The Beginning of Happy

Recently caught a show on HBO Family called, "I have Turrets, but Turrets doesn't have me," which profiles several young kids with Turrets. From the previews, I was amazed to see these very young kids talk and carry themselves better than most adults. I became curious to see they were able to cope with the social ridicule. In that regard, having Turrets and being transgendered are similar, so I thought I would take some time to learn some coping techniques from the masters (children).

On the surface, the twitches seemed to be the result of nervousness, and one is tempted to think that maybe, just maybe, Turrets could be managed with psychotherapy, or perhaps with anxiety drugs, but listening to their descriptions, the 'twitch' behavior is the final result of a total mental onslaught designed to overwhelm the person into doing whatever the twitch is. Like, you can't think about anything because every voice in your mind is yelling, "HEAD SPASM!!!"

Can you imagine what kind of hell must that be? I mean, here these kids are in class, they know they are about to twitch, and even if they can fight the urge (so as not to be ridiculed), it's at the cost of not being able to concentrate.

Maybe it's the estrogen, maybe it's my baggage, but I cried at their stories. One girl was videotaped during a bad fit, visibly frustrated with her damaged body, screaming over and over, "I hate my life!" We've all been there, huh? No? You mean you haven't tried to kill yourself? Not even seriously considered suicide? Maybe we all haven't, but I felt her pain.

Some kids couldn't control their bodies, but when playing piano or drums, they were flawless. Those moments of total absorption must be bliss for them. So if there was despair, there was also hope, determination, triumph, and joy.

And there once again is the similarity.