A Perth woman is speaking out about her journey with Tourette’s after Scottish singer-songwriter, Lewis Capaldi, shared news of his own diagnosis.
Lewis announced he had been diagnosed with Tourette’s during an Instagram Live video and fans have come out in support of him.
Speaking on Instagram, he said: “I have Tourette’s. I’ve always had that apparently… so I do a shoulder twitch quite a lot.
“And you see underneath every TikTok and stuff, people are like, ‘why is he twitching?’, which is fine. Curiosity is fine.”
‘The most difficult thing is the pain’
Lauren Reid, 46, was diagnosed with the condition at 21, but has lived with Tourette’s since she was just four years old.
It causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics.
According to the NHS, it usually starts during childhood, but the tics and other symptoms can improve after several years and sometimes go away completely.
There are two types of tics: Physical and motor. Like Lewis, Lauren also experiences motor tics in her shoulder, as well as elsewhere.
She explains: “My Tourette’s affects me mainly with motor tics. I have a lot of facial tics and also some more complex ones like jerking my shoulders and neck.
“I hit my elbows off things, jerk my abdominal muscles. There are lots of different tics and they do change over time.
“The most difficult thing for me now is the physical pain and exhaustion caused by ticcing.
“I get regular headaches, sore joints. I even had spinal surgery four years ago as tics took their toll on my neck.
“There are also other associated conditions like OCD and ADHD which I find very challenging at times.”
‘I felt so different from everyone else’
Speaking of the impact Lewis’ announcement could have, Lauren says: “Coping with Tourette’s as a child was very hard.
“There was a lot of bullying throughout school and I felt so different from everyone else.
“It didn’t help that I wasn’t officially diagnosed until I was 21 so I wasn’t able to access any support, although there wasn’t much around then anyway.
“I would have loved to have seen someone like me on TV with tics and talking about it so openly.”
‘We’re happy to support Lewis in any way’
Lauren is a trustee for Perth-based charity, Tourette’s Scotland, who support people living with the condition across the country.
They run local support groups in Perthshire and Fife, and raise awareness of the condition in the wider community.
Lauren continues: “We’re delighted Lewis Capaldi has taken the decision to speak so openly about his own diagnosis.
“He is a huge star with such a large following so in terms of simply raising awareness, he’s given the Tourette’s community a real boost.
“Having someone like Lewis as a role model is especially wonderful for our younger members.
“To see someone so successful on a stage in front of thousands of fans and knowing he’s just like them is very powerful.
“As he’s a fellow Scot, we’d love him to get in touch with us to say hi and we’d be very happy to support him in any way.”
You can contact Tourette’s Scotland for information or support by emailing info@tourettescotland.org or by visiting www.tourettescotland.org
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