tourette's syndrome, are people with the vocal tic or especially utterances aware of what they say?

Question

I understand they have no control, but if they utter something...do they know they have said it?

Answer 1

It all depends on the individual, but...

When it comes to complete words or phrases? I'd say yes, most often they are aware of a word or phrase they've said. It doesn't mean all TSers are always aware, but in most cases I'd say there's a good chance they would be.

Short sounds, sniffing, clicking of the tongue, throat clearing, "ssss", and so on, might not be noticed as easily. Such things become such a "routine" part of life, if you will, that they aren't often noticed.

The greatest difference in awareness might be complexity. There are "complex" and "simple" tics (both motor and vocal). If I had to guess, I'd say it's the complex we're more aware of than the simple?

My sons are not aware of the majority of their [simple] tics being performed. They are 20 and 17 years old. I've been caught unaware of my tics, while many other tics I am very aware of.

I think the best answer to the question is to ask the person ticcing.

Answer 2

Yes, they are aware of all they experience while having a Tourette's episode. It is a horrid thing to have to live with for many people, especially the ones who have the vocal tic since that can often cause them to utter a string of some very unpleasant expressions, and often people think they're just nut cases. Tourette's is not very well understood by the general public.

Answer 3

4 or 5

Answer 4

I was married to a man with Tourette's for a number of years, and I worked in a school with some kids who had Tourette's.
From my experiences and observation, this is how I would explain what occurred:

The person with T's experienced some form of stressful internal or external pressure or an environment containing unpleasantness, as that person might define it to be. As their degree of stress would rise, there MAY or MAY NOT be an AWARENESS on their part that they are emitting some unusual sound/or words/ or physical tic. A large percent of the tics/sounds/words would present themselves during times of physical or emotional transition (from class to playground, from one task to another) or as a means of blocking out an environment (noises, crowds, silence, etc.) While such T's symptoms can and do occur randomly, this appears to be the lesser of the two. Some form of transition or environment or internal stress seems to be the larger percentage of times T's shows up.
Is the person with T's AWARE of WHAT THEY SAY? Word by word? - NO, and I have not found the words to be remembered even minutes later. The person may be aware that some form of stress was released, or then again they may not be aware of it. The release of tension through the T's tic may alter the persons mood or ability to cope to the positive or to the negative. THE WORDS ARE INVOLUNTARY, like steam under pressure lifting the lid of a pot on the stove. THE WORDS OR SOUNDS WILL LIKELY BE OFFENSIVE AND REPEATED NUMEROUS TIMES.
In my experiences the person claims to have NO MEMORY of even speaking, much less THE WORDS that were spoken. These people would finish their T's sounds/words/jerking motions, often exhibit a mood change and simply go on with their day AS IF IT HAS NEVER OCCURRED. (When the person in their presence takes offense and is emotionally wounded by the profane words spoken - the person with T's does not understand what took place that would produce such a mood change in the other person. To him, it never happened.)

Answer 5

Yes, they are. They're conciously aware of every motor and vocal movement they make, they just can't control them, and contrary to the popular stereotype, most patients with Tourette's do NOT shout profanity as a vocal tic. Just wanted to throw that out there since it really bugs me when people represent Tourette's like that.

Answer 6

I've worked with 3 people who have Tourette's and all have been aware of what they have said.

Answer 7

Yes they are aware of what they say but are unable to control them selves to stop saying it. The more pressure they feel under the worse it gets and what they say tends to get worse. Once they have said something they do feel under pressure not to say anything more which or course only makes it worse for them.

Answer 8

I believe that while they have no control over it, they are aware of the utterances they have.

Answer 9

yes we know we szy it but we can't help it.

Answer 10

****! ****! Oh, sorry. I have Tourette's.