What Exactly Is Coprolalia (form of Tourette's)?
Question:
I am asking because the one girl on the documentary lived with her grandma and she would just start cursing out her grandma & friends when she got stressed or what not. She would say some really mean things.
So, it got me wondering is Coprolalia only curse words or can some people have a complex way of of this disease? I hope I don't confuse anybody. But, if I do thank you for reading it anyway.
Answers:
Not a lot of complexity. Since it's sort of compulsive and generally not something the person wants to be saying, they sort of try to hold it in and then there's an almost explosive quality to it. I've heard people say maybe 4 words together but they're completely strung together like they are one long word. It's really a strange disorder because even though there are genetic and biological components, there are obviously emotional/social components also because people say things which are taboo in their own society, at their own particular time period. (Taboo-ness changes over time.)
There's a serious syndrome called Lesch-Nhyar (or something like that - I probably spelled it wrong) in which the person has multiple physical, emotional, cognitive, and psychological issues - boys who I've seen with this pretty much look like they have cerebral palsy - and coprolalia is a fairly common thing they do, along with self injurious behaviors. BTW, it was originally not just mean or nasty kind of talk but literally "dirty" as "copro" comes from word "feces."
In regards to your last post, I noticed it was written after I wrote mine. I didn't write anything from Wikipedia - only from personal experience and I do think I answered what you asked. Unless maybe you're asking if they put a lot of thought into what they're planning to say and then go off on some kind of scatological rant in which case the answer is "no." (That might come from someone with an antisocial personality disorder.)
Coprolalia encompasses words and phrases that are culturally taboo or generally unsuitable for acceptable social use, when used out of context. The term is not used to describe contextual swearing. It is usually expressed out of social or emotional context, and may be spoken in a louder tone or different cadence or pitch than normal conversation. It can be a single word, or complex phrases. A person with coprolalia may repeat the word mentally rather than saying it out loud; these subvocalizations can be very distressing.
Coprolalia is an occasional but rare characteristic of Tourette syndrome, although it is not required for a diagnosis of Tourette's. In Tourette syndrome, compulsive swearing can be uncontrollable and undesired by the person uttering the phrases. Involuntary outbursts, such as racial or ethnic slurs in the company of those most offended by such remarks, can be particularly embarrassing. The phrases uttered by a person with coprolalia do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of the person
Coprolalia is also a rare symptom of other psychiatric disorders,such as Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.
According to the Tourette Syndrome Association, fewer than 15% of Tourette syndrome patients exhibit coprolalia, but it tends to attract more attention than any other symptom. There is a paucity of epidemiological studies of Tourette syndrome; ascertainment bias affects clinical studies. Studies on people with Tourette's often "came from tertiary referral samples, the sickest of the sick". Further, the criteria for a diagnosis of Tourette's were changed in 2000, when the impairment criteria was removed from the DSM-IV-TR for all tic disorders, resulting in increased diagnoses of milder cases. Further, many clinical studies suffer from small sample size. These factors combine to render older estimates of coprolalia—biased towards clinical populations of the more severe cases—outdated. An international, multi-site database of 3,500 individuals with Tourette syndrome drawn from clinical samples found 14% of patients with Tourette's accompanied by comorbid conditions had coprolalia, while only 6% of those with uncomplicated ("pure") Tourette's had coprolalia. The same study found that the chance of having coprolalia increased linearly with the number of comorbid conditions: patients with four or five other conditions—in addition to tics—were four to six times more likely to have coprolalia than persons with only Tourette's. One study of a general pediatric practice found an 8% rate of coprolalia in children with Tourette syndrome, while another study found 60% in a tertiary referral center (where typically more severe cases are referred). A more recent Brazilian study of 44 patients with Tourette syndrome found a 14% rate of coprolalia; a Costa Rican study of 85 subjects found 20% had coprolalia; a Chilean study of 70 patients found an 8.5% rate of coprolalia; older studies in Japan reported a 4% incidence of coprolalia; and a still older clinical study in Brasil found 28% of 32 patients had coprolalia. Considering the methodological issues affecting all of these reports, the consensus of the Tourette Syndrome Association is that the actual number is below 15 percent.
Some patients have been treated by injecting botulinum toxin (botox) near the vocal cords. This does not prevent the vocalizations, but the partial paralysis that results helps to control the volume of any outbursts. Surprisingly, botox injections result in more generalized relief of tics than the focal relief expected.
I have met people with tourette's syndrome and don't understand why they have such potty mouths. One of them outwardly appeared personable enough, but I was very surprised at what I heard her say. They conjur up negative thoughts and spew them out. But, I also met people whithout the syndrome who do the same sort of thing. Its so unfortunate.
The "normal" people who do this, you know who you are, stop it or you will soon be a tourette's patient. (Or, maybe you already are.)
I'm going on line to get more info on this topic. Interesting.
see a doctor
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