LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Everyone copes with anxiety differently.
But amid the extra stressors of the pandemic, doctors across the country are seeing a rise in patients coming to them for tic disorders, or having Tourettes-like symptoms.
Christina Littlejohn's daughter started coping with pandemic stress in the form of tics in January. "One day, your child is healthy. And then the next day, she had tics."
Tics are involuntary sounds, actions, or twitching.
Her daughter Joey Lenhouts first realized she was struggling with them when she saw them on social media.
"I knew what they were from social media. And so when they were happening, I was like, oh, this is a thing," Joey said.
And after watching a few TikTokers with similar disorders, hers got worse.
And she's not alone.
Nationwide, doctors are seeing a link between teens watching people with tics on social media, and mirroring the actions themselves— that includes Dr. Christopher Manbeck, an Assistant Professor of Pediatric Neurology and runs the Tourettes Center at Arkansas Children's Hospital.
"So these kids, they get overwhelmed by the stress and it doesn't have to be a huge stressor all of a sudden, but they just get overwhelmed, and that kind of manifests in mimicking tics," Dr. Manbeck said.
And while social media helped Joey identify her disorder, it also serves as a double-edged sword.
"After I got tics, it made me feel better to know that they have their own platform, but I not supposed to watch them because they make my tics worse," Joey said.
"You know, if a YouTuber or Tik Toker is doing tics nonstop, you probably don't want to watch that. Because there's a good chance you could pick them up," Dr. Manbeck said.
And Dr. Manbeck says treatment and learning to cope with tics looks different for everyone.
"They're not doing it on purpose. But to them, it's very real. And so that's how we have to treat it. That's how we have to help them," Dr. Manbeck said.
If your child is suffering from what you believe is a tic disorder, the Arkansas Children's Hospital has a specialized clinic that can offer treatment options.
For more information, visit the Arkansas Children's Hospital website.