by Olivia Battistoni

As previously argued, Tourette's comes with more than just the tics, it comes with the many social stigmas of society and misconceptions. The media presents it as a joke where people will just start swearing uncontrollably, and while this can be a manifestation of the disease, the disease is not a joke and the media portrayal and people misperceptions of the disease are the strongest limitations on those suffering from the condition. Much of the public lacks the knowledge that those jokes are sometimes the daily sufferings of those who suffer from Tourette's, "Tourette's may seize control at any time. Being "taken over" or "possessed" can be more than a figure of speech for someone with severe Tourette's"(Sacks 78). The media jokes and misconceptions of the disease can hurt those suffering from the condition and make them feel belittled. In an article titled "Quality of Life Among Youth with Tourette Syndrome", it is suggested that the only reason youth suffering from Tourette's are at risk for a poorer quality of life is because they are at risk for being picked on and ostracized by other children who are not understanding about their condition during a time when peers opinions of self have a strong influence on self-esteem (Topolski). The fact that Tourettes is not accepted in social situations due to the stigma associated with the tics is the majority of the reason why those living with tourettes experience social and occupational limitations. Should people become accepting and understanding of the random and uncontrollable actions of a person with Tourettes, those with the condition would likely find very few limitations in their daily lives. Tics cause the people experiencing this condition to become self conscious and withdrawn from society, eventually not willing to even try to do the things that a person with this condition may want to do. In this video the children are social and happy children but it is easy to see how self conscious they already are about their tics, and if they were to experience bullying due to their tics it could undoubtedly lead to them isolating themselves socially.

Besides social stigmas, some occupational limitations do exist due to Tourettes, because this disease causes distractions in daily life and in work, the tics can make performing certain tasks impossible. This is not to say a person with Tourettes is unable to complete the task of certain jobs, but if they were asked to complete a job that required them not to tic in a work environment with constant distractions, they would be unable to, because distractions disrupt the minds focus, and everytime focus is disrupted, the need to tic surfaces, a need that is not suppressible. Dr. Bennett, who experiences Tourette's, is a surgeon,and a very good one, but should there be distractions and disruptions in his operating room he would be unable to complete the tasks at hand without his tics surfacing.

Overall, the majority of the drawbacks and limitations of Tourette Syndrome comes from a lack of understanding about the disease by the general public. Should stigmas and discrimination vanish, those with Tourette's would not be limited, and possibly could even have advantages due to how their brains function, as will be later argued.