Tourette’s Syndrome is defined as an inherited neuro-psychiatric disorder that is characterized by the presence of physical and vocal tics, which are sudden, repetitive movements or sounds that are made seemingly without the person even realizing. Many people have mild tics, but do not have Tourette’s; if a person has tics for more than a year, doctors call this a chronic tic disorder.
When a person displays both motor and vocal tics they are said to have Tourette’s syndrome, which is named for the French doctor Georges Gilles de la Tourette, who first described the condition in 1885. To be diagnosed with Tourette’s a patient must have multiple motor tics and at least one vocal tic that has occured for some extended period of time, although they don’t have to occur simultaneously, also, the person should never have a tic-free period longer than 3 months, even if the tics happen off and on or not every day.
