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Interesting, thanks for sharing that link. I had a ton of weird tics as a kid which could easily be traced back to the large amounts of prescribed amphetamines

Interesting, thanks for sharing that link. I had a ton of weird tics as a kid which could easily be traced back to the large amounts of prescribed amphetamines I was forced to take under threat of punishment. The solution to the tics was... more punishment. It took me years to realize things such as, the reason I would chew on my shirt color all day even though I would routinely get sent to the principal's office and publicly embarrased by teachers or beaten at home was just because my jaw would get very tense and chewing motions relaxed it, and my mouth was the Sarah Desert and sucking on the fabric pulled moisture into my mouth.

Balgair 7y ago
You too!? I thought I was the only one! My shirts would be sopping wet in the front and would all have tooth holes from my chewing them, I'd go through a shirt a week nearly. I wasn't on any meds but my teacher at the time would dole out punishments regularly to me in class. I've put 2 and 2 together before, but I never knew I wasn't alone in this behaviour! Thanks for commenting, this really helped me.
- soulofmischief 7y ago
  All those poor buttons. And then I come to find out that one popular tip for reducing dry mouth in dry environments is literally sucking on a button. I wonder how common it really is in young children. Certainly seemed I was the only one dealing with it at several different schools. Is it too late to form a club? Similarly, I had issues with scratching my nose in public, nail-biting, hair-pulling, picking at scabs, sucking my thumb at night... punished and beaten all the time for it, and some particularly nasty teachers would try to make a public example... come to find out in my adulthood that I have a literal disorder, body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) syndrome, which is related to OCD and bipolar disorder and ADHD which I also deal with, and heavily exacerbated and permanently worsened by my forced exposure to intense medication.
jmathai 7y ago
Did you outgrow the tics? If so, at what age and what led to outgrowing them?
- soulofmischief 7y ago
  I still deal with BFRB and I've had a few instances of old tics resurfacing, but a combination of practice and learning much about my disorders and cognitive science has helped me tremendously with everything else, such as nervous tapping, twitching, repetitive audible excitations, speech impediments and the like. I believe even my BFRB will eventually no longer be a problem. They all subsided at different points in my youth, mostly after conscious effort. When I was first placed on medication at five, I developed a pretty awful tic wherein I would swallow every five seconds. I was sent to therapy and the therapist first thought I was lying to get attention and then thought I was crazy and needed more medication. This tic was causing gastrointestinal distress, dental issues from lack of saliva, and was a major speech impediment for me. My esophagus would get pretty raw. This was my first experience in learning how to deal with these on my own. One tic that seemed to go away without extended cognitive effort (on account of its lower frequency) was extended periods where I would laugh uncontrollably over nothing for half an hour or longer until I was red in the face and choking for breath and my diaphragm was convulsing. This lasted for a few years until adolescence. My family thought I wanted attention again and would punish me when I couldn't stop at their command. It's honestly insane how some people respond to behavioral anomalies in their children.
  - jmathai 7y ago
    Thanks for your response. My son is 9 and he goes through phases of having some sort of tic (throat clearing, head shaking, blinking, etc). They're not too bad, relatively speaking, and no one has really noticed. Or if they do then they probably dismiss it. His pediatrician said it's likely a mild form of tic and tourette syndrome which often goes away by age 13. We haven't brought it up to him besides once or twice asking if he feels any discomfort. We haven't talked to him about stopping the tics and don't plan to. I hope his classmates continue to ignore it and that they remain mild. Sorry your experience was not supportive and I hope BFRB does, in fact, go away for you.

Balgair 7y ago

You too!? I thought I was the only one! My shirts would be sopping wet in the front and would all have tooth holes from my chewing them, I'd go through a shirt a week nearly. I wasn't on any meds but my teacher at the time would dole out punishments regularly to me in class. I've put 2 and 2 together before, but I never knew I wasn't alone in this behaviour! Thanks for commenting, this really helped me.

soulofmischief 7y ago
All those poor buttons. And then I come to find out that one popular tip for reducing dry mouth in dry environments is literally sucking on a button. I wonder how common it really is in young children. Certainly seemed I was the only one dealing with it at several different schools. Is it too late to form a club? Similarly, I had issues with scratching my nose in public, nail-biting, hair-pulling, picking at scabs, sucking my thumb at night... punished and beaten all the time for it, and some particularly nasty teachers would try to make a public example... come to find out in my adulthood that I have a literal disorder, body-focused repetitive behavior (BFRB) syndrome, which is related to OCD and bipolar disorder and ADHD which I also deal with, and heavily exacerbated and permanently worsened by my forced exposure to intense medication.

jmathai 7y ago

Did you outgrow the tics? If so, at what age and what led to outgrowing them?

soulofmischief 7y ago
I still deal with BFRB and I've had a few instances of old tics resurfacing, but a combination of practice and learning much about my disorders and cognitive science has helped me tremendously with everything else, such as nervous tapping, twitching, repetitive audible excitations, speech impediments and the like. I believe even my BFRB will eventually no longer be a problem. They all subsided at different points in my youth, mostly after conscious effort. When I was first placed on medication at five, I developed a pretty awful tic wherein I would swallow every five seconds. I was sent to therapy and the therapist first thought I was lying to get attention and then thought I was crazy and needed more medication. This tic was causing gastrointestinal distress, dental issues from lack of saliva, and was a major speech impediment for me. My esophagus would get pretty raw. This was my first experience in learning how to deal with these on my own. One tic that seemed to go away without extended cognitive effort (on account of its lower frequency) was extended periods where I would laugh uncontrollably over nothing for half an hour or longer until I was red in the face and choking for breath and my diaphragm was convulsing. This lasted for a few years until adolescence. My family thought I wanted attention again and would punish me when I couldn't stop at their command. It's honestly insane how some people respond to behavioral anomalies in their children.
- jmathai 7y ago
  Thanks for your response. My son is 9 and he goes through phases of having some sort of tic (throat clearing, head shaking, blinking, etc). They're not too bad, relatively speaking, and no one has really noticed. Or if they do then they probably dismiss it. His pediatrician said it's likely a mild form of tic and tourette syndrome which often goes away by age 13. We haven't brought it up to him besides once or twice asking if he feels any discomfort. We haven't talked to him about stopping the tics and don't plan to. I hope his classmates continue to ignore it and that they remain mild. Sorry your experience was not supportive and I hope BFRB does, in fact, go away for you.