The Social Media Trend of TikTok Tics: The Rise of Functional Tic-like Disorders During the COVID Pandemic

Abstract

Alicia (fictional patient name) was a 14-year-old female admitted to the inpatient child psychiatry unit due to suicidal ideation and a complex past psychiatric history that included self-harming behaviors, depression, and anxiety. During the hospitalization, the patient was seen irregularly jerking her arms, bobbing her head, and making vocalizations that included whistling and swearing. She had not been previously diagnosed with tics, and her parents explained these were new phenomenon. Her mother worried that Alicia had developed Tourette’s syndrome (TS). During this time, TikTok videos with the hashtag #tourettes were trending. Popular influencers, with millions of likes, filmed themselves with their “Tourette’s”, with movements including arm and head jerking, as well as sudden vocalizations, all perfectly matching what Alicia was exhibiting.