important factor in determining the proper medication. Tourette syndrome is considered incurable; however, it is treatable with medicine and other techniques (Bruun, 1984, p. 18). Yet, mild cases do not require treatment as long as the patient can function properly without no medication or therapy. If not properly treated, more severe cases of TS can destroy a person’s quality of life. With or without any kind of treatment, this complex disorder tends to change in both severity and nature (Kushner, 1999, p. 118). The decision about whether to treat, and if so, what form the treatment should take will depend on the degree which the tic or TS is interfering with the child’s normal development or the adult’s ability to function normally (1999, p. 132). In monitoring, the clinician can usually follow a patient for several months before a specific treatment plan is organized. The goals of monitoring are to establish a baseline of symptoms; define associated difficulties in school, family, and peer relationships; obtain necessary medical tests; and monitor through check lists and interview the range of fluctuation of symptoms of greatest difficulties; and establish a relationship (Bruun, 1984, p. 19). Another treatment is reassurance, which is just telling the parents or patients what is going on and how to help deal with TS. Pharmacologic treatment is the only proven effective treatment for simple and complex motor and vocal tics. Medication is usually given in very small doses that are slowly increased until the best possible balance between symptoms and side effects are achieved (1984, p. 21) However, late 20th century medicine has accepted Gilles de la Tourette’s as a description of symptoms as a designation for a clinical syndrome (Fowler, 1996, p. 96). In some cases, especially in children, TS sufferers seem to be medicated primarily for the benefit for those around them. Since 1961, the choice drug ...
