Let's Talk About Tics, And No, I Don't Mean The Bug

Many people see someone making frequent weird noises, or making sudden, continuous movements wonder what the hell they are doing. Maybe it's during a movie and they keep randomly flinching or twitching, or maybe you'll be in a car with someone and they keep making a strange type of humming, or a clearing of their throat. Well, it's rarely something the person is trying to do. These actions are referred to as tics. They are involuntary vocal or physical actions that often happen quite frequently and trust me, I can guarantee that the people who have the tics dislike them more than those who see or hear them.

I have personally struggled with vocal tics since my early/middle years of middle school. These vocal tics I did deal with happened to at first consist of a deep type of grunt and a snorting noise, which was honestly humiliating. Thankfully they seemed to become less frequent after my freshman year of high school. They would still pop up occasionally, usually when my stress levels peaked, but overall they were much better. Now that I'm in college, and all the studying and homework tends to bring about a lot of stress, my tics have unfortunately come back and tend to happen all throughout the day, although this time it is only the grunting one. I'm pretty sure that I've gotten a few weird looks from people who don't understand what a tic is, which is definitely rather embarrassing, but I, along with many other people, have to learn to live with those looks.

Even my tics are definitely not something I enjoy having, I don't have it nearly as bad as some people.

I know that students will get called out in class and are sometimes even threatened to be sent to the principles office because they won't stop moving or making noise. Having a tic can cause people to be more softly spoken or shy because they may have been too afraid to make noise or annoy people with their condition, making it hard to speak up in the future. All of this because people haven't been taught what a tic is.

I was pretty confused for a while on why I was unwillingly making noises, and nobody around me knew what it was either because it was and still is a problem that isn't well addressed. It's considered to be a minor problem, and because of this, people who have this very problem can often go a while without even knowing what they have. I'll admit that it's not as big of a problem as multiple other difficulties such as mental health issues, but that doesn't mean it doesn't matter. It may not seem like it, but tics can actually have quite a big impact on people.

After all of this, I'm hoping I've educated some people on this condition so that not only will they know what a person is going through if you see or hear them doing such actions, but that those who I've told about this will also be able to help people who don't understand what is wrong with themselves, and maybe help them feel a little more confident about themselves when going through it.