Alanna Gillis

Staff Writer

amg7393@psu.edu

According to the New York Times, Doctors have been noting an increasing amount of pediatric patients presenting with tics, which are physical twitches the patient experiences. Many hospitals have reported the amount of patients presenting with tics have doubled. While there is no conclusive data as to why this is happening, many neurologists who specialize in movement disorders feel that TikTok is to blame. 

The increased amount of tics has been noticed in teenage girls. Chicago-based doctors believe that the exposures to TikTok, specifically the #tourettes and #tourettesyndrome hashtags may be to blame. A combination of significantly more exposure to Tourette Syndrome and the other mental strains that come with the pandemic may be a significant factor in the development of these tics. 

However, there are many doctors who disagree that these tics are actually Tourette Syndrome. While the patients are exhibiting the physical twitches synonymous with Tourette Syndrome, some doctors believe it is just an unconscious habit that the brain has picked up after watching video after video of people exhibiting these tics. 

It is not hard for me to believe that teen girls are exhibiting these symptoms. In a time where many people are already mentally drained, I can see how someone’s brain will pick up on habits they are seeing multiple times a day on end. Especially in younger people, whose brains are more impressionable than those of older folks. 

In my opinion the best way to untrain yourself from habits learned off of social media is to take a step away from it. Whether that means staying off of TikTok for a week or not doom-scrolling through Instagram, it is the easiest way to give the brain a break.