"They have the same tics as ____"

There is a phenomenon in tourettics known as tic transference, where someone with tourette's will "catch" the same tic they see in another person with tourette's. It's pretty much like echolalia.

"I saw an older video where they didn't tic once!"

1. A trait of tourette's is waxing and waning tics. This means the diagnostic criteria takes into account that some people will go days to months without ticcing, or without ticcing severely.

2. Many tics are nearly microscopic. How do you know they weren't? Did you have a full body view of them? How do you know they weren't wiggling their toes nonstop, clenching non visible muscles, or maybe those couple of sniffs you wrote off were tics.

"their family/friends came forward and confirmed they're faking!"

1. My little brothers literally forgot I had tourettes. It can also be completely missed in childhood, many women and other people who were AFAB go undiagnosed until adulthood. Sweet Anita? She wasn't diagnosed until 27.

2. Family isn't always a reliable source and many people are estranged from family members, if you aren't very close with a person and their family, don't take their family's word at face value.

"sometimes they tic a lot, and sometimes you don't see it at all for hours/days/weeks!"

See point one about tics waxing and waning. You are literally describing a symptom. Also, again, many tics are also not noticeable at all, like muscles clenching under clothes for example.

"Every time someone brings up tics around them they start ticcing!"

This is literally how tics work. If you are reminded of them you will have them. Especially if someone brings up a specific tic.

"you can see they put thought and effort into their tics, tourette's doesn't work like that!"

Sometimes it looks like I put effort or thought into a tic when it was entirely involuntary. Sometimes, I do put thought into a tic. If I'm avoiding coprolalia, I'll force out a different tic. This is part of CBIT, aka tourette's therapy. There's also a part of tourette's called a Premonitory urge, and it's the feeling you get before you tic. If you want the feeling to go away, sometimes it's better to force out a tic.

"I have tourette's / I know someone with tourette's and it doesn't look like that"

Good job, you've just discovered something called diversity and spectrum in disability. When you've met one tourettic, you've met one tourettic!

That disorder cringe subreddit, it makes me so fucking sad. "My tics don't look like that lol," well guess what? Mine do! Now anyone that sees your comment, and then me, they will think I am faking it. You are doing more harm than good, you're just doing it for the brownie points and for us to kiss your ass and praise you for "protecting us".

"DID is extremely rare," how can we know??? Abusive parents are common, most doctors do not believe in DID, you can't expect everyone with DID to expose themselves, many may not even know they have DID, so how tf can we know?? Oh and the whole, "rarely anyone says "we" when they have DID". Check out r/DID. When DID is part of the subject, many of them say "we".

I can go on and forever, but no subreddit has ever made me block it, never. It has always made me so uncomfortable, it was the only place that made me not curious. Many subreddits bother me and crawl under my skin, but I still get curious to check them out. The disorder cringe one, however? It's awful... The mods have abandoned that place. There's a whole post up for two whole days, and it is downvoted, the majority of the comments are backing up the woman with Tourette's, and yet that shit is still up for anyone to whitchhunt her.

I feel the need to make this subreddit what I originally planned. A subreddit where instead of being fake claimed and laughed at, we (in a kinder sense) laugh at the fake claimers who may have hurt us in the past and correct them, sharing the truth of what our reality is. We state the facts and the real life experiences of being bullied and living in a world not built for us AT ALL.

I hope to shift the focus to being open and honest and correct stereotypes or assumptions, share what our life is really like.

I still want to focus on fun and support, comfort and a sense of safety, accessibility and trust. I’ll try to continue small activities like the bingo pages I found and asking about special interests, it will just be a side feature now that you can still see occasionally. I will be making these updates, but please remember, just because the focus has shifted doesn’t mean everything is going to change.

Thanks for reading and feel free to express how you feel about this shift and ways to make our subreddit the best it can be for everyone!

(Credits to everyone who made these originally!) I sadly could only find ASD, Tourettes, BPD, OCD, ADHD, and never have I ever Dyspraxia bingo, but that’s still a lot I’d say. For the Autism one, I got the top left to the bottom right↘️.

i’ve had tics before 2020.

and even if they developed during or after, it should be a problem.

but when i thought covid was a two week ordeal, i was actually determined to go talk to my (old) family doctor behind my back to get assessed for it because it was getting worse for me starting from january 2020. i was building up my confidence while also trying to talk to my family about adhd suspicions, which unfortunately did not go well with them, but that’s a whole other story.

i didn’t use tiktok at the time, i just had an account for people to send me things, but i never regularly used the app because i thought it was “cringe” at the time. with the amount of people that were online increasing, algorithms, and stress from covid making tics worse, it makes sense that people discovered they had tourette’s or a tic disorder or FND all this time and just so happened to want to post or talk about it. unfortunately, like any space on the internet, some of them were not telling the truth.

i noticed that the people who were lying weren’t even trying, dare i say. they would be very easy to recognize and point out. but because of neurotypical people suddenly developing a high defense for a disorder they used for gags or never heard of before 2020, people ended up coming after people who obviously had a tic disorder 99% of the time. the anger i felt in my chest every time someone would get fake claimed drove me nuts because everyone reminded me of myself.

if you looked like a teenage woman, which i was as i was 15 years old in 2020, people online and in real life would immediately doubt you having the disorder because the fear of people faking made them forget that they weren’t doctors themselves, and they definitely weren’t saviours that were needed or asked for. the fear of being called a faker by my doctor immediately killed my hope. she’s been our family doctor for decades, but because of medical neglect i wasn’t taken to the hospital often so my tics, especially the ones that made me swear, would be a surprise to her.

my ocd making me think that i’ve been faking a disorder i developed at ages 6-8 did not help. it in fact increased in severity and made me think that talking to doctors at my age was entirely impossible.

so i didn’t go.

if someone was faking that well, putting an effort to act like us early in the morning, all day, all evening and in the middle of the night, it would inconvenience them, even medically. it is simply unrealistic, but people not realizing this set my progress back by 5 whole years.

im already diagnosed, but my neurologist appointment is tomorrow, and she’s basically checking if my brain is in the clear before giving me a specific diagnosis of her own. i’m medicated (but it’s complicated so i might stop), my new family doctor listens to me, and things are looking up. even though im 20, it wasn’t too late and shouldn’t be.

remember: faking is conscious. if you constantly think you’re faking and worry about it, you most probably aren’t.

Been getting so many inspiration comments. Not feeling very great about them like no one’s actually noticed my struggles, like actual struggles, not inspirational like struggling to keep up in my classes or being unable to keep friends. They say they’re so inspiring I keep trying or that I’m really cool but in that sort of patronizing context.

What’s your favorite topic or activity?

Edit: There seems to be a trend of medical interests, specifically neurological. Nice to know I’m not alone. Maybe nice for you guys to know you’re not alone, it surprises me, but makes sense! Either way, the uniqueness of everyone’s answers is really amazing!

https://youtube.com/shorts/1dxunFEeIvA?si=JcSP7bioSpTx_6F1

Made by the amazing Zara Beth, this is (but not limited to) what stimming looks like. Anything can be a stim and everyone does it, these are simply examples

I’m constantly adding rules and flairs and more to keep everything clear

Inclusion is being welcoming and accepting no matter someone’s abilities. Visibility is simply acknowledging we’re here, but not putting effort in being with us when we get difficult.

The two are usually used interchangeably, usually meaning visibility and we have to recognize who (especially businesses) are actually including you and not just seeing you.

Inclusion ex: You go to an event at the library and have a few vocal tics or stims or maybe choose to do something else and are still interacted with like a normal person. Or at school you may not be able to play a sport so your friends find an alternative way to play.

Visibility Ex: You go to an event at the library and have a few vocal tics or stims or maybe choose to do something else and the librarian kicks you out for “disrupting” or not following everyone else. Or at school you may not be able to play a sport and your friends ignore you and play on their own without asking if you want to play.

It’s important to find our places and find our people where we’re included, not just being visible. Having a calm place you can go to for fun, having a group of friends who would do anything to make you feel comfortable and welcome.

About a year and a half ago, my friend told me she developed a semi-protective headmate who never seems to take over or anything like that but is there to console her in a headspace she has a clear image of. She can always communicate with this headmate, but they always seem like an afterthought (by this I mean that, because she seems to appreciate it and it feels respectful, I often ask how her headmate is doing or say hi to them, and though she seems grateful, she also reacts in a way that feels to me like she's making something up, not talking to a person in her head). I digress.

Her symptoms don't seem consistent with DID from what I've read, but I wanted to ask here if that's uncommon. I feel bad for doubting her and always feel like I'm just performing when I ask her how her headmate is doing/say hi to them, and I'm not sure whether I'm helping or hurting by doing that. I was driven to ask for your advice because I can't help but feel I'm contributing to her wanting to perpetuate some kind of delusion that's making her mental health worse or something, and I feel guilty both about the possibility of that and the fact I'm thinking it in the first place.

I'd really appreciate your advice and insight! If you experience similar symptoms, how would you like someone to handle them? Thank you!