Nervous tic- a phenomenon that occurs repeatedly in children and adults. Everyone has experienced it at least once in their life. With strong nervous excitement, twitching of the eyebrow or eyelid most often occurs. This type of tic occurs most often in children aged two to ten years.

Nervous tic- this is a spontaneous contraction of the facial muscles, it resembles ordinary movements, it differs only in that a person cannot control them.

Types of nervous tics and ssymptoms

There are several reproduction mechanisms nervous tic:

• Motor– unintentional contraction of muscles in the face and throughout the body: twitching of the shoulder and fingers, as well as grinding of teeth.
• Vocal– reproduction of sounds (grunting, smacking, grunting and others) occurs completely uncontrollably.
• Local ticks– spontaneous movement of only one muscle group.
• Generalized– movement of several groups.
• Simple nervous tics- like all of the above
• Complex- pulling hair, wrapping it around fingers.

Types of ticks

Primary nervous tics

Typically, the source is:

• Psychological trauma received in childhood (severe pain or fear). It can develop over a long period of time, and also become chronic, for example, when a child argues with adults every day and really lacks parental attention. The child's psyche is fragile, as a result of which the reaction to stressful situations can be expressed by nervous tics.
• ADHD(attention deficit hyperreactivity disorder), or in childhood neurosis, usually expressed in obsessive movements.
• Phobias stimulating stress.
• Exhaustion of the body and nervous system.
• Constantly exhausted and tired.

As a rule, primary nervous tics go away on their own. For the most part, they do not even require drug intervention.

Secondary nervous tics

Their main difference is that getting rid of them without medical intervention is impossible.

Among the causes are:

• Poisoning affecting the brain.
• Taking medications (psychotropic, anticonvulsants and others).
• Tumors and diseases of the brain (infectious).
• Mental illness (such as schizophrenia).
• Injury and damage to internal organs, leading to metabolic disorders in the blood and toxin content (arteriosclerosis, stroke).

For example, after treating a sore throat, many people strain their throat muscles too much when drinking water or food. This is due to the fact that during illness these actions were special to prevent pain effects, but after that they became established in the body as a constant movement.

Hereditary nervous tics, or Tourette's disease

Doctors have not definitively established the cause of this disease, one thing is known - it inherited. If one parent suffers from this pathology, then the chance of passing it on to the future generation is 50 to 50%. Develops in childhood, symptoms weaken as adults.

Among the causes of the disease are:

• Lack of vitamin B6;
• A lot of stress;
• Bad environment;
• Autoimmune processes.

Doctors have hypothesized that streptococcal infection can cause Tourette's disease. There is no evidence yet, but this hypothesis cannot be ruled out.

Treatment of nervous tics in children

Nervous tic– a consequence of false messages from the brain to various parts of the body. In children it can be caused by psychological trauma and is called - primary tic.

Among the symptoms:

• Distracted attention;
• Anxiety;
• Feeling of fear;
• Various types of neuroses.

As a rule, all this happens against the background of ADHD - attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. After the treatment course you will be able to observe:

• Restored nervous system, thanks to nutrients and improved blood circulation;
• And improvement of the mental and physical state of the body.

Drug treatment

The use of integral medicine in this matter occupies a leading place, since the impact on the source of the disease contributes not only to getting rid of symptoms, but also to improving the health of the human body as a whole and preventing similar cases in the near future.

As a rule, doctors prescribe medications such as phenibut, glycine, magnesium B6, pantogam, tenoten, novo-passit and others. A specialist will help you about the need for drug treatment and dosage of medications.

Folk remedies

Any treatment should be carried out after consultation with a doctor. If drug intervention is not required, nervous tics in children can be treated with folk remedies. Particularly popular are

• Calming charges. They can be purchased at a pharmacy and brewed at home. You can study the method of use and dosage in the instructions. As a rule, such fees include: chamomile, anise seeds.
• Scented pillows. Such pillows are placed next to the sleeping child. To fill the pads, chamomile, lavender, and rosehip are used. You can make collections of herbs and flowers.

IMPORTANT! A child may have an allergic reaction to any drug or component of the collection. It is important to stop treatment in a timely manner and consult a doctor!

Definition of tic, how it manifests itself

Under the term " nervous tic“implies lightning-fast contractions of individual muscle groups: blinking, movements of the nose, corner of the mouth, shoulders, and the entire body.

By their nature, they are extremely reminiscent of protective reflexes, with the goal of removing specks from the eye, throwing off a constricting belt, and throwing up a strand of hair falling onto the forehead. But the pace of movement in children during nervous tics slightly different from the latter. Reactions are carried out too hastily, convulsively, their usual rhythm is lost. Several movements in a row, rapidly accomplished, are followed by a pause and then resumed with renewed vigor.

Often tics tics that arise in any one part of the musculature are replaced by tics in another. In some cases children Simultaneously with tic twitches, they make various sounds with their nose and mouth.

Resisting tics is usually accompanied by feelings of intense anxiety and even sadness. Renewing them immediately relieves the tense state.

Majority children, who suffer nervous tic– subjects of a very unique type, extremely hyperaesthetic to the irritations of their body, easily fixated on their sensations, not independent, extremely indecisive in their reactions, affectively unstable, in a word “infantile”.

Possible causes of tics in children

As for the etiopathogenesis of tics, the following assumptions can be made.

• Firstly, for a tic to occur, some kind of irritation of the area that is most recently affected is usually necessary.
• A child who has had blepharitis or conjunctivitis retains a blinking tic, which was once a protective function, for some time after the end of the illness.
• A child who has experienced discomfort from hair falling on his forehead retains the “habit” of throwing his hair back from his forehead, and this movement takes on the character of impetuosity. Clothes that are tight for the child will cause shoulder tics, and so on.

In short, a tick is a movement that has lost its purpose, but once served as protection child from an unpleasant irritant. It seems that in those vulnerable, hyperaesthetic children, the initial irritation left behind a lasting engram.

IMPORTANT! The fact that the tic is an automated movement strongly suggests that it is realized in the subcortical region.

Being thus, in a very large number of cases, caused by an initial irritation of some area of ​​the body, the tic can subsequently serve as an expression protecting the child from unpleasant mental experiences. The latter gives a state of tension that is not resolved in ordinary acts and verbal reactions due to the indecisiveness and ambivalence of the sick child. Instead, discharge is carried out in a motor act - a tic.

If, along with this, a sick child, with his usually already low activity, is subjected to constant inhibition from those around him, then as a result, tic movements can especially easily arise or linger for a long time.

Useful video

About the imperfection of the nervous system, about nervous tics in children and the doctor will tell you about the treatment Komarovsky and Dr. Pogac.

Results

Course and prognosis nervous tics in children fluctuate in connection with his personality, the person suffering from it, the psychogenic experiences of the latter and the degree of organization of his environment.

• Psychotherapeutic conversations that reveal the child’s personality and the complexes that feed his illness give excellent results.
• Along the way, a lot of work should be done with the people around the child, with the goal of reducing the inhibition of the child by his parents and educators.
• In the process of treatment, a stage is inevitable during which, along with a decrease in tics, the child reveals previously completely absent aggression towards others, thereby becoming temporarily extremely “difficult” in the family.
• Prevention comes down to educational measures (minimal inhibition of the child’s activity) and to the timely resolution of his conflict experiences.
• It is important to consult a doctor when treating tics in children with medication.

Photos and videos: free Internet sources

Key words: tics in children, simple and complex motor tics,
vocalisms, tic hyperkinesis, transient (transient) or
chronic tic disorder, obsessive movements,
neurotic disorder with obsessive movements, Tourette's disease

What are tics, why and when do they appear?
Tics are common! What do they look like?
What is so “scary” about tics?
How, when and why you need to treat tics
Daily routine, diet and lifestyle
Recipes for preventing and combating tics

Many parents unexpectedly notice that the child suddenly began to blink his eyes, make grimaces, sniffle and twitch his shoulder... A day or two, then it passed, a month later it appeared again, for a long time... And this happens very often, look around. At first glance, there are no apparent reasons for such manifestations. What is this? A new teasing game, the beginning of a bad habit, or the onset of an illness? How to react to this? Kids are hot, emotional people, they have very vivid emotions, lively facial expressions and gestures. Maybe this is normal? It would be nice to figure it out...

Tics are fast and involuntary, repetitive, irregular, short contractions of individual muscles or groups of muscles; they appear against the will of the child. The movements are excessive and violent, which is why they are sometimes also called tic hyperkinesis. Outwardly, it always looks about the same, the manifestations are usually monotonous, most often tics occur in the muscles of the face, neck... They are easy to notice. If these are tics of the facial muscles, the child suddenly wrinkles his forehead, frowns his eyebrows, closes his eyes, moves his nose, and purses his lips into a tube. Tics in the muscles of the neck and shoulder girdle are manifested by episodes of turning and twitching of the head, as if long hair is getting into the baby’s eyes, or a hat is in the way; as well as movements of the shoulders and neck, as when feeling discomfort from a tight collar or uncomfortable clothing. By the way, it is precisely such problems with clothing that can serve as one of the triggers for the development of tics. Tics are most pronounced in a state of general motor immobility of the child, when he is bored; they also occur when the child is mentally concentrating, for example, when watching TV, reading a book or doing homework. On the contrary, if a child is very passionate about something, is passionately engaged in energetic play, and moves a lot, tics may weaken and even disappear.

How do parents react to this? As paradoxical as it may sound, at best, they do not pay much attention to this, considering it ordinary children's grimaces, pampering or a new game. At worst, they suggest the development of a bad habit, which can be easily overcome with the help of strict external control.
The excited mother begins to draw the attention of the child and those around him to his grimaces and sniffling, constantly pulling him back and making comments to him. At first, everything seems to be right, it’s working out well. For some time, it happens that this helps: with some effort, the child can turn on volitional control and temporarily refrain from obsessive movements. Then the parents are completely convinced that this is just a bad habit and there is no problem. But this is the most common mistake!

An anxious (purple) mother tries to constantly control the child’s behavior, and, in the end, the smart baby, understanding the dissatisfaction and grief of adults, begins to be burdened by his involuntary movements, and tries to restrain himself from them, not sniffle and not twitch his shoulders. But it only gets worse and worse... Mom and others around, sincerely wishing only the best, regularly make comments to the baby: “Stop blinking like that! Please don't snoop! Stop shaking your head! Sit still! The poor obedient child sincerely tries to follow these instructions, with an effort of will he manages to briefly suppress the tics, while emotional stress only increases, he becomes even more worried and anxious, the number and volume of obsessive involuntary movements only increases from this, new tics appear, their formula is constantly changing – a vicious circle is formed. In the future, any emotional stress and excitement can lead to an increase in tics, they become chronic, and practically cannot be controlled by the will. That's it, the trap is closed, the child is “caught”!

Attention! If a child suddenly begins to blink his eyes, make grimaces, sniffle or jerk his shoulder, you cannot scold him for it! You cannot make comments to him about this, and in general, draw the child’s attention to his involuntary movements. You need to consult a neurologist.

Why and who gets tics, how often do they occur?

Most parents believe that tics arose for no reason, out of the blue. Usually, this is not the case. Parents may not be aware of some of the child’s unpleasant problems that have arisen at school or in the yard, and this is the cause of serious internal stress and anxiety. Almost every child is extremely sensitive to intra-family conflicts and has a hard time experiencing them; even those that, according to parents, are unknown to them and do not affect them at all. Any “minor” events in a child’s life, from the point of view of adults, absolutely not worthy of attention, can serve as a trigger for the development of childhood tics.
For example, a dozen kids were enthusiastically playing in the sandbox, and a very, very small dog running past suddenly barked loudly at them several times. Six kids didn’t even turn their heads, two shuddered, one girl cried, and one boy began to blink his eyes after a walk. For one in ten, is it common or rare, and why, specifically for this boy?

Many scientists note the significant participation of hereditary factors in the origin of supposedly “unreasonable” tics, while both mother and father can have genes in a “dormant” form; and manifest themselves in a special combination, in the form of tics, even after several generations. Some of these genes have already been “caught.” It is possible that that same boy from the sandbox, his dad had tics; or obsessive-compulsive disorder in his maternal grandmother. It is important to know that tics themselves are not inherited; a combination of certain genes can only determine a predisposition to the development of tics. With such a predisposition, tics in children become “younger”: they develop relatively earlier than in their parents.

Indeed, many tics appear after serious stress, but not only negative emotions (fear, grief, anxiety), but also strong positive emotions can provoke tics. Some tics develop as a result of or after an infection or head injury, or when taking certain medications. Undoubtedly, endless “friendship” with TV, computer and other gaming electronics, passion for buns, chocolates and soda almost certainly contribute to the development of tics. It’s trite, but one cannot fail to mention the “special” atmosphere and ecology of the city, intense information loads, a sedentary lifestyle and a tense situation in the family and school. You can talk for a long time about the possible circumstances that trigger tics, but, unfortunately, in life it often happens that the true causes of tics remain unknown. Sometimes tics behave “like a cat walking by itself”, come suddenly, also disappear unexpectedly and appear again. In this case, observation by a neurologist is mandatory. The rapid and complete success of therapy at the moment, alas, does not always guarantee the irreversible disappearance of tics, forever.
Only one thing can be said with certainty, in most cases, even minimal and quickly passing tics are an alarm signal, a flashing red light on the dashboard of the brain, this is a telegram from the child’s nervous system, in which there are only three words “something is wrong inside”.

The statistics on tics are impressive; tics are deservedly considered one of the most common neurological disorders in children, and recently the number of children with tics has been steadily increasing, and the age of onset of tics has been steadily decreasing. Tics have become much more common in infancy; tics become “younger” right before our eyes! According to recent studies, transient or chronic tic disorders occur in every fourth or fifth child! According to statistics, tics occur three times more often in boys, and they are noticeably more severe than in girls.

The typical age for the onset of tics is 4-7 years, usually coinciding with the start of kindergarten or school. For impressionable and vulnerable children, joining a team and changing habitual stereotypes causes enormous emotional stress. Not every child successfully copes with this on their own. Fortunately, in about eight out of ten children, tics usually disappear without a trace by the age of 10-12 years.
Tics are different, and the range of their manifestations is huge: from quickly passing, obsessive blinking, which some parents may not notice, to chronic widespread motor and vocal tics with mental disorders (for example, Tourette's disease).

Gilles de la Tourette's disease is the most severe form of the disease, which is difficult to treat.

Tics in this form are multiple, massive, accompanied by sudden squeals or involuntary shouting of individual words. There is a behavioral disorder, and a decrease in intelligence may be observed.

The complexity of treatment, and even a certain mystery of some types of tics, are partly explained by the multifactorial nature and enormous content of the pathological processes occurring during this process. Tics belong to “borderline conditions” - this problem is at the intersection of several specialties: neurology, psychiatry, psychology and pediatrics.

What are the types of tics?

What colors are the sky, what shape are the waves on the sea, and what are the leaves in the forest? What is a skin rash and what is a cough? The forms and variants of tics in children are so diverse and numerous that at the beginning of the disease, even an experienced doctor cannot immediately understand the situation and accurately predict the further development of events.
Tics can be simple and complex, local, widespread and generalized, motor and vocal. Local tics are observed in one muscle group (movements of the nose, blinking). Common - in several muscle groups, a combination of simple tics (lip curling, blinking, head twitching). Simple motor tics - frequent blinking, squinting, moving the eyes to the side and up, moving the nose and lips, turning and twitching the head, shoulders, hands, shaking the whole body and other involuntary movements.Complex motor tics - jumping and jumping, squatting, bending and turning the entire body, spontaneous gestures, obsessive touching of objects, etc.
Sound (vocal) tics are simple - continuous coughing for no reason, grunting, mooing, squealing, grunting, sniffing. Sound (vocal) tics are complex - repeated repetition of the same sounds, words, phrases, sometimes even involuntary shouting of curses (coprolalia).
A combination of complex, widespread motor and vocal tics is called generalized tics.

What is so “scary” about tics? How, when and why it is necessary to treat and whether tics can be cured

In more than half of the cases, tics are short-lived and do not appear again; in about eight out of ten children, by the age of 10-12 years, tics usually disappear without a trace. Maybe this is not a problem at all, and you don’t need to see a doctor, much less need treatment? I repeat, at the beginning of the appearance of tics, even an experienced specialist cannot always immediately understand the essence of the problem and accurately predict the further development of events. On the one hand, simple tics are a fairly harmless and not dangerous phenomenon, as usual, they quickly go away without treatment, of course. On the other hand, often in this apparent harmlessness and short duration lies real insidiousness - often, simple tics begin to intensify, imperceptibly transforming into common ones, and vocal tics join in. As a result, a child with chronic generalized tics is brought to the doctors, which are sometimes very difficult to treat.

We must not lose sight of the frequent inappropriate reactions of adults and children surrounding the child. For some anxious and irritable parents, children's tics, like a red rag to a bull, cause dissatisfaction, resentment and even internal aggression. With their rash behavior and incorrect actions, they only aggravate the course of tics. In kindergarten and school, peers, either completely frivolously, without meaning to harm, or purposefully and harshly, begin to tease such children. Sometimes even teachers, by chance, being outright mistaken, energetically participate in these nonsense.The child begins to pay active attention to his tics, thinks about his differences from other children, analyzes his behavior, worries and worries. Thus, against the background of tics, a deep neurotic disorder develops for the second time, and this is sometimes a greater evil and danger than the tics themselves. Like any chronic illness, long-term tics do not allow the child to live, they torment and exhaust the soul, fatigue, irritability, sleep disturbances appear, and anxiety and anxiety increase. Tension grows in the family, and other family members are gradually drawn into the orbit of tics. Quite rare, but not unique, they hide villainously under the guise of simple motor tics dangerous epileptic seizures. And now this is alreadyserious neurological problem.

The question arises: is it time to run to the doctor, and which doctor is better?

Or maybe it’s better to wait a little, maybe it will go away on its own? You need to trust your mother's intuition (but only after a visit to a neurologist!). Tics after serious stress, against the background or after an illness or head injury, continue for a long time and obviously reduce the quality of life of the child and family, complex and vocal tics, widespread and generalized - all this is a reason to immediately consult a doctor. Usually, they start with a visit to a neurologist or psychiatrist. As usual, the doctor only needs a detailed parental story and a simple neurological examination (possibly additional instrumental examination) to make sure that there are no organic reasons for the appearance of tics.

Next, the neurologist recommends changing your lifestyle and sleep patterns: it is enough to temporarily destroy the “friendship” with the TV, computer and other gaming electronics. It is advisable to limit or remove from your usual food list products containing caffeine (strong tea, cocoa, coffee, cola, chocolate), sweets and other high-calorie foods. Without a doubt, playing sports, intense physical activity, even simple long walks in the fresh air will bring enormous benefits and help you quickly cope with the problem.

Quite often, tics serve as a kind of release valve for the child’s motor energy. Imagine, a child had a happy childhood, and in the summer he ran around outside all day long, his muscles enjoying life. And then the happiness ended, he went to first grade, and involuntarily, in nervous tension and for a long time, he had to pore over his lessons motionless. Of course, “it’s not just about blinking and twitching...” Give the children a little physical freedom: let them continue to run around on the street as before! On the contrary, it is advisable to strictly dose strong intellectual and psycho-emotional stress. In some cases, even positive emotions, especially strong and violent ones, significantly intensify tic manifestations.
Then, as a rule, a child psychologist comes to the rescue and works with the child and his family. In the treatment of simple tics, the main task is to identify and eliminate the obvious causes of tics (problems at school and family, misunderstanding on the part of parents, deep-seated childhood fears and anxieties, etc.). Simple methods of individual behavioral psychotherapy and psychorelaxation are usually used; techniques of “voluntary tic depletion” have proven to be quite useful.

From time to time, such treatment methods are perceived with hostility by parents; it is easier to give"miracle pill" for tics, how to explain to dad that you can’t yell at the baby. The child’s mother has to exert maximum patience and perseverance, and work hard, before she can eliminate the internal causes of tics.
Many mothers completely misunderstand the goals and objectives of a pediatric neurologist, and are poorly versed in the methods of his work. At neurologist appointments, we often meet such energetic, knowledgeable parents. “Of course, in the medical reference book and on the Internet it is written that pills are needed, and the neurologist is trying to wean our brilliant child away from music and the computer.”

For example, I had a consultation with a boy with his mother and grandmother who complained of involuntary blinking and sniffling. According to my mother, the tics appeared suddenly, out of the blue, there was no stress. And the child is very anxious, tense, his eyes are sad, he twitches his head, constantly grunts and sniffles. The mother says: “Everything is fine in the family and in the kindergarten, there are only calm, positive adults around the child, there seem to be no visible upsets.” However, during the consultation, she pulled the child down twenty times, continuously making comments to him: “Stop blinking like that! Please don't snoop! Stop shaking your head! Sit still! She was constantly dissatisfied with her son: “he didn’t say hello right away, he said the wrong thing, he sat down the wrong way, he looked in the wrong direction.” At the same time, she managed to simultaneously argue with her grandmother about parenting methods and talk about complete misunderstanding on the part of her husband. A little more, and I would have “blinked and sniffled” out of chagrin right at the consultation. Yes, if I had to live even a little with such a mother, I would immediately end up in a neurosis clinic. And the baby, it turns out, is great - he “only” has tics.
An attempt to clarify the situation led nowhere; the prospect of routine and psychological correction of tics did not appeal to my mother. She became even more agitated and offended. Having read me a long “scientifically reasoned” notation about what a neurologist should do during an outpatient appointment, and without waiting for a miracle drug to be prescribed, my mother and grandmother continued their active search for a “convenient” specialist... In this family there is such blind confidence in the only possible method of treatment tics with the help of pills will be the main obstacle to recovery... Sad story...

In fact, drug therapy, especially serious psychotropic drugs, is required quite rarely, more often in the case of severe tics, but even then, one cannot do without routine measures and psychological and pedagogical correction. The effectiveness of medications will be much higher and more stable if you simultaneously solve psychological problems and lead a healthy lifestyle. The side effects of real anti-tic therapy can be quite serious, and in no case should they be even close to the possible benefits. It is quite possible to destroy almost any tics and vocalisms, but to do this without side complications is not an easy task.

Simple effective recipes for preventing and combating childhood tics

Less pedagogical violence - more love and understanding
Psychologically comfortable and calm environment in the family, kindergarten and school.
Looking for someone to blame, blaming yourself and others for the development of tics is a stupid and harmful activity.
Questions, discussions, comments, especially pestering and swearing at a child regarding tics are strictly prohibited
It is advisable to carry out psychological and pedagogical activities, resolving possible conflicts with peers and teachers at school or kindergarten under the guidance of an experienced child psychologist (otherwise you can make such a mess...)
Reasonable exercise in any kind of sports, intense physical activity, long walks in the fresh air
Restriction or temporary exclusion of communication with a TV, computer and other gaming electronics
The most important thing is a timely visit to a specialist!

The most interesting, mysterious and little-studied part of a person is his psyche. On the one hand, it is intangible and invisible, on the other hand, it determines behavior, character, temperament and much more. Like a crystal vase, the psyche has a fairly organized, fine structure, but it can also be easily damaged. Children are the most vulnerable in this regard.

Nervous tics

To find and understand a way to get rid of nervous tics, you need to understand what they are. These are obsessive, repetitive unconscious movements that occur in similar situations, often stressful. Essentially, nerve tics are an error in the cerebral cortex that, for some reason, sends a contraction impulse to one or a group of muscles. Depending on this, there are local and generalized variants of this deviation. There are an incredible variety of types of implementation, and we can even say that each sufferer has characteristics of manifestation, which primarily depend on which muscle is involved.

Taking into account the muscle and its function, we can distinguish:

1. Vocal. They occur when the muscles responsible for contraction of the vocal cords are involved in the psypathological process. Sometimes it's not just a sound, but a whole word or even a phrase.
2. Mimic. They are formed by contraction of the muscles of the face and head as a whole. They occur more often than others. An example of such tics could be a “twitching” eye, eyelid, or grimacing.
3. Tics of the limbs. Usually the movements of the arms and legs repeat a specific action; it can be simple or complex if it consists of elements. Example: unconsciously drawing in the air without a pencil.

Approaches to the treatment of nervous tics from the point of view of Tibetan and ancient Eastern medicine

When and why do nervous tics appear?

Nervous tics are the most common psychoneurological pathology in children and adolescents. Perhaps the occurrence of errors at this level of the nervous system is associated with the immaturity and active development of associative nerve connections at this age. This pathology is more common in boys. Nervous tics in adults are recorded much less frequently. Depending on the reason, the following options are distinguished:

• Primary.
• Secondary.
• Hereditary.

True psychoneurological deviations are primary nervous tics, which form after severe stress. They almost always occur in childhood and can be caused by problems in the family. In fact, a child does not need a big reason for this disease to arise.

Each child is an individual and the approach to him should be individual.

For some, the appearance of a brother or sister is a real tragedy, since they have to share their parents’ attention with someone. For others, a too loud quarrel between the closest people is enough. Children 5 years old often become victims of incredible plans and hopes; first-graders may suffer from the increased responsibility and ambitions of parents who want to raise only an excellent student. All this sometimes becomes the basis for the development of deviations at the mental level, and one of the first signs is the appearance of nervous tics in children.

If the primary ones are amenable to psychotherapy, then the secondary occurrence of this problem is much more serious. They appear as a result of organic damage to the brain, in particular the cortex. This can occur due to injury, tumor, encephalitis (inflammation), metabolic disorders of certain substances and severe intoxications. Special treatment is sometimes effective, but more often residual effects persist until the end of life. In fact, in this case, nervous tics are a symptom of an underlying disease. Nervous tics can also be a manifestation of hereditary diseases, the most striking example being Tourette's syndrome. This is a genetic disease that is accompanied by multiple tics, and almost always complex vocal ones. The latter are sometimes of a very unusual nature; a person may suddenly start shouting insults, ridiculous phrases, and names.

In case of frequent nervous tics in adolescents in the absence of other causes, it is necessary to conduct a genetic analysis to exclude this syndrome.

Symptoms accompanying nervous tics

Unfortunately, when a breakdown occurs at any level, and especially in the structure of the psyche, it cannot be expressed in a single symptom. Usually, in combination with tics, parents note such manifestations as enuresis, poor sleep, hyperactivity, excessive excitability, or, conversely, a sluggish response to what is happening around them. Personal characteristics also change. A child, especially a teenager, becomes unsure of himself, withdrawn, and uncommunicative. If nervous tics arose in the company of other children or someone spoke incorrectly about this, then a persistent inferiority complex is formed. All this aggravates the condition of an already shaken psyche. It is very important to take into account that a child with a nervous tic has already developed a mental problem that requires outside help, and not to harm the parents’ sometimes rude and hasty attempt to correct the situation.

Treatment

The choice of treatment tactics for nervous tics in children depends on the age category and the underlying cause. Primary - usually amenable to psychotherapy in combination with herbal medicine. In secondary cases, treatment consists of eliminating or correcting the underlying disease. The approach should not only be individual, but also correct.

Any careless intervention or remark can aggravate the child’s condition and create a block in communication.

The basis of psychotherapy is calming therapy and changing the attitude towards the situation that provokes the occurrence of nervous tics. The prognosis is most often favorable; after puberty, the frequency and severity of nervous tics decreases. In adults, this manifestation persists more often with organic damage to brain structures and requires medication and physiotherapeutic correction.

Childhood neuroses frighten and puzzle parents, especially if such mental states are associated with the manifestation of tics. In search of reasons and answers to their questions, adults visit dozens of doctors, but often they fail to clarify the situation. The only thing that parents receive is a prescription for a psychotropic drug, which adequate parents do not want to feed their child at all. In this article we will help you understand what neurotic tics are associated with, what are the causes of neuroses and how to help your child without heavy medications.

What is it?

The concept of “neurosis” hides a whole group of psychogenic disorders. The bad news for moms and dads is that all neuroses tend to have a very protracted, chronic course. The good thing is that neuroses are reversible, and in most cases the child completely manages to get rid of such conditions.

Due to the fact that children cannot always say in words what worries or bothers them, constant nervous tension is transformed into a neurotic state, in which disturbances are observed both at the mental and physical levels. The child’s behavior changes, mental development may slow down, a tendency toward hysteria may appear, and mental activity may suffer. Sometimes internal tension finds a kind of outlet on the physical level - this is how nervous tics arise. They are not independent disorders and always appear against the background of neurosis or a neurosis-like state. However, the neurosis itself may well occur without tics. Here, a lot depends on the child’s personality, his character, temperament, characteristics of upbringing, the state of the nervous system and other factors.

Neurosis practically does not occur in infants, but then the frequency of such disorders in children begins to grow rapidly, and at kindergarten age approximately 30% of children have neuroses to one degree or another, and by middle school age the number of neurotics grows to 55%. Almost 70% of adolescents have neuroses.

Nervous tics for the most part are a problem exclusively for children. There are few adults in the world who suddenly, under the influence of stress, began to suffer from tics. But there are adults who have carried neurotic tics out of their childhood, since most often the disorder begins in childhood.

Tics of various types most often occur in children aged 5 to 12 years. About a quarter of all neurotic children suffer from some form of tics. In girls, physical manifestations of nervous conditions are 2 times less common than in boys of the same age. Experts explain this fact by the fact that the psyche of girls is more labile, it undergoes age-related changes faster and goes through a period of formation.

Neurosis and tics are disorders of higher nervous activity. Modern medicine believes that these conditions contribute to the emergence of a wide variety of diseases and pathologies. Even a whole direction has appeared - psychosomatics, which studies the possible connections of psychological and mental states with the development of certain diseases.

Thus, it is believed that hearing problems most often occur in children whose parents were too authoritarian and suppressed their children, and kidney diseases are characteristic of children whose mothers and fathers often conflict with each other and often abuse their child verbally and physically. Since neuroses are reversible conditions, the task of parents is to start the process of reverse development as soon as possible, and for this it is necessary to find the cause of the child’s condition and devote all their efforts to eliminating it.

Reasons

Finding the causes of neurosis in a child is always a very difficult task. But if you look at the problem from a medical point of view, the search area narrows significantly. Neurosis, and consequently neurotic tics, are always associated with the development of conflict - internal and external. A fragile child's psyche can with great difficulty withstand many circumstances that do not seem out of the ordinary to adults. But for children, such circumstances can be very difficult, causing psychological trauma, stress, and overstrain of the intellectual, mental and emotional spheres.

Scientists and doctors are still arguing about how exactly the mechanism of development of a disorder of nervous activity is realized. The difficulty of studying this issue is primarily due to the fact that the mechanisms are quite individual, unique for each child, because a child is an individual person with his own fears, attachments and ability to resist stress.

The most common causes of neuroses and neurosis-like conditions are:

• unfavorable family situation (scandals, quarrels, divorce of parents);
• total mistakes in raising a child (overprotection, attention deficit, permissiveness or excessive strictness and exactingness of parents in relation to the baby);
• characteristics of the child’s temperament (choleric and melancholic people are more prone to developing neuroses than sanguine and phlegmatic people);
• the child’s fears and phobias, which due to his age he is not able to cope with;
• overfatigue and overstrain (if the child does not get enough sleep, attends several sections and two schools at the same time, then his psyche works “for wear and tear”);

• psychological trauma, stress (we are talking about specific traumatic situations - the death of a loved one, forced separation from one of the parents or both, physical or mental violence, conflict, severe fear);
• doubts and fears for safety in the future (after moving to a new place of residence, after transferring a child to a new kindergarten or to a new school);
• age-related “crises” (during periods of active reconfiguration of the nervous system and psyche - at 1 year, at 3-4 years, at 6-7 years, during puberty - the risks of developing neuroses increase tenfold).

Nervous tics develop in approximately 60% of neurotics of preschool age and in 30% of schoolchildren. In adolescents, tics appear against a background of neurosis in only 10% of cases.

The reasons for the development of involuntary muscle contractions due to an erroneous command from the brain can also be different:

• past illness(after severe bronchitis, a reflex cough can form into a tic, and after conjunctivitis, the habit of blinking frequently and rapidly may persist as a tic);
• mental shock, severe fear, a situation that caused enormous psychological trauma (we are not talking about long-term exposure to stress factors, but about a specific one-time situation in which the child’s nervous system and psyche did not have time to “compensate” for the damage, since the impact of stress turned out to be many times stronger);
• desire to imitate(if a child observes tics in one of his relatives or other children in a kindergarten or school, he may begin to simply copy them and gradually these movements will become reflexive);
• worsening manifestations of neurosis(if the negative factor that caused the neurosis not only does not disappear, but also intensifies its impact).

The true reasons may remain unknown, since the area of ​​the human psyche has not yet been sufficiently studied, and doctors cannot explain all violations in a child’s behavior from a scientific point of view.

Classification

All childhood neuroses, despite the lack of scientific data on the causes and mechanisms of development, have a strict classification, designated in the international classification of diseases (ICD-10):

• neuroses of obsessive states or thoughts(characterized by increased anxiety, worry, conflict of needs and norms of behavior);
• fear neuroses or phobic neuroses(associated with a strong and uncontrollable fear of something, for example, fear of spiders or the dark);
• hysterical neuroses(destabilization of the child’s emotional sphere, in which behavioral disorders, hysterical attacks, motor and sensory disturbances that arise in the child in response to situations that the child considers hopeless are observed);
• neurasthenia(the most common type of disease in childhood, in which the child experiences an acute conflict between demands on himself and the actual inability to meet these requirements);
• obsessive movement neurosis(a condition in which the child uncontrollably makes certain cyclic movements with annoying methodicality);
• food neurosis(nervotic bulimia or anorexia - overeating, constant feeling of hunger or refusal to eat against a background of nervous rejection);
• panic attacks(disorders characterized by attacks of severe fear that the child cannot control and explain);
• somatoform neuroses(conditions in which the activity of internal organs and systems is disrupted - cardiac neurosis, gastric neurosis, etc.);
• guilt neurosis(disturbances in the functioning of the psyche and nervous system that developed against the background of a painful and, in most cases, unjustified sense of guilt).

Nervous transient tics, which can develop against the background of any type of neurosis, also have their own classification.

They are:

• Mimic– with involuntary repeated contraction of the facial muscles. This includes facial, eye, lip and nose tics.
• Vocal– with spontaneous nervous contraction of the vocal muscles. A sound tic can manifest itself as stuttering or obsessive repetition of a certain sound, coughing. Vocal tics are very common among children, especially preschoolers.
• Motor- when contracting the muscles of the limbs. These are twitching arms and legs, waves and splashes of the arms, which are repeated frequently and have no logical explanation.

All tics are divided into local (when one muscle is involved) and generalized (when a whole group of muscles or several groups work at once during the movement). Also, tics can be simple (for elementary movements) and complex (for more complex movements). Typically, children develop primary tics as a result of severe stress or other psychogenic causes. Doctors talk about secondary symptoms only if tics accompany brain pathologies (encephalitis, trauma).

Quite rare, but still there are hereditary tics, they are called Tourette syndrome.

It is not difficult to determine what kind of tics a child has; it is much more difficult to discover the true cause, including the connection with neurosis. And without this, full treatment is not possible.

History of the study

Neurosis was first described in the 18th century by the Scottish doctor Cullen. Until the 19th century, people with neurotic and neurosis-like tics were considered possessed. Famous people stood up to fight obscurantism at different times. Sigmund Freud explained neuroses as a conflict between the true needs of the body and personality and the social and moral norms that are instilled in the child from childhood. He devoted an entire scientific work to this theory.

Academician Pavlov, not without the help of his famous dogs, concluded that neurosis is a disorder of higher nervous activity, which is associated with disturbances of nerve impulses in the cerebral cortex. Society received the information ambiguously that neurosis is characteristic not only of people, but also of animals. American psychologist Karen Horney concluded in the 20th century that childhood neurosis is nothing more than a defensive reaction from the negative impact of this world. She proposed dividing all neurotics into three groups - those who strive for people, pathologically need love, communication, participation, those who try to distance themselves from society and those who act contrary to this society, whose behavior and actions are intended to prove to everyone that they can do a lot and are more successful than everyone else.

Neurologists and psychiatrists of our time have different points of view. But they agree on one thing - neurosis is not a disease; rather, it is a special condition, and therefore its correction is both desirable and possible in all cases.

Symptoms and signs

Neuroses in children and possible accompanying tics have different symptoms, which depend on the type and type of disorder. However, all neurotic conditions are characterized by a group of symptoms that can be seen in all neurotic children.

Mental manifestations

Neurosis can in no way be considered a mental disorder, since disorders arise under the influence of external circumstances, while most true mental illnesses are associated with internal factors. Most mental illnesses have no sign of reversibility and are chronic, and neurosis can be overcome and forgotten about it.

With real mental illnesses, the child experiences increasing signs of dementia, destructive personality changes, and retardation. With neurosis there are no such signs. Mental illness does not cause rejection in a person; the patient regards it as part of himself and is not capable of self-criticism. With neurosis, the child understands that he is doing something wrong, not correctly, and this does not give him peace. Neurosis causes inconvenience not only to his parents, but also to himself, with the exception of some types of tics that the baby simply does not control and therefore does not consider significant.

You can suspect neurosis in a child based on the following changes:

• The child's mood changes frequently, unexpectedly and without objective reasons. Tears can turn into laughter in a matter of minutes, and a good mood can change into a depressed, aggressive, or other mood in seconds.
• Almost all types of neuroses in children are characterized by pronounced indecision. It is very difficult for a child to make even a simple decision on his own - which T-shirt to wear or which breakfast to choose.
• All children with neurotic changes experience certain difficulties in communication. Some find it difficult to establish contacts, others experience pathological attachment to the people they communicate with, others cannot maintain communication for a long time, they are afraid to say or do something wrong.
• The self-esteem of children with neurosis is not adequate. It is either overestimated and this cannot go unnoticed, or underestimated and the child sincerely does not consider himself capable, talented, successful.
• Without exception, all children with neuroses experience from time to time attacks of fear and anxiety. Moreover, there are no objective reasons for alarm. This symptom can be mildly expressed - only occasionally does the child express concerns or behave warily. It also happens that the attacks are severe, even panic attacks.
• A child with neurosis cannot decide on a value system, the concepts of “good and bad” are somewhat blurry for him. His desires and preferences often contradict each other. Often a child, even at preschool age, shows signs of cynicism.

• Children with certain types of neurosis often have irritable. This is especially true for neurasthenics. Irritability and even anger can manifest themselves in the simplest life situations - you didn’t succeed in drawing something the first time, your shoelaces came undone, your toy broke.
• Neurotic children have almost no stress resistance. Any little stress causes them to experience attacks of deep despair or severe unmotivated aggression.
• Can talk about neurosis excessive tearfulness, increased sensitivity and vulnerability. This behavior should not be attributed to the child’s character; normally, these qualities are balanced and not noticeable. With neurosis they hypertrophy.
• Often a child becomes fixated on the situation that traumatized him. If neurosis and tics were caused by an attack by a neighbor's dog, the baby often experiences this situation again and again, fear grows and turns into a fear of all dogs in general.
• The performance of a child with neurosis is reduced. He gets tired quickly, cannot concentrate his memory for a long time, and quickly forgets previously learned material.
• Neurotic children have difficulty withstanding loud noises, sudden noises, bright lights and temperature changes.
• In neuroses of all types there are sleep problems- it can be very difficult for a child to fall asleep, even if he is tired, sleep is often restless, superficial, the baby often wakes up and does not get enough sleep.

Physical manifestations

Since there is a connection between neurosis and the work of internal organs and systems, the disorder cannot but be accompanied by signs of a physical nature.

They can be very different, but most often neurologists and child psychiatrists note the following symptoms:

• The child often complains of headaches, tingling in the heart, palpitations, shortness of breath and pain of unknown origin in the abdominal area. At the same time, medical examinations to look for diseases of these organs and areas do not reveal any pathologies, the child’s tests are also within normal limits.
• Children with neuroses are often lethargic, sleepy, they do not have the strength to take any action.
• Children with neuroses have unstable blood pressure. It either rises or falls, and there are attacks of dizziness and nausea. Doctors often make a diagnosis of vegetative-vascular dystonia.
• In some forms of neurosis in children, vestibular disorders are observed associated with difficulties in maintaining balance.

• Appetite problems characteristic of the vast majority of neurotics. Children may be undernourished, overeated, experience an almost constant feeling of hunger, or, conversely, almost never feel very hungry.
• In children with neurotic disorders unstable stool- constipation is replaced by diarrhea, vomiting often occurs for no particular reason, and indigestion occurs quite often.
• Neurotics are very sweats and more often than other children run to the toilet for minor needs.
• Neuroses are often accompanied idiopathic cough without a justified reason, in the absence of any pathologies from the respiratory system.
• With neurosis it can be observed enuresis.

In addition, children with neuroses are more susceptible to acute viral infections, colds, and have weaker immunity. In order to conclude whether a child has neurosis or the prerequisites for its development, one should evaluate not one or two individual symptoms, but a large list of signs of both physical and psychological properties together.

If more than 60% of the symptoms listed above coincide, you should definitely make an appointment with a doctor.

Manifestations of tics

Nervous tics are visible to the naked eye. With primary tics, all involuntary movements are local in nature. They rarely spread to large muscle groups. Most often, they involve the child's face and shoulders (blinking, twitching of lips, flaring of the wings of the nose, shrugging of shoulders).

Tics are not noticeable at rest and only intensify when the child is in a stressful situation.

The most common primary disorders manifest themselves as:

• blinking;
• walking in a closed circle or in a straight line back and forth;
• teeth grinding;
• hand splashes or strange movements of the hands;
• wrapping strands of hair around your finger or pulling out hair;
• strange sounds.

Hereditary and secondary tics usually appear in a child closer to 5-6 years of age. They are almost always generalized (involving muscle groups). They are manifested by blinking and grimacing, uncontrolled shouting of curses and obscene expressions, as well as constant repetition of the same word, including that heard from the interlocutor.

Diagnostics

There is a big problem in diagnosing neuroses - overdiagnosis. It is sometimes easier for a neurologist to make such a diagnosis for a child than to search for the true cause of the disorders. That is why statistics show a rapid increase in the number of neurotic children over the past few decades.

A child with poor appetite, sleep disturbances or mood swings is not always neurotic. But parents demand help from a specialist, and the doctor has no choice but to make a diagnosis and prescribe treatment. After all, it is incredibly difficult to refute the diagnosis of “neurosis,” and therefore no one can accuse the doctor of incompetence.

If there is a suspicion of neurosis in a child, it is not enough for parents to visit a local neurologist alone. It will be necessary to show the child to two more specialists - a child psychiatrist and a psychotherapist. The psychotherapist will try to understand as much as possible the psychological environment in which the child lives; for children of middle and high school age, the method of hypnotic sleep can be used. This specialist pays special attention to the relationship between parents, between parents and the child, between the child and his peers. If necessary, a series of behavioral tests will be conducted, an analysis of the baby’s drawings, and a study of his reactions during the gameplay.

The psychiatrist will examine the child for a connection between neurosis and disorders of brain function; for this purpose, specific tests will be used; an MRI of the brain may be prescribed. A neurologist is a specialist with whom the examination should begin and with whom it is then completed.

He summarizes the data received from the psychiatrist and psychotherapist, analyzes their conclusions and recommendations, and prescribes:

• general and biochemical blood test;
• radiography and computed tomography of the brain;
• electroencephalography.

The presence of neurosis as such can be judged in cases where:

• the child did not have any pathologies of the brain or impulse conduction;
• the child has no mental illness;
• the child does not have and has not had a traumatic brain injury in the recent past;
• the baby is somatically healthy;
• neurotic manifestations recur for six months or more.

Treatment

Treatment of neurosis always begins not with taking pills, but with correcting relationships in the family where the baby lives and is raised. Psychologists and psychotherapists help with this. Parents should change their attitude towards their child, eliminate or correct their pedagogical mistakes, and try to protect their child from severe stress, frightening and traumatic situations. Joint activities are very useful - reading, creativity, walks, sports, as well as subsequent detailed discussion of everything that was done, seen or read together.

If a child learns to formulate his feelings and emotions in a specific situation, it will be easier for him to get rid of traumatic memories.

A marriage that is bursting at the seams does not have to be saved for the sake of a child who has developed neurosis about it. Parents must carefully weigh how it will be better - without or with one of the parents who is scandalous, drinks, uses violence.

However, it should be remembered that one parent who is calm, self-confident, who loves and appreciates the baby is better for the child than two frantic and suffering parents.

Much of the treatment of neurosis falls on the shoulders of the family. Without her participation, the doctor will not be able to do anything, and pills and injections will not bring any results. Therefore, drug treatment is not considered the main type of therapy for neuroses. A neurologist, a psychologist, and a psychotherapist, who have interesting methods of helping neurotic children, are ready to help parents in their difficult task.

Types of therapy

In the arsenal of a psychotherapist and child psychologist there are such methods for correcting the baby’s condition, such as:

• creative therapy(a specialist sculpts, draws and carves together with the baby, while talking with him and helping him understand a complex internal conflict);
• pet therapy(treatment through communication and interaction with pets);
• play psychotherapy(classes using special techniques, during which a specialist will carefully observe and evaluate the child’s behavioral and psychological reactions to stress, failure, excitement, etc.);
• fairytale therapy(an understandable and entertaining method of psychocorrection for children, allowing the child to accept models of correct behavior, set priorities, and decide on personal values);
• auto-training(a method of relaxation on the physical and mental levels, excellent for teenagers and children of high school age);
• hypnotherapy(a method of correcting the psyche and behavior by creating new settings while immersed in a trance. Suitable only for older children and adolescents);
• group sessions with a psychotherapist(allow you to correct neuroses associated with difficulties in communication and adaptation to new conditions).

Good results come from classes where children are present together with their parents. After all, the main type of therapy for neurosis, which has no equal in effectiveness, is love, trust, mutual understanding between the child and his family members.

Medicines

Medicines for the treatment of simple and uncomplicated types of neurosis are usually not required. The doctor may recommend herbal preparations that have a calming effect: "Persen", pharmaceutical collection of motherwort. The child can be given as an aid tea with lemon balm, mint, motherwort, take baths with decoctions of these herbs.

In some cases, the doctor prescribes nootropic drugs "Pantogam", "Glycine". They require systematic and long-term use, since they have a cumulative effect. To improve cerebral circulation it is prescribed "Cinnarizine" in age dosage. If laboratory tests show a lack of calcium or magnesium in the child’s body, which also contributes to neurological disorders, the doctor prescribes accordingly "Calcium gluconate" or its analogues, as well as "Magnesium B6" or other magnesium preparations.

The list of drugs that can be prescribed for nervous tics is much more extensive. It may include antipsychotics and psychotropic drugs. A prerequisite for prescribing such powerful and serious drugs is that the tics must be secondary, that is, associated with disorders of the brain and central nervous system.

Depending on the nature of the tics and other behavioral characteristics (aggression, hysteria or apathy), they may be prescribed "Haloperidol", "Levomepromazine", "Phenibut", "Tazepam", "Sonapax". For severe convulsive tics, the doctor may recommend Botox and botulinum toxin preparations. They allow you to “switch off” a specific muscle from the pathological chain of nerve impulses for a time during which this connection may cease to be a reflex. Any medicine for serious neurotic disorders must be prescribed and approved by a doctor; self-medication is inappropriate.

Most neurotic children are helped by medications that help establish normal, sound sleep. After just a few weeks, the child becomes calmer, more adequate, and friendly. Doctors do not advise using strong sleeping pills for childhood neurosis. Light medications or homeopathic remedies like drops will be enough “Bayu-Bai”, “Dormikind”, “Little Bunny”.

Physiotherapy and massage

All children with neuroses benefit from massage. It is not necessary to turn to the expensive services of specialists, because therapeutic massage is not indicated for such disorders. A relaxing massage, which any mother can do on her own at home, will be enough. The main condition is not to do tonic techniques, which have the opposite effect - stimulating and invigorating. A massage should be relaxing. When carrying out such an impact, you should avoid pressing, pinching, and deep kneading.

A relaxing effect can be achieved with gentle stroking, circular movements with hands without effort, and light rubbing of the skin.

If there are primary nervous tics, you can add additional massage techniques to the area affected by involuntary muscle contraction. Massage of the face, hands, and shoulder girdle should also be relaxing, non-aggressive, measured. It is enough to massage once a day, in the evening, before swimming. It is important for children that massage gives them pleasure, so it is advisable to carry it out in a playful way.

For secondary tics, professional therapeutic massage is required. It is better to contact a good specialist who, in a few sessions, will teach mom or dad all the necessary techniques, so that they can then carry out the course of treatment for the child on their own. Among the physiotherapeutic methods, acupuncture is quite often and quite successfully practiced. The method has no age restrictions, however, provided that the child is somatically healthy.

The effect of physical therapy should not be underestimated. Children aged 2-3 years can already attend such classes with their parents. When drawing up a lesson plan for a particular child, a specialist will take into account all the motor manifestations of neurosis and teach special exercises that will allow you to relax and tense the necessary muscle groups in order to save the child from developing tics.

A child with neurosis and tics will benefit from swimming. In water, all muscle groups relax in a child, and the physical load on them during movement is uniform. It is not necessary to enroll your child in a professional sports section; it is enough to visit the pool once a week, and for kids, swim in a large home bathtub.

To see what treatment Dr. Komarovsky recommends for this type of disorder, see the following video.

Prevention

To avoid the development of neuroses in a child, measures that maximize prepare the child’s psyche for possible stressful situations:

• Adequate education. A child should not grow up in hothouse conditions, so as not to grow up as a weak-willed and insecure neurasthenic. However, excessive severity and even parental cruelty can also disfigure the child’s personality beyond recognition. You should not resort to blackmail, manipulation, or physical punishment. The best tactic is cooperation and constant dialogue with the child from a very early age.
• Family well-being. It is not so important whether a baby grows up in a complete or single-parent family. The microclimate that reigns at home is of greater importance. Scandals, drunkenness, tyranny and despotism, physical and moral violence, swearing, shouting - all this provides fertile ground for the development of not only neuroses, but also more complex mental problems.

• Daily routine and nutrition. Supporters of a free regime are more likely to encounter neurotic disorders in their children than parents who have taught their child to follow a certain daily routine from birth. The regime is especially important for children of primary school age, who are already in a state of severe stress - starting school requires endurance and patience from them. Children's nutrition should be balanced, rich in vitamins and all necessary microelements. Fast food should be mercilessly limited.

• Timely psychological assistance. It will not be possible to completely protect a child from stress and negative effects on the psyche, no matter how hard the parents try. However, they must be sensitive enough to notice the slightest changes in their child’s behavior and mood in order to respond in a timely manner and help the baby understand what happened. If your own strength and knowledge are not enough for this, you should contact a psychologist. Today there are such specialists in every kindergarten, in every school, and their task is to help a child, regardless of his age, overcome a difficult situation, find the right solution, and make an adequate and informed choice.
• Harmonious development. A child must develop in several directions to become a complete person. Children whose parents only demand from them sports records or excellent performance in school are more likely to become neurotic. It’s good if a child combines sports with reading books and playing music. At the same time, parents should not exaggerate their demands and harass their child with their high expectations. Then failures will be perceived as a temporary test, and the child’s feelings about this will not overpower the compensatory abilities of his psyche.

Noticing that the child is making involuntary obsessive movements, twitching or making strange sounds, parents begin to worry.

This is a nervous tic in a child, the symptoms of which will be discussed in this article. Most often, they do not pose a serious threat to health, other than psychological discomfort. But the reasons for this condition may be different.

Tics can be both muscular and auditory. The general thing is that movements and sounds are made involuntarily, uncontrollably and intensify during the period of greatest nervous excitement. Often children, especially young ones, do not notice these manifestations and do not experience much discomfort.

Older children are aware of the deviation and may try to control it, which is not always successful and, as a result, causes even greater anxiety in the baby. Teenagers can achieve control, but it requires a lot of effort. In any case, nervous tics in children worry parents much more and attract unnecessary attention from others.

Tics affect far more boys than girls (6:1 ratio). They can appear at any age, but the peak occurs at 3.5-7 years and 12-15 years, when the child’s nervous system is most actively rebuilt. By the age of eighteen, in most cases, all manifestations of tics disappear. Only in exceptional cases does the tic continue after reaching maturity.

If a tic is not a symptom of more serious disorders of the nervous system, then it makes itself felt during the daytime and in moments of particularly strong excitement in the child. At night the patient relaxes and sleeps peacefully. This disorder usually goes away on its own. However, if involuntary movements continue for more than a month, are accompanied by grinding teeth during sleep and urinary incontinence, this is a serious symptom that should definitely be addressed by a doctor.

Consultation with a specialist will be useful even with mild manifestations of tics. A neurologist will help determine the causes of the disorder and reassure parents. And for known reasons, it is possible to adjust the child’s life so that nervous disorders will remain a thing of the past.

Classification of ticks

All ticks are divided into four categories.

• Motor tics. These include involuntary movements. In children, most often this is a contraction of the facial muscles: blinking, twitching eyebrows, winking, lip movements. Less often - movements with the arms or legs, fingers: fingering the folds of clothing, twitching the shoulder, sharply tilting the head, retracting the stomach, repeating gestures, jumping and even “beating” oneself. They, in turn, are divided into simple and complex. The former involve movements of one muscle, the latter involve muscle groups.
• Vocal tics involve the involuntary production of sounds. They, just like motor ones, can be simple and complex. Simple vocalisms include snorting, grunting, whistling, sniffling, and coughing. When difficult, the child repeats the words, phrases and sounds that he heard. Including obscene language - this condition is called coprolalia.
• Ritual tics are accompanied by the repetition of peculiar “rituals”. For example, drawing circles, an unusual walking style.
• Generalized tics include combined forms of this deviation. For example, when a motor tic is combined with a vocal tic.

In different children, tics manifest themselves in different ways and in different combinations.

Tourette's syndrome

Generalized tics include Tourette's syndrome, a pathology of the nervous system. Most often occurs between the ages of 5 and 15 years. The peak occurs in adolescence. In some cases, the disease goes away on its own, less often it persists for life. However, over the years the symptoms weaken.

The development of the syndrome begins with the appearance of facial muscle tics, then they move to the limbs and torso. Involuntary movements are accompanied by vocalizations, these can be either meaningless sounds or shouting curse words.

Other manifestations of the disease are absent-mindedness, restlessness, and forgetfulness. The child becomes overly sensitive, vulnerable, and sometimes aggressive. At the same time, 50 percent of children and adolescents develop unreasonable fears, panic, obsessive thoughts and actions. These symptoms are uncontrollable, and only a competent specialist can alleviate the condition.

Reasons

The causes of nervous tics in a child can either lie on the surface (the situation in the family, at school) or be deeply hidden (heredity). Tics are most often caused by three types of causes in children.

Heredity. If one of the parents suffered from tics in childhood, then their child has a predisposition to their occurrence. However, heredity does not guarantee that a child will certainly get sick.

Physiological reasons

• Past infections. It could be chickenpox, jaundice, flu, herpes. After this, not only the child’s immunity is lowered, but also the nervous system is most vulnerable.
• Long-term poisoning. With prolonged intoxication of the child's body, the child's nervous system also suffers. This may include taking medications, antibiotics, or living in an unfavorable environmental environment. A blow to a child's health is caused by parents smoking in his presence.
• Lack of vitamins and microelements. Occurs with a poor, monotonous diet. The nervous system suffers most from a lack of B vitamins, potassium, and magnesium.
• Lifestyle. Lack of sufficient physical activity, rare exposure to fresh air, and sitting for many hours at the computer or in front of the TV can cause disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system.
• Brain diseases. This includes tumors, benign and malignant, injuries, including birth injuries, encephalitis, trigeminal neuralgia, and vascular pathologies.

Psychological reasons

• Stress. Problems with family, at school, with peers, especially if the child tries to suppress them and keep them to himself, often lead to the appearance of tics in children. Changing educational institutions, moving to another district or city, parental divorce, bullying or rejection from classmates are the most severe emotional stresses for a child. There is even such a thing as “tick September 1”.
• Fright. Most often, it is this that becomes the impetus for the appearance of tic. Anything can scare a child: a scary movie, a nightmare, a thunderstorm or storm, even a sharp sound. A deviation can occur if a child witnesses a major quarrel, scandal, fight, or is attacked by a large animal, for example, a dog.
• Increased loads. Often parents try to give their child comprehensive development and education. And they forget that the child’s psyche is not always able to cope with such an intense load. The child goes to school, then to a tutor, then to language courses or to an art school. At some point, the child’s body cannot withstand the constant pressure. Tick ​​is the least terrible manifestation of an unbearable load.
• Attention deficit. If parents do not pay due attention to their child, spend little time together, rarely talk and praise, then the child tries to earn this attention. As a result, he is constantly in nervous tension.
• Overprotectiveness or authoritarian parenting style. In this case, frustration may also arise as the child is stressed due to increased parental interference in his life. Especially if the mother or father is too strict. Then the child’s companion becomes the fear of making a mistake and being guilty.

Often parents are skeptical about the presence of psychological problems in their child. Firstly, many do not believe that children can experience stress at all. Secondly, almost everyone is sure that this will definitely not affect their children.

Diagnostics

Only a doctor - a pediatric neurologist - can determine for sure nervous tics in a child, symptoms and treatment. The symptoms are often frightening for parents. Of course, the child sometimes changes beyond recognition, performing strange and even frightening obsessive actions. However, in 90% of cases the disease is successfully treated.

You should consult a doctor if the nervous tic is generalized and lasts longer than a month, causes psychological or physical discomfort to the child, or is severe. The initial diagnosis is made based on a survey. The doctor needs to find out how the disease manifests itself, when it began, whether the patient experienced severe stress before it, whether he received a head injury, what medications he took.

In addition, the child may need to see other specialists. Psychotherapist - if a young patient has recently experienced stress. Infectious diseases specialist if there is a suspicion of infectious diseases. A toxicologist if the body has been exposed to toxins. If you suspect a brain tumor, you need to consult an oncologist, and if you have nerve damage in your family, you need to consult genetics.

Therapy for the disorder

If the disorder has serious causes, such as brain diseases, tumors and injuries, treatment is aimed primarily at eliminating these causes. The tic as a consequence will disappear when the child recovers completely.

If children's tics are primary, that is, they exist on their own, getting rid of them involves, first of all, creating a favorable environment.

Psychotherapy will not be superfluous. And not only for children, but also for parents. Not everyone will be able to independently notice, admit their own mistakes in behavior and upbringing and correct them. Therapy for a young patient can be carried out either individually or in a group with children who have similar disorders.

Parents must establish contact with their child. Adjust your pastime so that you can be together more often, find common activities. Heart-to-heart conversations are also necessary. During them, the child will be able to express all the emotions accumulated during the day and calm down. You need to speak words of love to your child and praise him more often.

We need to establish a daily routine. Adequate sleep, regular moderate physical activity, alternating mental and physical work, reducing time spent at the computer or TV can significantly improve the condition of the nervous system. It's a good idea to adjust your diet.

A growing body must receive enough proteins, vitamins and microelements. In the case of teak - B vitamins, potassium and magnesium. These elements are found in animal foods, cereals and cereals, especially oatmeal and buckwheat, and fresh vegetables. Bananas and dried apricots are rich in potassium and magnesium.

Treatment with drugs

In severe cases, treatment of nervous tics in children can be done with medication. First of all, sedatives are prescribed. To calm the baby, light herbal preparations based on extracts of valerian, motherwort, and chamomile are enough. In more severe cases, antidepressants and antipsychotics may be prescribed.

Vitamins - complex or magnesium with vitamin B6 - are prescribed as auxiliary agents, as well as vascular drugs that improve metabolic processes in the brain. To avoid unpleasant consequences for a fragile body, homeopathic preparations are preferable, or remedies in which the proportion of the healing substance is negligible.

Physiotherapy

Tics can be treated using physiotherapeutic methods. They also imply a calming effect on the nervous system.

These include:

• electrosonotherapy (the child sleeps during a special electric shock) reduces nervous excitability and accelerates metabolic processes;
• galvanization of the brain activates inhibition processes;
• therapeutic massage stimulates blood circulation;
• acupuncture improves blood flow to the brain;
• medicinal electrophoresis of the neck and shoulders has a calming effect;
• ozokerite applications on the neck and shoulders reduce excitability;
• aerophytotherapy reduces susceptibility to stress, improves mood;
• baths with pine extracts relax and restore healthy sleep.

Based on the doctor's opinion, other treatment methods may be prescribed.

The healing power of creativity

In children, nervous disorders can be treated through creativity. Such methods arouse genuine interest in the child, calm him down and lift his spirits. If parents come up with a creative activity for themselves and their offspring, it will be doubly valuable. A child’s excellent mood after such activities is a sure sign of a speedy recovery.

Dancing is useful, especially rhythmic and fiery. For example, tectonic, in which the dancer makes movements reminiscent of teak. It is important that the child finds it interesting, so that during classes he “dances” all bad emotions, relieves nervous and muscle tension, and improves his mood.

All types of needlework and creativity that involve hands, fingers and fine motor skills are also useful. This is modeling, classes with sand. Drawing will help you free yourself from fears, especially if you draw their cause and then destroy it.

Quick tick removal

Muscle twitches often cause discomfort to the baby, especially if he tries to suppress them. When a tic appears, you can try to alleviate this condition. Distraction will help: offer to do something interesting that will occupy the child’s full attention. And it’s better that it’s not a computer or TV.

For eye tics, acupressure relieves the attack. You need to consistently press on points in the center of the brow ridge and in the corners of the eyes for several seconds. Then the child should close his eyes tightly several times for a few seconds. Among the traditional methods, a compress of geranium leaves helps, which in crushed form should be applied to the affected area (not to the eyes).

However, such methods can only relieve the attack for a while, and not cure the tic completely. After some interval (from several minutes to several hours) everything will return, especially if the baby is nervous.

Prevention

The rhythm of life, especially in the city, is accelerating, which cannot but affect children. They are especially vulnerable to stress. Therefore, it is important not only to know how to treat nervous disorders, but also how to prevent their occurrence.

Prevention of tics is the correct daily routine, proper sleep and nutrition, physical activity, fresh air and lack of overexertion, a favorable environment at home, good and trusting relationships with parents.

In order for children to be calm, parents must be calm. After all, even if mom or dad don’t outwardly show nervousness, the baby will still feel it. Therefore, anyone who wants their children to be healthy and happy should start with themselves.

We hope that our article helped you understand the causes of tics in children (including generalized type tics) and the features of treating nervous tics in children of different ages.