perfect, he won't be able to find peace. His compulsive routine as a young child included his unsettling "tics", which he had little to no control over. "It never fails to amaze me that people might notice these things. Because my actions were so intensely private, I had always assumed they were somewhat invisible" (Sedaris 362). Ironically, Sedaris refers to his "tics" as actions that were private

Patient Presentation: Benjamin Fowler arrived 15 minutes late for his appointment today. He was accompanied by his sister, Paula Fowler. She joined us in the interview to assist Benjamin and to answer some questions concerning Benjamin's behavior. Benjamin is a 27-year-olds African American male. He wore a t-shirt with dress pants and tennis shoes to his interview. Benjamin looked like he had not showered recently. Benjamin had issues focusing on the questions during the interview. He also was distracted by objects in the office during the interview. Benjamin also spoke in a quick manner. Benjamin was not able to tell me what day it was or where he was.

David Sedaris has an excerpt called The Plague of Tics from his book Naked detailing the obsessive compulsive behaviors that riddled his childhood & remained consistent into adulthood. Sedaris actively uses satire & humor throughout his text in order to weave a pleasant story for his audience despite the abnormal behavioral tics that he couldn't overcome for a great majority of his life. Sedaris uses this humor as a base to formulate his story & this humor ultimately helps him convey his purpose to his audiences. The purpose of this excerpt is to show obsessive compulsive behaviors in a light that a reader can comprehend while also bringing awareness to just what exactly goes on in the minds of people with obsessive compulsive behaviors. Sedaris

Many people go through struggles in life but will not ask for help or look for help or talk to someone that can help. I know that there are sometimes us human struggle through the worst in life. In everyone’s life there has been a personal struggle that had to face and that also have formed their personality. I personally have faced one of the worst struggles in my life a year ago. I have faced one of the worst depression ever; I felt lonely, helpless, trapped. The story I read about “A Plague Of Tics” by David,Sedaris face some struggles during his childhood. David Sedaris struggle with OCD when he was a child. He had a mental disorder where he felt the need to have to touch and do things repeatedly. Sedaris and I had a similar struggle cause we both felt helpless at one point and trapped. In Sedaris childhood everyone he knew would tease him for the things he did. The struggle I faced was that I did not want to be here present anymore; I was at the point to end my life.

During an interview with H. F. alone, he showed difficulty in conversation with an odd range of topics, for example “robo-hamsters,” his pets, and “becoming a bank robber” when he grew up, but was redirectable. Throughout conversation he was also excessively fidgety and could not maintain an appropriate body station, eye contact or maintained engagement. While hospitalized, he had several

In 2011 began the start of the Le Roy Hysteria with Katie Krautwurst. Soon the numbers grew, all teenage girls, from 12 all the way to 18 in a school of 600. Many doctors assumed that Katie got tics from stress in her life, as the numbers grew the more people looked into the problem. The girls showed “strange Tourette-like condition with tics”. It is more common the Tourette syndrome is to appear amongst teenage males rather than females. It is so uncommon for a dozen females in the same location to suddenly develop the Tourette syndrome.

Mental disorders can hinder a person’s ability to make proper decisions and therefore influence their lifestyle, behavior, and actions in most situations. Triggered by Fletcher Wortmann is a memoir about the negative effects of obsessive compulsive disorder can have on a person. The mental state of a person with obsessive compulsive disorder is one of uncertainty most of the time. Though a mental disorder determined many decisions in his life so far, his goal is to prove that mental disorders do not define who a person is. Through long stories about things that typically wouldn’t matter to an average person, it is clearly evident Wortmann is a male author who is very young, but also not as experienced. There is a specific writing style to

Overall, David Sedaris’ essay exemplifies the harsh reality what a person living with OCD has to deal with. Throughout the “Plague of Tics” I found Sedaris’ actions and emotions mirrored much of my own which evoked much sympathy from me. Some people may not be able to relate or understand and may view the way he

Oliver Sacks is a very famous doctor of neurology as well as a writer. He spent most of his adult life treating patients. Oliver Sacks mostly concentrated on disorders of the brain and nervous system. In a lot of the cases that Sacks dealt with, there was nothing he was able to do to heal the patients. His goal was to find a way to live with and accept their condition as well as possible. Sacks enjoyed dealing with cases mostly about experiences of real people struggling to live with unusual conditions. That’s where he wanted to find ways to help these patients to the best of his and medical ability out there. Throughout his cases he studied he came across patients who had different

Neurasthenia is the nervous disease the narrator is suffering from. Gilman expresses if the narrator is ill or if the “rest cure” treatment she is on is making her crazy(Wilson). Weir Mitchell was the authors/narrators doctor who prescribed her the “rest cure” treatment, which did not succeed(Gilman). The narrator tells her husband to help her and change the treatment, but he refuses her desires. As a result, the narrator became insane because her husband forced his wife to be in an oppressed situation with her health(MacPike).

Ben is unable to effectively communicate with a teller at the bank. His eyes became nystagmus and he was unable to focus. He tried to cash a check at the bank; however he was very unstable and nervous. Ben has a lack of coordination, his hands and brain didn’t work efficiently. After meeting a prostitute name Sarah his nystagmus kicks in again. For example his eyes were opening from big to small, and were nodding his head in an unusual position. When siting on a bench he seen Sarah again, and he begins to slur his words for example: he wanted to take her out to eat, he was speaking slow rocking and moving his head back and forward. Ben memory also became impaired from drinking; He couldn’t remember what event taken place that leads him wanting to drink himself to death.

In a short time there was an immense about of improvement seen in him, for 30 years he was wheelchair-bound and could not speak or move. He was getting adjusted to his life and did get angry that he couldn’t leave. After time his ticks started to show again and eventually he reverted to his old state, but while he was “awake” he was happy. He was able to see life even if it was just within the hospital, he spoke his mind and wrote and even became romantically interested in a woman who visited the hospital. The other patients also reverted but while they were awake they were able to cherish things that they weren’t able to experience like singing and dancing and even just simply being able to speak to their loved ones.

In his thought process, he feels if he is aware he is faking a disorder such as Tourette’s Syndrome, he is assured he does not have it. This part did make me laugh out

Tourette Syndrome (TS), first described by Gilles de la Tourette, can be the most debilitating of the tic disorders and is characterized by multiform, frequently changing motor and vocal or phonic tics. There are multiple diagnostic criteria, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV.

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a disorder of the brain that is observed in people who have involuntary movements or vocalizations called tics. Named after Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette who first discovered this disorder, this French neurologist described a noblewoman who exhibited these symptoms in 1885. These tics could range from repetitive movements to inappropriate vocalizations.