Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.jpost.com/health-and-we...ht-cause-you-to-develop-tics-heres-why-679759
Watching TikTok videos might cause you to develop tics - here’s why
Since coronavirus broke out in 2020, there has been an increase in a very strange phenomenon: young people developing "tics" not related to Tourette's syndrome or any other neurological disorder.
By WALLA! SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 05:13
In June 2019, psychiatrist Dr. Kirsten Müller-Vahl from the medical school in Hanover, Germany, encountered a strange mystery. The Tourette’s ward she was responsible for was flooded with patients with symptoms she couldn’t explain. There were dozens of teens and people in their 20s who were never diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, but suddenly began to suffer from the "tics" that characterize it.
Dr. Müller-vahl has treated Tourette's for 25 years. She says the syndrome is most often diagnosed at a very young age, usually around age six, and is more common in boys.
In addition, the "tics" that characterize the disease are usually unique to each person.
In this case, more young women and girls came to the ward, and all the new patients, who as mentioned had never been diagnosed with the syndrome, suffered from the exact same "tics.” They mainly shouted “flying shark,” “you’re ugly” or “heil Hitler.”
Her ward soon discovered that the new patients were mimicking the "tics" of a young German named Jan Zimmerman, who runs a popular YouTube page where he shares how he copes with Tourette's disease. Over the past two years, Zimmerman has managed to become a beloved YouTube star, with two million subscribers to his page.
In a study published by Dr. Muller-Vahl in the journal Brain of Oxford Academic publishing, she emphasizes that this isn’t Tourettes, but a completely different problem known in free translation as Functional Movement Disorder (FMD).
According to her, while Tourette's syndrome develops as a result of neurological damage, people can also develop “tics” from psychological or environmental causes.
When she explained this to new patients who were admitted to the clinic, some of them stopped suffering from these symptoms. Others needed psychotherapy to stop the problem, but the fact that so many young people suffered from exactly the same symptoms fascinated the specialist and the rest of her staff, who wanted to understand exactly why this was happening - and why now...
Watching TikTok videos might cause you to develop tics - here’s why
Since coronavirus broke out in 2020, there has been an increase in a very strange phenomenon: young people developing "tics" not related to Tourette's syndrome or any other neurological disorder.
By WALLA! SEPTEMBER 19, 2021 05:13
In June 2019, psychiatrist Dr. Kirsten Müller-Vahl from the medical school in Hanover, Germany, encountered a strange mystery. The Tourette’s ward she was responsible for was flooded with patients with symptoms she couldn’t explain. There were dozens of teens and people in their 20s who were never diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome, but suddenly began to suffer from the "tics" that characterize it.
Dr. Müller-vahl has treated Tourette's for 25 years. She says the syndrome is most often diagnosed at a very young age, usually around age six, and is more common in boys.
In addition, the "tics" that characterize the disease are usually unique to each person.
In this case, more young women and girls came to the ward, and all the new patients, who as mentioned had never been diagnosed with the syndrome, suffered from the exact same "tics.” They mainly shouted “flying shark,” “you’re ugly” or “heil Hitler.”
Her ward soon discovered that the new patients were mimicking the "tics" of a young German named Jan Zimmerman, who runs a popular YouTube page where he shares how he copes with Tourette's disease. Over the past two years, Zimmerman has managed to become a beloved YouTube star, with two million subscribers to his page.
In a study published by Dr. Muller-Vahl in the journal Brain of Oxford Academic publishing, she emphasizes that this isn’t Tourettes, but a completely different problem known in free translation as Functional Movement Disorder (FMD).
According to her, while Tourette's syndrome develops as a result of neurological damage, people can also develop “tics” from psychological or environmental causes.
When she explained this to new patients who were admitted to the clinic, some of them stopped suffering from these symptoms. Others needed psychotherapy to stop the problem, but the fact that so many young people suffered from exactly the same symptoms fascinated the specialist and the rest of her staff, who wanted to understand exactly why this was happening - and why now...
