Neurotic twitching is a scary and difficult problem for afflicted individuals to understand. Often such behavior is a source of humor in the mainstream media but can be particularly devastating to people who wish to live normal lives. It is very common in nuerological disorders such as Asperger's Syndrome and/or epilepsy.


Steps

1. Maintain physical health. You may need to get a few more hours of sleep every night. Vitamins and a healthy diet generally improve most problems to some degree.
2. Exercise regularly. Swimming, cycling and distance running are some of the best ways, due to the intensity and attention to details in breathing and heart rates that they require.
3. Attempt to be calm. Twitching gets worse when you get stressed or when you think about it too much. Take time to breathe and relax when you need to.
4. Have confidence when you meet new people and in social interactions. Maintain eye contact when talking and listening. If you feel an impulse coming on, turn to the side a little, let out the twitch and carry on as usual.
5. If someone points out your twitches, don't dwell on the subject too much, but let them know what it is without giving a huge lesson (unless they ask for it). For example: "What is that thing you did with your face?" "It's just a nervous habit I've had since I was a kid." "Well are you nervous?" "No, it's like a twitch that's caused by chemicals in the brain. Oh, but as you were saying..." If they just have to make fun of you for something you can't control, then they become the moron.
6. Luckily, nervous twitching often fades away as people age. Never let yourself be defined as a Tourette or an Epileptic, but instead just as a person who has to deal with a disease.

Tips

• Take social risks and avoid shyness. Often times people with these diseases become shy from embarrassment and carry shy tendencies throughout life.
• Send a message to the initial author of this article. He has Tourette's Syndrome and has overcome the social stress of his facial twitches. He would love to talk to you!

Warnings

• Never use your disabilities as an excuse for why you cannot succeed in any part of your life. In doing so you will be "self-handicapping" and make excuses for failures rather than confront them to overcome.
• Never try any medication without prescription from a doctor. It will probably suit you well to seek the advice of a neurological specialist before starting a new medication since most clinical doctors are not experts in the field of neurology.
• If your twitching is harmful to your health, seek a doctor immediately. In extreme cases, some individuls have tics that involve self mutilation - especially regarding the facial area - that have resulted in loss of eyes and other permanent damage.
• Only you can recognize if a medication is right for you after it has been prescribed. There is speculation in the scientific community that the levels of dopamine in the brain contribute to twitching behavior, and incidentally several anti-depression medications increase dopamine. As a result many doctors are quick to prescribe these anti-depressants to twitching patients. Keep in mind, however, that many of these anti-depressant companies have a lot of money for promotion. As a result, never feel guilty for telling a doctor to take you off of a medication that you don't think is working (especially if it is for a child).
• And If in doubt about coming out to your doctor... do it, he/she might prescribe an amazingly affective drug that will calm you down, and make you think about it less. Remember FIND A DOCTOR.