18-year-old claiming Tourette's online despite no signs at home

[Confusedmum71]

So my DD is 18 and I have just discovered a secret TikTok account where she claims to have Tourette’s Syndrome. She says she’s had it since age 8 and there are recent videos of awful tic attacks (she says it’s gotten worse recently).
none of the family have ever seen any hint of tics. In her videos she states that she has shown her parents ‘diagnosis papers’ and that we don’t believe her. This is simply not true.
i haven’t confronted her as she has a history of anxiety, depression and self harm and I don’t want to cause a mental health crisis.

my endless research is telling me that it’s a modern phenomenon and that many teens grow out of this once uni and real world experiences arrive.
just wondering if anyone has any experience of anything like this?
my anxiety is through the roof so I guess I’m looking for reassurance that everything will be ok.

Anecdotally I think this is fairly common - lots of self diagnosis and discussion of symptoms in online communities.

Why can't she be having real life experiences now? Why wait? I would massively reduce her access to and time for online nonsense.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35473358/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9733629/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/its-catching/202110/the-girls-who-caught-tourettes-tiktok/amp

Thank you. I am actively trying to do this. Not easy when she is, as she says “a grown woman”!

My dd is 18. Where possible, I try to discuss things about something I’ve read about, a Netflix show or one of her friends etc rather than her directly. Perhaps you could try something like this?

I would do what you can to not let her know you’ve found her account.

I absolutely hate this phenomenon that 18 year olds say they’re adults / grown women etc. It was not like this in the past.

If it’s something genuinely concerning, I will say I’m her mum and I’m not going to stop worrying about her just because she’s now 18. Those are the sort of things I’d worry about if she were 18 or 38.

It was more like this in the past with many of us moving out around that age.

Does she work?

Has she learnt to drive?

Does she have hobbies? Play sport? Socialise?

What does she want to go to uni to do - what would help her application?

My dd is nearly 17 but I still pay for her phone and internet usage and if I was concerned about it negatively impacting her wellbeing I would be making it a lot less easily available to her.

She has her own money and an unconditional offer to study genetics at university in September.
I’m trying as hard as I can to keep her busy and we have a big trip planned in a week’s time.
I’m also keeping the lines of communication open as much as possible but she’s just telling me she’s fine and happy at the moment.
think I was just hoping other mums on here might say ‘yes, mine did that too but grew out of it’!

Look up "ticsandroses" on YouTube op. She could be in for a world of hassle if she's found out to be a big ol' phony faker.

Hopefully your plans and her ambitions will help her escape this weird online world!

I would maybe talk to her in a more roundabout way about trying to have a digital detox or come off social media apps or something. If you don't want to have an all out discussion about your concerns.