Tourette & Trauma.

Diomira Neri,1 Sabrina De Filippis1, Linda Martinelli 2

1 Office, Viale Michelangelo,8, 52100 Arezzo, Italy, e-mail: diomiraneri@gmail.com 

1 Office, Viale Michelangelo,8, 52100 Arezzo, Italy, e-mail: sabrina_defilippis@libero.it

2 Office, Via Degli Innocenti, 2, 50063 Figline V.no, Firenze, e-mail: linda.martinelli87@gmail.com

The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate that EMDR could be used to cure symptoms in patients with tic disorders. Tic disorders comprise four diagnostic categories, including Tourette syndrome, for which there is no cure but only treatment for symptom management. Clinical cases and research show that trauma-related tics can be cured with EMDR. 

Some clinical cases concurrently presenting traumatic events and tic disorders will be illustrated, in particular the case of a young patient diagnosed with Tourette syndrome. After EMDR treatment, using the standard protocol, the cases had a complete recovery. Dysfunctions of the basal ganglia are believed to be involved in the neurobiology of tics; research findings have revealed a decrease in the basal ganglia activity post EMDR treatment. 

Analysing tic disorders from a psychotraumatology point of view and intervening with EMDR can help re-elaborate the trauma at the basis of the condition and ensure its emotional integration and self-regulation. 

It may be reductive and lead to a chronicisation of the disorder to consider only the diagnosis without taking the trauma into account.

Learning objectives:

avoiding relying solely on descriptive diagnostic categories, focussing on an accurate anamnesis covering possible traumatic events in order to find a targeted treatment. assessing the tic as a possible symptom of a trauma and not as a disorder in itself.  discerning trauma-focused treatment might lead to the complete remission of symptoms.

References

Afsaneh Z. et al., Methodological Aspects of Cognitive Rehabilitation with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Basic Clin Neurosci. 2013 Winter; 4(1): 97–103.