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ShareMumbai: His speech was colourful at best, and crude, to be honest. Fourteen-year-old Shekhar S often left people around him staring in disbelief. Cuss words were liberally sprinkled in his conversation and, initially, the habit was attributed to his desire for the 'cool' factor.
But as the obscenities refused to subside, complaints against him grew, and his parents decided to take him to a psychiatrist. There, after a few sessions, Shekhar was diagnosed with Tourette's syndrome.
An inherited neuropsychiatric disorder, Tourette's syndrome is a rare childhood problem that occurs three to four times more among boys. "There are different theories with regard to this problem and a definite cause is still unknown," says Dr Bhupendra Chaudhry, consultant psychiatrist, Manipal Hospital.
The syndrome is genetically inherited. It is believed that a person suffering from this condition has about 50% chance of passing it on to the next generation.
One of the most common symptoms of this disorder is coprolalia (the spontaneous utterance of socially objectionable or taboo words or phrases). "Some of the symptoms are due to motor or phonic tics in the body," says Dr Chaudhry. Tics are defined as sudden, non-rhythmic movements that involve discrete muscle groups.
"Constant blinking, sniffing, grunting, rotating one's head are some of the common motor tics seen among people," says Dr Chaudhry, adding that echolalia (repeating the words of others) and palilalia (repeating own words) are examples of phonic tics.
Often, Tourette's syndrome is mistaken for verbal aggression. "Patients suffering from this have no control over what they are saying and don't mean it at all," says Dr B Kapur, consultant psychiatrist, Lakeside and Columbia Asia Hospital.
The typical age for the onset of this is between five and seven years. "Tourette's syndrome is not a developmental disorder as the child's condition improves over the years," says Dr Chaudhry, adding that the treatment of this disorder may include medication and behavioural therapy.
