A strange phenomenon has emerged around the world since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic: teenage girls develop complex tics suddenly, without being affected by Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. This new disorder fascinates researchers, who are trying to find the origin. They suspect social networks like TikTok and Instagram to play a role in his appearance. Influencers highlight their tics in videos.
At the Tourette clinic of the Sainte-Justine University Hospital (CHU), around thirty young people were treated after having developed, in a short period of time, complex motor and sound tics such as whistling, words and gestures, according to a child psychiatrist who works there, Dr Baudouin Forgeot d’Arc. The majority of them were teenage girls aged 15 or 16.
Atypical cases to say the least. Tics usually affect boys more – three to four times for every girl – and they often appear when entering school, around the age of 6. “Usually it starts with simple tics [clignement et roulement des yeux, mouvement de la bouche] and it will spread from the face to other parts of the body [torse et mains] », Explains Dr Forgeot d’Arc. Vocal tics, such as sniffling or snorting of the mouth, usually appear “four years after the first motor tics”.
However, the 30 or so patients received by the CHU Sainte-Justine during the COVID-19 pandemic presented tics that were “sophisticated” from the outset, says Dr.r Forgeot d’Arc. “The majority did not have tics before,” he explains.
Many of these young people, however, followed influencers on social media who presented their tics in order to raise awareness of their problem. The TikTok platform is full of videos with the keywords #tourettes or #tourettesyndrom. These have generated 6.4 billion views so far.
” I saw some [patients] who were saying it, “yeah, I realize that when I see a new twitch that pops up on TikTok, I’m influenced, I tend to have it,” says Dr Forgeot d’Arc. When I heard it, it was said openly and naively. Not in the sense, “I’m going to copy the tics”, but in the sense, “yes, I realize that [cela m’a] affecting”. “
Cases all over the world
Such cases have been reported in many countries. In an article published in August in the journal Oxford Academic, German researchers speak of an “epidemic” and identify the “virtual index case” in their country: Jan Zimmermann, a popular influencer on YouTube.
In his videos, the young German in his twenties multiplies the movements, words, sentences and “bizarre behaviors” that he defines as tics associated with his Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, which researchers question. Since their release, “a remarkably high number of young patients” have been referred to their specialist clinic for “symptoms very similar” to those of Jan Zimmermann in the videos, they report.
Calgary doctors also report a “parallel pandemic” to that of COVID-19 in an article published in August in the scientific journal Movement Disorder. Their writing is based on cases reported in eight clinics specializing in the treatment of Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, located in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and Australia. The authors indicate that all the patients of the Calgary clinic were exposed to videos of tics in social networks, which is not the case for all the patients of the other clinics.
The psychologist and professor at UQAM Julie Leclerc is not surprised that tics could, in a way, spread through social networks. “In people who have Gilles de la Tourette syndrome, it is known that there may be a phenomenon that resembles contamination”, explains the specialist in this disease and researcher at the Institute’s Research Center. Montreal Mental Health University.
She emphasizes that when the issue of tics is addressed during therapy, “it is normal and expected that there is an increase in tics”. The patient then becomes “hypervigilant”. A “kind of tic communication” can also occur during workshops between people with the syndrome, she adds.
The fact remains that drawing conclusions on the role of social media at this stage is premature, Judge Julie Leclerc, who attended a workshop on the subject in October as part of a European virtual conference devoted to the syndrome. by Gilles de la Tourette. Other factors, such as stress from the pandemic, may have influenced the development of these tics, she believes.
The “hyper-rapid” progression of this new disorder nevertheless raises many questions that merit investigation, she believes.
The Dr Forgeot d’Arc also believes that the “great stress” experienced during the pandemic and the confinements may have contributed to the appearance of these symptoms. Among the patients received at the CHU Sainte-Justine, some presented “manifestations of psychological distress, sometimes manifestations of somatization”, that is to say physical symptoms to express discomfort, he adds.
He also cites as an example the case of a young person who had academic difficulties. “She never seemed to have had any recognition or adaptation [scolaire] for that, he said. Finally, with the tic, she found herself alone out of her class for the exams, and it seemed to meet a real need, that thing. “
Whatever the origin of the disorder, affected young people must be taken care of, insists Dr.r Forgeot d’Arc. “These are people who really need help,” he concludes.