Mental Health and Conditions
Tic Disorders: Overview, Types and Treatments
THC Editorial Team July 13, 2021
Contents
- Overview
- What Is a Tic Disorder?
- What Are the Symptoms of Tic Disorders?
- Types of Tic Disorders
- Causes and Risk Factors of Tic Disorders
- How Is a Tic Disorder Diagnosed?
- Treatments and Support for Tic Disorders
What Is a Tic Disorder?
A tic is an unwanted, irregular, and often repetitive, involuntary muscle movement or vocal sound. Many individuals experience involuntary behavioral actions similar to tics at some point during their lives. However, tics are considered problematic when they interfere with daily activities or negatively affect a person’s quality of life.
Tic disorders begin most frequently during early childhood. Researchers have suggested that anywhere from 4% to 18% of children in the United States may be affected.1 These conditions are more likely to occur in boys and typically peak near puberty before resolving in 65% of cases by the age of 19 or 20.2 Most children grow out of tic disorders like Tourette’s syndrome as they age; only some do not.1 However, there are cases where a tic disorder can continue into adulthood or even begin in adulthood. Tic disorders emerging in adulthood are far less researched than those in children and often result from trauma, brain inflammation, or other conditions.3
What Are the Symptoms of Tic Disorders?
Uncontrollable sounds or movements characterize tic disorders. Frequently, an affected individual experiences a premonitory urge, which is an uncomfortable sensation, or tension, relieved by the tic. In some cases, stress caused by such sensations will only be alleviated when the tic is made in a certain way or repeated a certain number of times.4
Motor Tics
Muscular tics are called motor tics and include the following actions:4
- eye blinking
- facial grimacing or nose wrinkling
- head jerking or banging
- shoulder shrugs
- abdominal tensing
- jumping
- hand gestures
- finger-clicking or snapping
- touching others or objects
- repetitive smelling of others or objects
Vocal Tics
Vocal tics are called phonic tics and include the following actions:2
- coughing
- sniffling
- grunting
- throat clearing
- repetitive utterances of words or phrases
- humming
- screaming
- barking
The Difference Between Simple Tics and Complex Tics
Simple tics are short (usually a matter of milliseconds). Simple motor tics may include blinking, shrugging, or arm-jerking. Simple vocal tics may include sniffing, grunting, and other actions.5
Complex tics are typically longer in duration and can include a combination of simple tics either simultaneously or in succession. Complex tics can also often take the form of unpleasant or seemingly obscene behavior, such as sexual gestures (copropraxia), a tic-like gesture that is in imitation of someone else (echopraxia), a repetition of sounds and words (palilalia if one’s own sounds, and echolalia if a repeat of another person’s sounds or words).5 These behaviors can make it difficult for affected individuals in social settings where their tics are particularly active.
Types of Tic Disorders
According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th edition; DSM-5), four tic disorders fall under the neurodevelopmental disorder umbrella. These are Tourette’s disorder, persistent (chronic) motor or vocal tic disorder, provisional tic disorder, and other specified and unspecified tic disorders.5,6,7
Tourette’s Syndrome
Tourette’s syndrome is a disorder in which individuals experience at least two different motor tics and at least one vocal tic before the age of 18. For a diagnosis of Tourette’s syndrome to be made, tics may wax and wane in terms of frequency but must persist for more than 1 year. Additionally, the symptoms must not be better accounted for by the effects of medication, substances, or another medical condition.
Persistent (Chronic) Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder
Formerly called chronic tic disorder, persistent tic disorder occurs when symptoms begin before 18 years of age and last for more than a year. To qualify as persistent, symptoms must occur several times a day and either occur almost daily or at least on a regular and recurrent basis. People diagnosed with persistent tic disorder have either motor or vocal tics present but not both simultaneously. For a diagnosis of persistent tic disorder to be made, symptoms cannot be better explained by Tourette’s syndrome or due to the effects of medication, substances, or another medical condition.
Provisional Tic Disorder
Formerly referred to as transient tic disorder, provisional tic disorder has the same DSM-5 requirements as persistent tic disorder, but symptoms are present for less than a year. Additionally, for a provisional tic disorder diagnosis, both vocal and motor tics can be present simultaneously.
Other Specified and Unspecified Tic Disorders
Other specified tic disorder refers to the presentation of symptoms of a tic disorder that does not meet the full criteria of one of the following tic disorders: Tourette’s disorder, persistent (chronic) motor or vocal tic disorder, provisional tic disorder, or another neurodevelopmental disorder. A diagnosing clinician may refer to such a case as “other specified tic disorder,” followed by a specific reason why it is not one of the aforementioned tic disorders.5
An unspecified tic disorder differs from a specified tic disorder in that the diagnosing clinician cannot, or does not, specify why the presenting tic disorder is not one of the aforementioned tic disorders.5
Comorbidity
Tic disorders commonly occur alongside anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and developmental disabilities.8 Children, when experiencing tic disorders before puberty, are at higher risk to experience ADHD, OCD, and separation anxiety disorder.5 Adolescents and adults with tic disorders have a higher chance to encounter major depressive disorder (MDD), substance use disorder, or bipolar disorder.5
Differential Diagnosis
Tic disorders are often confused with similar conditions or other medical conditions. According to the DSM-5, these include the following conditions:5
- abnormal movements from other medical conditions and stereotypic movement disorder
- substance-induced and paroxysmal dyskinesias
- myoclonus
- obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
Causes and Risk Factors of Tic Disorders
Although researchers have not yet identified the exact cause of tic disorders, research suggests that temperamental, environmental, genetic, and physiological factors contribute to tic disorders.5
Temperamental
A relaxed and calm disposition can improve one’s condition with a tic disorder. Focused and relaxed activities, such as engaging schoolwork, may improve one’s symptoms. Fatigue, overstimulation, stress, and anxiety can worsen one’s symptoms.
Environmental
Seeing or hearing another person make a particular gesture or sound can trigger a person with tic disorder to experience the tic or create a similar sound or gesture. While it may seem otherwise, this reaction is usually involuntary.
Drawing attention to the tic can also increase its frequency of occurrence.8
Genetic and Physiological
Males are more likely to develop a tic disorder than females.1 A 2015 study found that, in a sample of 314 children diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, those who had a genetic predisposition to the condition had more severe tics and symptoms than children who did not have a genetic predisposition.10
A recent review of relevant studies described several implicated pathophysiological brain areas and pathways.11 Chemicals in the brain, such as serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate, also play a role.12,13
Some tics develop due to brain injury,14 infections,15 poisoning,16 or stroke.17 In these cases, tics may qualify for a different diagnostic category, and a tic disorder may or may not be diagnosed.
How Is a Tic Disorder Diagnosed?
In most cases, a mental health professional can diagnose a tic disorder based on medical history, parental or caregiver answers to questions about signs and symptoms, and witnessing of tics during an appointment. If tics are not occurring during examinations with a physician, caregivers may wish to casually video record the child when tics occur without bringing too much attention to the tic.4
A physician may recommend a full blood workup or check for infections to rule out other causes of tics. However, brain imaging scans are often only done if a neurological cause, such as a stroke, is suspected.2
Treatments and Support for Tic Disorders
People with mild, moderate, or short-lived symptoms of tic disorder may not experience any notable distress or difficulty and, in some cases, may even be unaware of the presence of their tics. However, when the condition is chronic or involves more severe symptoms, specialized behavioral therapies and medications have been shown to reduce the number of tics that affected individuals experience and, therefore, improve their quality of life.
Psychotherapy
In the 1920s, tic disorders were considered psychological in origin, and psychotherapeutic strategies were implemented to help clients.18
Because most individuals experience a premonitory urge before the involuntary movement or sound, modern behavioral therapies have been designed to help clients identify this sensation and better manage the occurrence of their tics. Research has indicated that even one or two behaviorally based therapy sessions can benefit clients with tics; notably, clients were found to retain this benefit 4 weeks after the initial intervention.18
Although several types of behavioral therapy have been used to treat tic disorders, two are highly effective:19
Habit Reversal Training.
Habit Reversal Training (HRT) is a multicomponent intervention. According to HRT, tics can be predicated by external cues, like a specific activity or environment, or internal cues, like a particular mood. It is theorized that this scenario causes someone with a tic disorder to then experience the premonitory urge. HRT helps clients identify the cues that cause their tic symptoms and challenge them with competing responses or socially undetectable actions that prevent the tic from occurring. Although an individual’s treatment may have additional components, the following are common features of HRT:19
- Psychoeducation provides an overview of tic disorders.
- Awareness training helps identify premonitory urges and uncomfortable sensations that precede tics.
- Tic inconvenience ratings identify the most troublesome tics or effects on daily life. This list is reviewed and changed as needed.
- Competing response training teaches the individual to use an incompatible, socially discreet action to replace the tic upon awareness. For example, if a client’s tic is a hand gesture, they might replace that action with putting their hands in their pockets and making fists. The actions are physically incompatible; that is, they cannot do both simultaneously.
- Generalization training is used to make competing responses a normal part of daily life for the client to prevent tics from occurring.
- Self-monitoring helps the client understand when tics are most likely to occur and might include three to four monitoring periods of 30 minutes each per week.
- Social support helps monitor tic occurrence and triggers, as well as treatment progress.
More recent studies have compared the efficacy of supportive psychotherapy with HRT. A 2003 study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicated that HRT was more effective than supportive psychotherapy in people with Tourette’s syndrome.20 Two years later, another comparative study was published in the Journal of Behavior Research and Therapy with similar results; it found that HRT was more effective than supportive psychotherapy in reducing tic symptoms and that both HRT and supportive psychotherapy improved participants’ life satisfaction and psychosocial functioning.21
Comprehensive Behavioral Interventions for Tics.
Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT), a more recent version of HRT, includes all of the features of HRT and places greater emphasis on the factors in clients’ lives that worsen their tic symptoms. It does so by adding the following behavioral options for a more holistic maintenance approach:19
- Behavioral rewards are provided in connection with a point system designed by the medical care provider upon successfully following treatment parameters.
- Relaxation exercises are incorporated, including the tensing and relaxing of muscle groups and breathing from the diaphragm.
- Function-based assessments are utilized to monitor situations that may make tics worse.
- Function-based interventions are then created, based on information gained from the function-based assessments, to help minimize tics, as well as reduce their effect on daily functioning.
Medications
The use of medications is often reserved for those who have more chronic tic disorders or whose symptoms interfere with the quality of life.9
The most common types of medication that have been shown to be effective for minimizing the symptoms of tic disorders are as follows:22
- antipsychotics
- atypical antipsychotics
- alpha-2 agonists
While medication does not completely eradicate tics, it can improve the quality of life of people with a tic disorder.23
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved three medications to treat tics: haloperidol (Haldol), pimozide (Orap), and aripiprazole (Abilify).24
Some off-label medications, including the alpha-adrenergic agonists guanfacine or clonidine, have shown effectiveness in treating tics. While these medicines are approved to treat blood pressure but not tic disorder, clinicians sometimes start with these due to better general tolerability.24
Complementary Approaches
The best management of a tic disorder likely includes a combination of treatments that best suit the client. Some additional techniques include the following:
Parent training.
Learning from professionals how to parent a child with a tic disorder can be a useful intervention.23
Education.
When people know more about tic disorders, they are better able to understand and accommodate others who have tics.23
Reduction of stress and anxiety.
High-stress situations can more easily trigger tics and make them harder to manage. One way to avoid this is to get involved in a relaxing hobby.9
Prioritization of rest.
Tiredness can also make tics occur more easily. Avoid becoming overtired by being sure to get a good night’s rest.9
Practicing tolerance.
Current recommendations suggest that scolding someone for their tics is counterproductive and that dwelling on tics and calling attention to them may only make them worse.9
Reassurance, support, and comfort.
It is helpful to teach people that their tics are nothing to be embarrassed about, even if they happen in public or in front of friends. Support can be provided at home, at school, and in other environments.9
Development of self-confidence, resilience, and social or emotional skills.
These important skills are even more imperative for children with tic disorders, as psychosocial stressors can exacerbate tics.25
Deep brain stimulation surgery (DBS).
In cases with severe and potentially injurious tics, a physician might recommend DBS. This procedure targets certain areas of the brain thought to be implicated in tic symptoms, and there is some evidence that it might reduce both motor and phonic tics.25,26
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).
TMS targets overactive motor cortical regions to reduce tics. Some research has demonstrated that participants treated with repetitive, low-frequency TMS showed an improvement in tic symptoms.27
