TICS Awareness
I have a 10-year-old son, and he was dealing with TIC
SYNDROME. At first we didn't know what it was, we thought it was just like an
ordinary mannerism that a child always do. When COVID-19 PANDEMIC came and all
people from different part of the world stay's at home, that's the time I
observed my son. When you look at him at first he was a normal, typical child
that plays a lot of toys, jumping, and running around, But in a sudden he makes
a repetitive movement, he's always shrugging his shoulder, his eyes are always
blinking, and he always clears his throat. And I reprimand him to stop doing it,
and he answered me '' I CAN'T CONTROL IT''. I felt that something is not good
in my son's health. Time passes it gets worst he can't control the movement of
his neck and his head, and it was awful and very alarming. I decided to
take my son to a Pediatrician; the Doctor said we need a Pedia Neuro Doctor
because the symptom of my son is about uncontrolled movement and gesture that
is pertinent to the brain. I was worried about my son's condition, he always
vomits every time his neck together with his head is moving, and he feels
numbness all over his back-up to his shoulders. After a series of test, my son
was diagnosed to have a TIC DISORDER.
WHAT IS TIC DISORDER?
A TIC is an uncontrollable sudden, repetitive movement of the
body and sometimes making a repetitive sound or word. This happens to a person
below 18 years old. According to the study, 5 out of 100 children could have
TIC disorder, 4 boys and 1 girl in ratio. The Tics may often come and go away
permanently. However, it will get worse if a person is stressed and anxious.
No cure for TICS DISORDER, but it will be gone if the
person's brain will forget that they are dealing with this. Moreover, according
to the study for mental health until now the cause of tic disorder is still
unknown, and no medication or therapy can cure it.
HOW TO MANAGE TICS DISORDER?
A person with TICS can manage it to lessen the attack. They
must need a complete 8 hours of sleep, so the muscle will get relax, avoid of
being stressed, sad, overjoy, anxious, and bored, they need to be busy, so their brain will forget it. Eating nutritious food like vegetables and legumes,
multivitamins and exercise will be a big help.
Now I understand what my son’s health condition is, and I
started to make activities for him every day to keep him busy, but sometimes he
feels so stress and TICS come. At home, we don't talk about it, so he won’t
remember it. I bought a guitar for him, so he can play music to make him feel
more relaxed. As a parent, we need to be tough and patient if you have a child
with TIC disorder, and also we need to listen to them what they want us to know
about what they feel every time. I shared this story about my son's health
condition because not everybody knows this kind of disorder exists.
Source: JOSELL DELA PEÑA
