3: Tourette's

Bart Simpson got into a lot of mischief at school, but only a few things got him in trouble in the world outside Springfield. One of those things involved an episode in which Bart claimed he couldn't take a test because he had Tourette's syndrome; to prove his case, Bart called his teacher a witch, barked and twitched. A letter from a young boy with Tourette's led the animators to change the episode, one of the few instances in which they did so [source: Cronin].

Still, Tourette's can frequently be a Hollywood punchline, particularly after a character releases a string of profanities in an inappropriate situation. In fact, very few people with Tourette's syndrome have this particular tic, which is known as coprolalia. Rather, Tourette's syndrome is made up of a variety of involuntary or semi-voluntary tics that may include repetitive movements or sounds. Tourette's frequently occurs in conjunction with disorders such as ADHD and OCD [source: Kenney et al].

The movement tics of a man are illuminated by lights on his fingers.
Peter Ginter/Science Faction/Getty Images
The movement tics of a man with Tourette's are illuminated by lights on his fingers.

To the uninitiated observer, however, some of these tics can appear to be kids misbehaving. Teachers may not understand why a child needs to burp or grunt during a classroom lesson, and parents may not understand why one child can't stop touching the other one. Though most people with Tourette's find the tics decline during early adulthood, you may not understand why an adult professional is constantly jerking his neck around. However, Tourette's involves abnormalities in the basal ganglia area of the brain. The exact cause is unknown, but chemicals in that area likely cause uncomfortable urges and sensations that can only be relieved by the tic.

People with Tourette's may experience very minor tics; such mild cases usually don't require treatment. However, other major, distracting tics can affect the sufferer's social functioning and self-esteem.

People with the next disorder often say that they're concerned how it will affect their everyday interactions. Go to the next page to find out what this disorder is.