Creating a warm family atmosphere to help children with Tourette’s syndrome recover

  The child, a 10-year-old female in the fourth grade, started twitching 3 years ago, mainly with sudden involuntary shrugging, frowning, crooked mouth, and later throat clearing. She had been treated with Toltea and Thiopride, which were ineffective. He was treated with aripiprazole, starting at 2.5 mg/day and increasing to 7.5 mg/day within 1 week, but the effect was not obvious. The parents were very anxious and the first thing they said every day when their child came home from school was “How did you do at school today? How many times did you smoke? Is it less or more than yesterday? Can’t stop clearing your throat again?” ……. The first thing you’ll want to say is, “How did you do at school today? When the child is at home, the mother is always watching the child. As soon as the twitching appears, the mother becomes very nervous and shows bad emotions, causing the child to act like he has made a mistake, thinking that he is not in control and that the mother is angry, and the twitching becomes more obvious. Give the patient’s mother general psychological support treatment such as comfort, explanation and persuasion to relieve her anxiety. Do mother’s missionary work and teach the mother the best way to handle the child when the twitching is obvious, such as calm distraction, no chasing, even comforting sympathy, etc. Adding sertraline 25mg/day in combination with aripiprazole 10mg/day and sertraline 75mg/day after 4 weeks was effective and the family was satisfied.  This child’s previous treatment was not effective, and the analysis may be due to insufficient drug dose and course of treatment. After switching to aripiprazole combined with sertraline treatment, the effect was remarkable. Medication is very important in the treatment of tic disorders, but psycho-behavioral treatment is also necessary. The child’s tic symptoms cause varying degrees of disruption and impact on the child’s daily life and that of his or her family. With the predominance of only children nowadays, one can imagine the level of attention parents pay to their children. Although we cannot determine the role of psychosocial factors in the treatment of tic disorders, the child’s symptoms are often exacerbated by life events, mood swings, or excessive school load. Therefore, psycho-behavioral therapy, including family therapy, is essential in addition to pharmacological treatment. Helping parents and teachers understand the characteristics of the child’s disease, respect the child, patiently help the child, and create a harmonious and warm learning environment and family atmosphere will help the child recover from the disease.