The Real Causes and How to Treat Tics and Coprolalia: A New Perspective from Psychology and Philosophy on Brain Misfires and Noticing the “Truth You Want to Say”
4月 25, 2026菅原隆志46 min read
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What Are Tic Disorder and Coprolalia? Not Deliberate, but Their True Nature
What Is Tourette Syndrome? The Reality of “Coprolalia,” Which Is Often Misunderstood
“Suddenly shouting obscene words” and “repeating strange movements.” When people see this, many may feel confused and think, “Are they just fooling around?” or “Isn’t this a parenting problem?”
However, it may be a symptom called “tics,” which can occur as part of the neurodevelopmental disorder **Tourette Syndrome**.
Tics aremotor or vocal actions that occur suddenly and repeatedly, against the person’s will. Among them, the symptom in which abusive or vulgar words that startle others come out of the mouth is called “coprolalia.”
What matters most is that this isnot deliberate. The person is trying to stop it, but cannot stop it—that is the very essence of this symptom.
Why Do “Deliberate-Looking” Behaviors Happen Unconsciously?
Tics and coprolalia may look “fake” becausethe timing is so unnaturalorthey seem to draw attention from others.
But in reality, these behaviors area phenomenon that automatically “comes out” from a particular route in the brain, unconsciously.
The person is not intentionally trying to “make it happen”; rather, most often they feel, “I don’t want this to come out” and “This is distressing.”
This gap is what causes“misunderstanding” and “suffering”. That is why we are called to look not only at what is visible, but at what is happening inside the person.
Understanding the Person’s Suffering: “I Want to Stop, But I Can’t”
Tics and coprolalia have the characteristic thatthe more you try to suppress them, the worse they get . The moment the urge feels like it is about to come out, trying to stop it only increases stress in the brain, and it erupts even more explosively.
This is also called the “rebound phenomenon.”
For the person, it is an experience that comes with
an unavoidable urge to blurt it out
, guilt and shame flooding in after it does come out
fear of other people’s eyes
,suffering on multiple levels.
The first step we can take is to understand that “it is not deliberate.” That understanding becomes the “safe foundation” for facing the symptom.
What the Brain Mechanism Tells Us: What Is a Failure in the Control System?
Dopamine and the Basal Ganglia: Runaway Movement and Speech
The brain has areas that regulate and control our “movements” and “speech.” In particular, the area called the “basal ganglia” plays the role of suppressing unnecessary movements and impulses.
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