Tourette's

Most of the people reading this blog know that I do, in fact, have Tourette's Syndrome. When someone in the world is faced with a certain hardship, that person will most likely see the beauty in humanity, or the evil that stems from Original Sin. Luckily, for me at least, I have MOSTLY seen the beauty that life has to offer. Mostly being the key word.
For those of you who don't know, I was diagnosed with Tourette's in the 4th grade. For someone to be diagnosed with TS, a person has to have constant, involuntary bodily movements for AT LEAST a year. When I was in fourth grade, I would jerk my head like crazy. At first, my mom thought it was just me copying New Jersey Devils goalie Martin Brodeur. But when she told me to stop doing that, I couldn't. This would lead to me sucking in my stomach, flexing at my rib cage, and rapid eye blinking. This is when it all started.
Most of you know me now with my vocal tic. I actually remember the day it started. I was a junior in high school and I was sick in bed one night. I couldn't breathe through my nose, and I just randomly made the noise. Ever since then, I couldn't really stop. However, it has started to get much better and has subsided more than I thought it ever would. My doctor and I have been working on a technique called Behavior Reversal Therapy, where when I feel the need to do my vocal tic, I try to "move" that tic into a less noticeable area, such as sucking in my stomach. Since I've been doing that, and my medicine has been completely changed, my tics are SO much more relaxed. I hope a lot of people have noticed.
In the past year, I really let my Tourette's get to me. Keep in mind, I had a complete whirlwind of a year and I was not in the right state of mind. But we will explore that as the blog goes on. My vocal tics got so bad that I couldn't sleep at night. Partially because they bothered me, and the other reason being that I felt bad for keeping my roommate awake at night. However, all of my family and friends, specifically my housemates at Marist and my cousins, went above and beyond to make sure I was okay and to know they still loved me. For that guys, I will always be thankful.
Two of the many factors that led to my TS getting so out of control happened in the summer of 2010. The first one occurred while I was on my lunch break at work. I went to Subway and ordered my sandwich. I had my vocal tic occur a few times, and tried to play if off only to see the guy making my sandwich was behind the counter doing a little dance and copying my vocal tics. This was the first time anyone had ever made fun of me. I went home and made my facebook status about it, and received OVERWHELMING support from friends, family, coaches, etc. Long story short, we filed a complaint with Subway. A week later I received a phone call from the president of Subway to tell me that the worker had been fired and will never work for Subway again. He told me he wanted me to feel comfortable when I walked into a Subway. I simply told him thank you and I appreciate the call. But, I still have not eaten Subway since then. The next incident occurred on an airplane, after probably the best vacation I have ever been on. I was flying back from Oregon with my Aunt Cindy, and we had a red eye flight. I was in such a good mood because I had just spent a week with my cousins in Oregon who I don't get to see often, and they are some of my favorite people in the world. Of course, a flight from Oregon is about 5 hours, and I was getting restless since I was squeezed in the middle seat and my Tourette's wasn't too good. Once the plane landed, the guy sitting to the left of me broke out his blackberry, and was holding it in a way that I could see it. He had gotten an e-mail from a colleague saying "I was just on the worst red eye flight ever!" The guy next to me responded by saying, "I highly doubt it was worse than mine. The guy next to me had Tourette's and had random utters every 5 minutes. There should be a law..." A law? Against people with Tourette's? Really man? This made me so self-conscious for a long time. I wouldn't go to the library at school, I wouldn't go sit in a Starbucks like I used to love doing, basically anywhere that may have been quiet, I refused to go. Just to prove how far I have come since then, I am sitting in a Starbucks right now writing this blog post. Being confident in yourself and knowing people are going to make judgements and look at you regardless of what you are doing is something I learned from my doctor and something I hope many people can learn from me, too.
The best thing that could have come of this whole situation happened to me last week when I was at my doctor's for an appointment. He raised the question to me "How has your Tourette's stopped you in your life from doing anything?" I thought about it, and said, "Well, at this point in my life, it doesn't stop me from doing ANYTHING. I know people are going to look at me because of my Tourette's, but if I didn't have Tourette's they'd be looking at me because I have sunburn, or blonde hair, or any other reason. The only thing I don't do is go to the movies, and that's because I don't have the attention span to sit in a theatre for two hours. I need to constantly be moving. And I just really don't like movies."
The reason he asked me this turned out being Dr. Stu has a few patients who are 10-11 years old and have Tourette's. They all have said to him that they are afraid they won't be able to do well in school, get a job, or have a girlfriend. He said he immediately thought of me and wanted to offer me a kind of internship, since he knows I want to follow him and be a Clinical Psychologist. He wants me to be a mentor and a support group leader for these kids to help them realize just because you have TS does NOT mean you are limited to what you can do in life. When he told me this, I was shaking. I was so happy. All of my friends are starting internships this summer, and I was upset that I wasn't going to be able to have one. It's funny how life can work out that way.
I want you, the reader, to figure out the moral of the blog and interpret it in your own way. The way I see it is that there are great people in the world, and some incompetent, rude, and even downright mean people. Simply, if you are nice to people, they will be nice to you too. I want to thank all of the people in my life who have understood my condition, haven't judged me, and have let me be a part of their everyday life. You all have no idea how much you have impacted my life in a positive way.
 Thank you guys for reading. Remember to LIVE a LIFE full of LOVE.
Keep reading and commenting!

-John

Intro

My name is John Champion and I am a senior studying Psychology at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York. I am an aspiring Clinical Psychologist. Yes, that means I do plan on getting my Doctor of Psychology degree. (Psy.D) That, however, is not what this blog is about at all. I'm going to start out by saying, it's amazing how much ONE year can make or break a person physically, mentally, and emotionally.  Fortunately and unfortunately, in the past year I was both broken into pieces and made into a person I NEVER thought I could be. This blog will explore the ups and downs, the heartbreak, the depression, anxiety, and ultimately, the uncanny ability to overcome all of these things and set forth goals I never thought I would do. I'm hoping I can inspire my friends and even strangers to overcome their own odds and realize the GOOD things LIFE has to offer. Which means you have to LIVE. You need to live a respectful LIFE. And above all, you need to LOVE. You can love your husband, wife, mother, father boyfriend, girlfriend, dog, etc. People just need to feel the emotion of love, and that's one of the things that had gotten away from me the past year. I will update this blog every day or every couple days, as I have many things to say. Please leave your comments on here, facebook, twitter, or anywhere else and let me know what you think. My next posting will talk about how I deal with Tourette's Syndrome on  a daily basis. Finally, just to get this off my chest since most of the people reading this do not know, I am a suicide survivor. I will get more into that as the blog goes on, but I thank God everyday for giving me a second chance at life and letting me see the good in people, who my TRUE friends are, how blessed I am for the family I have, and the gift of finally realizing what I want to do with my life.

Stay tuned, everyone. I will probably write the next part of the blog tonight after work. Thank you for listening and your continued support!

-John