I’m going to ask you to try something for me. Try not to blink.
Hold it.
Keep your eyes open.
You really want to blink now don’t you? What if I said you can’t close your eyes?
Keep them open whilst you read this post.
That’s what it is like for somebody with Tourette’s when they try to suppress a tic. Imagine your blinking, an essential action, causing everybody around you to get annoyed or stare. You know that you can’t stop it, and maybe others around you do too, but for whatever reason there will be a time where you are told to stop. You have to stop blinking because it is disruptive to those around you. You have to stop blinking because it offends or irritates somebody. But blinking, to you, is completely natural. It’s a part of your everyday life - it’s something you do all day every day. So, why should you have to stop and cause yourself to be in misery and have unbearable irritation? And for those with Tourette’s, why should you have to stop ticcing?
You can blink now. Notice how you had to do that harder and for much longer that you would have had to before? The reason? It builds up. The urge gets stronger and stronger until you can’t hold it anymore. You have to do it again and again because the sensation comes back, and if you try to hold it, try to stare, then it causes you physical pain. It sounds crazy to compare that to making a sound or moving in a certain way, but the brain is complex and it can do both amazing and confusing things