The One to Five of Coping with TS

The One to Five of Coping with TS

By: Guia Roa S. Soriano (A Labor and Employment Officer, diagnosed with TS)

I’ve been living with this on and of tics for like 15 years now. It is only when I was 20 years old when I was able to find it’s name, Tourette Syndrome. I admit it wasn’t easy at first, but through my own coping mechanisms I was able to conquer it. So I would like to share with you the 5steps that help me cope with TS.

1. Acceptance. I believe that to make the a life of an individual a lot easier, acceptance is one factor.

Acceptance from the side of the family that someone from their clan is having this different gift that He gives only to those who can handle it. I am blessed to have a family who, after being able to understand the diagnosis to me, never treats me differently. Just the same smart, stubborn, and pretty (oh yes am) lady member of the clan. Me and my family even joke at it whenever my vocal tics are becoming loud like, “anlakas naman nun.”

Acceptance from the side of your true friends. I am very lucky to have friends who had accompanied me in my journey in searching for the answers behind my tics. One of my friends is the one who saw the website of PTSA (ticawaywithme.blogspot.com then) and told me about it. Since then they’d been with me in looking for explanations. A line that my friend said that I will never forget, “isa ako sa mga unang nakaalam na may TS ka. Bukod dun wala naman akong ibang nakita. Hindi naman naapaektuhan ang productivity mo.”

Acceptance from your side. If you cannot accept that you have that special gift, don’t expect other to accept you. So start from there. Accept that you are one of the chose few. Remember according to research most of the people who have TS are those who are intelligent and beautiful/handsome.

2. Know that you are just like anybody else. We don’t need special treatment, it will just trigger the situation. Study like any other students do. Work like any other employees. Like what I said in the interview before, “we are just like any other people, meron lang kaming sound effects at choreogaphy sa katawan.” Would you believe that I even get invitations to host some events? (I am a cool emcee, try me.  )

3. Understand those who can’t. I know there would always be that stare from other people who don’t know what TS is. Let them stare for crying out loud. You won’t die of their stare. And whenever people laugh at you, let them laugh their heart out. Me, whenever people laugh at me because of my tic I just say in my mind, “buti na lang hindi sa inyo napunta ‘toh. Hindi niyo kasi maiintindihan. Poor you.” Let’s just say that we are more intelligent than them so let us be the one to understand.  Don’t expect everybody to understand you. Just understand them.

4. Learn to laugh at it. Since you cannot prevent people from lauging about it, learn to laugh with them. Like what they also say, “if you cannot beat them join them.” It won’t help if you will just go to one corner and fret over the situation. Believe me, when you learn to laugh about it sometimes, life will be a lot easier.

5. Pray. This will be your best armor in surviving a life with TS. So learn the art of constant praying. Pray that He may give you the willingness to go on with life. Pray that He will give you the strength to fight the battle. Pray to give Him thanks for that special gift.