But it's clear that such disorders can be embarrassing for patients and can affect their work and personal lives. A tic is a sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movement or vocalization. 2 Tic disorders range from mild to severe. Or a person could have Tourette's syndrome, which in its most severe form includes a waxing and waning of multiple motor and vocal tics over a person's entire lifespan.
Tics usually diminish during sleep.
Tics may lessen during absorbing activities, such as reading or sports. Tics are experienced as irresistible, but can be suppressed for varying lengths of time. Tics affect males three times more frequently than females. Vocal tics may occur in each disorder. Tics usually appear for the first time in patients under age 18.