Singer Robbie Williams Reveals He Has Tourette's Syndrome: What to Know About the Disorder

Popstar Robbie Williams has revealed that he has Tourette's syndrome and is struggling with it. The 51-year-old English singer-songwriter appeared on a podcast recently and opened up about the disorder

and claimed his tics are "intrusive thoughts.” Tourette syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that causes uncontrollable movements and vocal sounds called tics, which can either be mild or severe. The condition often shows up in early childhood and improves as you become an adult. "I’ve just realised that I have Tourette’s, but they don’t come out,” Williams said on the I’m ADHD! No, You’re Not. “They are intrusive thoughts that happen. I was just walking down the road the other day, and I realized that these intrusive thoughts are inside Tourette's,” the musician explained. “Not only that, you would think that a stadium full of people professing their love to you would work [as a distraction], but whatever it is, inside me, I cannot hear it. I cannot take it in,” he added. Additionally, Williams also shared that he believes he has autism. However, he recently took an online test that told him otherwise. “It turns out I'm not [autistic], but I've got autistic traits. And it's around, social stuff, it's about interaction,” he explained.

What is Tourette syndrome?

According to experts, Tourette syndrome affects your brain and nerves and causes you to make movements. While tics are involuntary, you are not able to control or prevent them. Motor tics involve body movements, which include eye blinking or shoulder shrugging. Vocal tics involve your voice, like sniffing or throat clearing. Motor tics tend to develop before vocal tics. Tourette syndrome usually starts in early childhood, and experts believe that most of the time, tics become milder and occur less frequently in late adolescence and adulthood. Doctors say in the US, Tourette syndrome affects one out of 160 children, which means around 300,000 have the condition.

What causes Tourette syndrome?

While it is not known what causes Tourette syndrome, doctors say the condition tends to run in families, so it can be genetic. Issues with how your brain metabolizes neurotransmitters may also contribute to Tourette syndrome. A few risk factors include:

Sex

Men are three to four times more likely to develop Tourette syndrome.

Family history

Parents may pass down Tourette's syndrome to children through genes.

Prenatal health

Children born to people who smoked or have had health complications during pregnancy may be at a higher risk for Tourette syndrome.

Signs and symptoms of Tourette syndrome

According to experts, the most common Tourette syndrome symptoms include motor and vocal tics, which usually start between the ages of 5 and 7 years and peak around 12. Two main types of tics are:

Simple tics

These are quick and repeated movements that only involve a few muscle groups – like shoulder shrugging and throat clearing.

Complex tics

Complex tics involve many movements and muscle groups, like jumping and repeating certain words or phrases.