west virginia girl

Hi
I am not on the OCD board very much but I should be but if you have talked about this before and I just haven't read it I'm Sorry to be asking these questions again.....But why do you even think you could have Tourette's?
Is there a physical symptom ticking or symdrome you have or is this just how you feel in your mind that you are going to have?
If you don't have any symptoms as like ticking or what is written below in the information I have found for you then I would think this is just classic ocd.
When I go out as you were talking and just want to be in your mind....Well the thing is I feel I am in my mind and everything around me isn't real and being in my mind sometimes scares me with all the obbsessive questions that run through it. Hope this info helps some


Tourette Syndrome is described as a neurological condition resulting in a number of involuntary movements (motor tics) and involuntary vocalizations (vocal tics).

Tics are repetitive, anywhere from several a minute to only a few times a day. Their number and severity changes over time, and can range from being so mild they're hardly apparent to being so prevalent they disrupt life to the point where it's difficult to function.

Tourette Syndrome is often accompanied by one or more of several other neurological conditions including attention deficit disorder (DSM-III-R criteria for ADHD <dsmiiir-adhd.html> and the DSM-IV criteria for ADHD <dsmiv-adhd.html> ), obsessive compulsive disorder (DSM-III-R criteria for OCD <dsmiiir-ocd.html> ), etc. The combination of TS with one or more of these other conditions is what's called "TS+"

The essential feature of this disorder is recurrent obsessions or compulsions sufficiently severe to cause marked distress, be time-consuming, or significantly interfere with the person's normal routine, occupational functioning, or usual social activities or relationships with others.
Obsessions are persistent ideas, thoughts, impulses, or images that are experienced, at least initially, as intrusive and senseless -- for example, a parent having repeated impulses to kill a loved child, or a religious person having recurrent blasphemous thoughts. The person attempts to ignore or suppress such thoughts or impulses or to neutralize them with some other thought or action. The person recognizes that the obsessions are the product of his or her own mind, and are not imposed from without (as in the delusion of thought insertion).
The most common obsessions are repetitive thoughts of violence (e.g., killing one's child), contamination (e.g., becoming infected by shaking hands), and doubt (e.g., repeatedly wondering whether one has performed some act, such as having hurt someone in a traffic accident).
Compulsions are repetitive, purposeful, and intentional behaviors that are performed in response to an obsession, according to certain rules, or in a stereotyped fashion. The behavior is designed to neutralize or to prevent discomfort or some dreaded event or situation. However, either the activity is not connected in a realistic way with what it is designed to neutralize or prevent, or it is clearly excessive. The act is performed with a sense of subjective compulsion that is coupled with a desire to resist the compulsion (at least initially). The person recognizes that his or her behavior is excessive or unreasonable (this may not be true for young children and may no longer be true for people whose obsessions have evolved into overvalued ideas) and does not derive pleasure from carrying out the activity, although it provides a release of tension. The most common compulsions involve hand-washing, counting, checking, and touching.
When the person attempts to resist a compulsion, there is a sense of mounting tension that can be immediately relieved by yielding to the compulsion. In the course of the illness, after repeated failure at resisting the compulsions, the person may give in to them and no longer experience a desire to resist them.

Associated features. Depression and anxiety are common. Frequently there is phobic avoidance of situations that involve the content of the obsessions, such as dirt or contamination. For example, a person with obsessions about dirt may avoid public restrooms; a person with obsessions about contamination may avoid shaking hands with strangers.

Age at onset. Although the disorder usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood, it may begin in childhood.

Take Care



[This message has been edited by west virginia girl (edited 03-01-2003).]