Functional Tics and “TikTok Tics”

Worth noting: if you use this or any other information as an excuse to berate TikTok creators for posting educational content about tic disorders, I will personally see to it that you no longer have access to your social media account.

In addition, I’m going to make it very clear that there is a difference between functional tics and faked tics. Functional tics are not fake or consciously produced. They are part of a completely valid medical condition. A person’s functional tics are not necessarily from TikTok, either. Functional tics can occur out of the blue, with or without observation of others’ tics being a prompting event.

Even though some people do fake tics, it is absolutely not your place to tell an individual that they are faking their tics unless you are a medical professional who is trained in neurology or unless there is direct evidence that they do not have the condition and are faking their symptoms (very rare). This would be from self-disclosure or disclosure from a legal guardian.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.