Can Your Phone Give You Tourette's Syndrome?

JoeMerchant writes:

In 2021, neurology clinics across the globe noticed a baffling spike in teenage girls suddenly developing severe, violent motor and vocal tics overnight. While the symptoms mirrored Tourette syndrome, standard medical tests like MRIs and EEGs kept coming back completely clean.

The real culprit turned out to be hiding on their screens. Dr. Kirsten Muller-Vahl of Hannover Medical School identified the outbreak as "mass social media-induced illness"-the first recorded instance of a mass sociogenic illness spreading globally via social media rather than physical proximity. Investigators realized patients were mimicking the exact, unique tics (such as shouting the word "beans") performed by popular Tourette influencers they spent hours watching on TikTok and YouTube during pandemic isolation.

Clinicians note that the tics are physically real and involuntary, acting as a "symptom template" for vulnerable teens. Follow-up studies found that affected adolescents had four to five times the odds of having pre-existing anxiety or depression. The algorithms effectively created a "virtual convent," offering an accidental community and recognition to isolated youth. Treatment requires more than just deleting the apps; patients generally recover through family involvement and proper psychiatric care to address the underlying mental health struggles.

https://spacedaily.com/k-in-2021-thousands-of-teenagers-suddenly-developed-the-same-violent-tics-every-medical-test-came-back-clean-and-the-real-cause-turned-out-to-be-hiding-on-their-phones/

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