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benny  1yr ago (academic.oup.com)   Edited 1yr ago   2611 thread views

Stop that! It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

academic.oup.com

In Germany, the current outbreak of mass social media-induced illness is initiated by a ‘virtual’ index case, who is the second most successful YouTube creator in Germany and enjoys enormous popularity among young people. Affected teenagers present with similar or identical functional ‘Tourette-like’ behaviours, which can be clearly differentiated from tics in Tourette syndrome.

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patients often reported to be unable to perform unpleasant tasks because of their symptoms resulting in release from obligations at school and home, while symptoms temporarily completely disappear while conducting favourite activities.

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I mean, I was formally diagnosed with a psychosomatic pain disorder because I kept claiming I had stomach cramps to get out of going to school. This whole thing strikes me as a bunch of adults becoming genuinely confused that somebody could legitimately fake illness to get out of unwelcome chores, and lie about it with a straight face.

Teenagers are monsters whose moral compass has not yet developed. There is no "mass sociogenic illness" being "spread" via social media. Infohazard? Seriously? Just don't pretend to be sick to get out of work and you're immune.

I’m really not convinced anyone is consciously deciding to fake tourette’s to get out of schoolwork.

  1. Tourette’s doesn’t really get you out of schoolwork. It’s not contagious so you don’t need to be kept away from other people and it’s not a condition that goes away after a day or two of rest so there’s no reason to allow that time.

  2. Tourette’s is a permanent condition, which means deciding to fake it credibly is a lifelong commitment.

  3. It’s a difficult condition to fake. If you tell your parents you have a stomachache or a headache, they just have to take your word for it, but someone faking tourette’s has to remember to tic regularly.

Anyone who thought about it for a minute would realize, as you did, that it makes way more sense to fake an infection.

As the article claims this decidedly isn't tourette's, no?

It's not Tourette's because it's a mass sociogenic illness that mimics Tourette's, according to the article. But I interpreted your comment as saying that it's a sociogenic illness either, it's kids consciously faking Tourette's to get out of work.

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