Teen DD with likely functional tics

[JimbosJetSet]

My 14 year old daughter, suddenly and without warning, developed some very noticeable vocal and physical tics when she went back to school last month. She has never had them before, and my research tells me that they are functional tics, likely related to anxiety.

There are a few previous threads on Mumsnet from posters in a similar position, but I cannot find any stories of outcomes. I understand that there is no cure for functional tics, and the recommended treatment is to try and address any underlying anxiety and triggers that make them worse.

So, parents that have been through this already - did you discover any useful strategies for supporting your teen through this time? Did the tics just reduce and go with time? Can we expect them to last for months or for years?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Ds has vocal ticks ticks once in a while. They come and go. We don’t know why this is but there can be a long time without any and then they suddenly appear again.

My daughter had this for about 9 months in 2021, likely caused by the lock downs. We’re not sure if they went away because things went a bit back to normal but we managed to get some support for her and they reframed it from being a completely negative thing (which it really felt like it was) to her body’s way of trying to protect her from stress. This seemed to create a shift for her and they went away almost as quickly as they came. Every so often now I think I see a hint of them but we completely ignore it and so far, they haven’t come back.
i really feel for you - it was such a difficult time and it affected every part of her life but we were able to come through it xx

Thank you, that is very helpful - and reassuring - to hear. That gives me some light at the end of the tunnel! Interesting regarding the reframing of something negative into being protective, I have not thought about it that way.