An Analysis of Personality Traits in Patients with Tourette Syndrome

This report investigates the potential correlation between Tourette syndrome and specific personality traits. It begins by defining Tourette syndrome as a neuropsychiatric ailment primarily affecting children, highlighting its complex nature and the challenges in treatment. The report explores the various symptoms associated with the condition, including motor and phonic tics, and discusses the frequent comorbidity with conditions like ADHD and OCD. The methodology involves a PRISMA-guided review of articles published after 2000, utilizing databases such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, and others, focusing on studies that evaluate personality traits in Tourette patients. The findings reveal that Tourette syndrome is more prevalent in males and often manifests with tics around the age of six. The report also discusses the existence of specific personality traits, such as obsessive-compulsive tendencies and schizotypal traits, often linked to comorbid conditions. The discussion section analyzes the strengths and limitations of the included studies, and the conclusion summarizes the key findings regarding the relationship between Tourette syndrome and personality traits.

Do patients with Tourette syndrome
have specific personality traits?

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
METHOD........................................................................................................................................2
RESULT..........................................................................................................................................3
DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................................3
Strengths and Limitations................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Tourette syndrome is a neuropsychiatric ailment which is mostly found in children at
their onset period of childhood. It thereby influences the overall life of a child suffering from it
by affecting their entire nervous system to a great extent. In fact, as per the view point of medical
science, medication of this disease has still not identified due to its intricate existence in a
person’s body (Swedo, Leckman and Rose, 2014). This assignment is going to highlight the
main causes of this disease along with the problems associated with it. It will together enlighten
some major facts of dealing with an individual who is suffering from Tourette syndrome. For this
purpose, various other studies related to a similar subject matter will be taken into consideration.
Herein, it is with a foremost concern of determining any specific personality traits in people
suffering from Tourette. European children are going through various health related issues due to
the changes taking place in the environment which is resulting in the emergence of several
harmful chemicals that are atrociously distressing the life of small kids (Viswanath, 2013).
However, Tourette syndrome is seen as one of the sparking topic in the European society where
it is largely affecting the children and acts as a major obstacle in their growth. Certain difficulties
that are encountered by the patients suffering from this problem involves:
 Trouble in clear expression of views or opinions.
 Facial features get impaired where the mouth of a kid tilts towards wrongful direction,
resulting into an incorrect deliverance of speech.
 Perform repetitive activity without being conscious about it.
 Making annoying sounds without having control on their senses.
 Facing vocal problem in the throat.
Hence, Tourette syndrome is seen as a major disease which is encountering children in
their initial stage of life. Moreover, children dealing with this issue are also facing numerous
problems while growing up (Cavanna and Rickards, 2013). Tourette syndrome is a condition
which causes uncontrolled, sudden and repetitive muscle movement with sounds that are known
as tics. This syndrome mainly appears in childhood, basically when the kids are of 0-2 years and
starts revealing its associated symptom like tics when they are at an average age of 6 years or so.
Being a non- curable disease it either lasts for a very long time or remains forever, affecting
mostly in the age range of 6- 40 years. Tourette not being a very common syndrome mainly
affect the males in comparison to females.
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Although, there existed several number of researches on Tourette syndrome with findings
stating no compulsory occurrence of comorbid condition in patients suffering from it. However,
there are many who shows the presence of other associated conditions related to Tourette
syndrome other than its two major symptoms of tics namely motor and phonic. These additional
conditions involve Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Obsessive Compulsive
Disorder (OCD), where one third of the people suffering from Tourette are found to deal with all
of these 3 conditions namely, Tics, ADHD and OCD (Jung & et.al. 2015). Beside this, there
together exists some most commonly related conditions in people suffering from Tourette
syndrome and involves the occurrence of disruptive behaviour. This in turn results in reducing
the cognitive skills of the patients by together harming their thinking ability.
They thus suffer from sleeping and learning disabilities where a high prevalence of
Tourette syndrome often creates difficulty in its diagnosis. Researches have proven the
prevalence of specific personality traits in people suffering from Tourette syndrome. It is
however in context to a common occurrence of specific personality traits found in patients
dealing with Tourette syndrome where most of the disorders include depression, obsessive-
compulsion, passive aggression and Schizotypal, etc., (Martino, Ganos & Pringsheim, 2017).
Herein, such increased personality disorders with a specific trait in patients dealing with Tourette
syndrome has been found due to comorbid ADHD and OCD. It has no proven treatment till date
and can be only managed with some possible therapeutic measures that involves behavioural,
psychological and pharmacological therapies.
METHOD
The current project is aimed at determining the fact of any specific personality traits in
patients suffering from Tourette syndrome. It is thereby with a prime objective of assessing the
presence of any specific personality traits in the people who suffers from Tourette syndrome.
This report has been created using the guidelines of PRISMA statement which is used for the
purpose of reviewing the articles and evaluating their acquired findings. The articles that were
selected to for the purpose of reviewing their findings were chosen with the help of a specific
search strategy (Andreassen, 2013). Firstly, the eligibility criteria for the chosen articles were
measured using an exclusion- inclusion criterion. In which, the studies published after the year,
2000 were taken into consideration. Beside this, on discoursing upon the acceptance and
rejection of the articles chosen to conduct this study, PubMed has greatly served the purpose of
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finding such researches that has a direct relation with that to the present subject matter. It was
with a principal intent of ascertaining the presence of any specific personality traits in people
suffering from Tourette syndrome.
For which, articles focussed on the evaluation of any such characteristics in patients
suffering from Tourette syndrome were included. This excepted the involvement of any other
Tourette related study to avoid insufficiency of data. Although, other related data on similar topic
has been examined to build a concrete knowledge of the chosen subject matter. Some other well-
known databases like Cochrane library, PsycInfo, Scopus, ISI Web of Science and PubMed, etc.,
were also referred to extract relevant set of articles. Also, the editorials published in only English
language were taken into consideration (Cavanna & Termine, 2012). The research articles were
mostly based on study done on males and their derived personality traits after suffering from
Tourette syndrome. Use of Boolean operators, AND- OR were together being done using
specific search filters for the term “Tourette” AND (“Tourette syndrome” OR “behavioural
problems” OR “personality” OR “tics” OR “neuro developmental disorder” OR “premonitory
urge” OR “sensory phenomena”). Lastly, PubMed assisted in selecting total 25 peer reviewed
journals to create a concrete database of outcomes, out of which, only 4 were chosen on
considering their efficiency in terms of generating effective conclusion.
RESULT
A vital information that has been found from this whole analytical process is related to
the development of Tics in children who are aged around 6 years old. Tourette syndrome is more
common in males as compared to females. The ratio is therefore found to be 4:1 (Robertson,
2015). A large number of studies have shown a repetitive action from children suffering from
this syndrome at an age of 5 years (Eddy, 2011). Out of which, most of them have been found to
endure from this disease, since they are ageing 1-year. Other records have shown that the male
children aged 6 years often tends to make weird sounds without being aware of it. This often
stands to be a noisy distraction for others, getting irritated without knowing the fact behind it.
They have also found to get no therapeutic treatment for the eradication of this issue and founds
it to be an irregular problem that occurs normally.
Although, several number of studies have shown people who are coping up with this
problem of making different faces intentionally and are aware of it being a nervous disorder. For
which, they are also trying to resolve it with proper medication where treating this issue at an
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early stage is very important. Despite of not being treated completely, this syndrome can be
managed with assistance of several effective measures (Robertson, 2000). There exists certain
behavioural therapy involving habit reversal, Comprehensive Behavioural Intervention for Tics
(CBIT) or parent training, etc. Children who suffer from this disorder normally do not like to go
out in public because they have a fear of unintentionally doing something weird in front of all,
making them socially awkward.
DISCUSSION
From the articles reviewed to determine any specific personality traits in patients suffering
from Tourette, it has been identified that Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder
which is characterised by multiple tics and is mainly associated with certain behavioural issues.
In a study undertaken by Balottin and et. Al. (2016), personality profile of 17 male adolescent
with Tourette syndrome has been measured. Herein, the participants were mostly aged around 51
years and whose health control was measured using a psychological test method called
Minnesota multiphasic personality inventory (MMPI). It showed that Tourette syndrome in men
is more as compared to women where the findings have together revealed that younger males
who suffer from Tourette syndrome do not show any abnormal personality traits. They instead
have similar characteristics as of their healthy peers.
Another reviewed study by Morounke Trillini and Müller-Vahl (2015) has determined a
common existence of pathological personality trait in patients suffering from Tourette syndrome,
which is one of the hardest personality trait resulting in demand cluster anxious. Due to which,
the patients are often unable to lead a quality life and tends to suffer from depression. Tourette
syndrome largely impacts upon the overall growth of a child where their parents are also
required to cope up with their children and get trained to help them managing any deterring
condition. This syndrome largely impacts on people’s behaviour where they appear to be
disruptive, attention seekers or manipulative. There exist various causes of this disease in people
where Tourette's is directly linked with different parts of the brain with a special relation with
basal ganglia. This gland helps a person to control their body movements. Therefore, fluctuation
in this particular part may affect one’s nerve cells and chemicals that carries messages and
transports it to the brain. Hence, most of the reviewed articles have said that trouble in the brain
system may result in the prevalence of Tourette syndrome.
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One of study carried out by Cavanna, Robertson and Critchley (2007) have discovered the
existence of Schizotypal personality traits in Gilles de la Tourette syndrome also termed as
GITS. It has been stated to be a chronic disorder related to psychopathology that further involves
obsessionality, affective unsteadiness along with another disorder of attention-deficit
hyperactivity. Herein, GTS is found to be a childhood-onset neuropsychiatric ailment that results
in multiple tics that remains forever. A person dealing with GTS may together endure from the
existence of phonic tics where the severity of both these disorders reduces after the age of 18
years. This particular study has assessed total 102 patients who are regularly visiting the Tourette
clinic and are aged 16 years and above. Also, a DSM- IV criteria was used, followed by a
Schizotypal personality questionnaire with consistent psychiatric and neurological scales of
rating.
Strengths and Limitations
This is to discuss upon the strengths and limitations of the chosen articles where the first
article has discovered very general facts to examine the presence of any specific personality trait
in people suffering from Tourette syndrome. Although, it has shown the use of explicit
participants that depicted to be the major forte of this particular article. Another article chosen
for this study has discovered a specific personality trait in people suffering from Tourette
syndrome that seemed to be its major strength. It was also effective in terms of discovering
varied other traits related findings in people suffering from Tourette supported by detailed
evaluation of its existence and aftermaths. The final article selected was also particular about the
selection of participants to study the matter. This resulted in the discovery of another specific
personality trait in patients suffering from Tourette by together demonstrating its causes and
effects. However, it was supported by a very limited number of audiences to contribute in the
study and thus do not supported in analysing a wide range of data.
CONCLUSION
The present report has summarised Tourette syndrome to be a risky disease for children
where it largely influences their growth and development to a great extent. Along with this, it
also acts to be a major issue for the success of a child by creating difficulty in expressing one’s
own thoughts and opinions in front of others. Hence, eradication of this particular health problem
is a major issue for medical science due to its complexity. Also, there existed certain
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discrepancies in the articles undertaken to ascertain the existence of specific personality traits in
people suffering from Tourette syndrome. As a result, to which, the researchers are
recommended to undertake more realistic measures to accomplish the defined objectives of study
with a close scrutiny of the resources. It can be done by choosing them on the basis of their
identified strengths and weaknesses before initiating a core investigation.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Andreassen, C. S, (2013). The relationships between behavioral addictions and the five-factor
model of personality. Journal of behavioral addictions. 2(2). 90-99.
Balottin, L. and et. Al. (2016). Personality Profile of Male Adolescents With Tourette
Syndrome. Journal of child neurology. 31(3).
Cavanna, A. E., & Rickards, H. (2013). The psychopathological spectrum of Gilles de la
Tourette syndrome. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. 37(6). 1008-1015.
Cavanna, A. E., & Termine, C. (2012). Tourette syndrome. In Neurodegenerative Diseases (pp.
375-383). Springer, New York, NY.
Cavanna, A. E., Robertson, M. M. and Critchley, H. D. (2007). Schizotypal personality traits in
Gilles de la Tourette syndrome. Acta Neurologica Scandmavica. 116(6). 385-391.
Eddy, C. M, (2011). Clinical correlates of quality of life in Tourette syndrome. Movement
Disorders. 26(4). 735-738.
Jung, J. & et.al. (2015). Enhanced saccadic control in young people with Tourette syndrome
despite slowed pro‐saccades. Journal of neuropsychology. 9(2). 172-183.
Martino, D., Ganos, C., & Pringsheim, T. M. (2017). Tourette syndrome and chronic Tic
disorders: the clinical spectrum beyond Tics. In International review of
neurobiology (Vol. 134, pp. 1461-1490). Academic Press.
Robertson, M. M. (2000). Tourette syndrome, associated conditions and the complexities of
treatment. A Journal of Neurology. 123(3). 425-462.
Robertson, M. M. (2015). A personal 35-year perspective on Gilles de la Tourette syndrome:
prevalence, phenomenology, comorbidities, and coexistent psychopathologies. The
Lancet Psychiatry. 2(1). 68-87.
Swedo, S. E., Leckman, J. F., & Rose, N. R. (2014). Obsessive Compulsive disorder.
Viswanath, B. (2013). DRD4 gene and obsessive compulsive disorder: do symptom dimensions
have specific genetic correlates?. Progress in Neuro-psychopharmacology and
Biological Psychiatry. 41. 18-23.
Online
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Trillini, M. O. and Müller-Vahl, K. R. (2015). Patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome have
widespread personality differences. [PDF]. Available through
<https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5a7c/766ff49d31370dd3003ff2fdea8b2c7918cb.pdf>
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