Functional Tic-like Behaviors: From the COVID-19 Pandemic to the Post-Pandemic Era

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been multiple reports about an unforeseen surge in adolescents and young adults exhibiting sudden onset functional tic-like behaviors. This phenomenon has been mainly associated with the female gender and occasionally after exposure to social media content featuring similar patterns of functional tic-like behaviors. A significant portion of these individuals have been directed to specialist clinics for movement disorders with initial misdiagnoses of late-onset refractory Tourette syndrome. Distinguishing between rapid onset functional tic-like behaviors and neurodevelopmental tics as part of Tourette syndrome can be challenging; however, the differential diagnosis is facilitated by focusing on specific clinical and demographic factors, which we have explored in a systematic literature review. Compared to neurodevelopmental tics, functional tic-like behaviors typically present with a more abrupt and intense manifestation of symptoms, onset at a later age, higher prevalence among females, inability to suppress tics, coexisting anxiety and depression, and sometimes a history of exposure to social media content portraying tic-like behaviors of a similar nature. This novel manifestation of a functional neurological disorder may thus be viewed as an emerging neuropsychiatric condition potentially triggered/exacerbated by the psychosocial repercussions of the COVID-19 crisis.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12111106
Divisions: College of Health & Life Sciences > School of Psychology
Additional Information: Copyright © 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords: functional tic-like behaviors,neurodevelopmental tics,tic-like behaviors,Tourette syndrome,Leadership and Management,Health Policy,Health Informatics,Health Information Management
Publication ISSN: 2227-9032
Data Access Statement: No new data were created or analyzed in this study. Data sharing is not applicable to this article.
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2024 07:59
Date Deposited: 07 Aug 2024 11:42
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.mdp ... 9032/12/11/1106 (Publisher URL)
http://www.scop ... tnerID=8YFLogxK (Scopus URL)
PURE Output Type: Review article
Published Date: 2024-06
Published Online Date: 2024-05-28
Accepted Date: 2024-05-27
Authors: Cavanna, Andrea Eugenio
Spini, Laura
Ferrari, Silvia
Purpura, Giulia
Riva, Anna
Nacinovich, Renata
Seri, Stefano (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-9247-8102)

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