Lewis Capaldi has opened up about his health after telling the public that he was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome.
The 25-year-old Scottish singer said that he was now learning to live with the condition saying he made the decision to go public to avoid fans thinking he was "taking cocaine or something".
According to Tourettes Action, Tourette Syndrome (TS) is an inherited neurological condition affecting one school child in every hundred and is more common amongst boys. Over 300,000 children and adults are said to be living with the condition in the UK.
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The NHS state that there is no cure however treatment options can help manage an individual's symptoms as the syndrome can cause a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics.
The Someone You Loved singer, who is set to release a new single on Friday (September 9) said he was relieved to have been given the diagnosis after fearing he was suffering a degenerative disease.
During a recent Instagram LIVE, as reported by the Mirror, he said that his diagnosis "makes so much sense" telling fans that when he looks back on past interviews, he can now see signs of Tourettes. The performer is now getting Botox injections to freeze muscles in a bid to control the tics telling fans his shoulder twitches are "not as bad" as they look.
In an interview with The Sun, Capaldi said: "I have been diagnosed with Tourettes.
"I wanted to speak about it because I didn’t want people to think I was taking cocaine or something. My shoulder twitches when I am excited, happy, nervous or stressed. It is something I am living with. It is not as bad as it looks."
The singer who is set to release Forget Me - his latest single in three years - describes Tourette's as "a new thing" and explains how he is learning new ways to cope with the condition all the time.
He explains that some days are "more painful than others, sometimes it's quite uncomfortable" however it "comes and goes" and he can sometimes go months without experiencing it adding: "I thought I had some horrible degenerative disease so I’ll take Tourette's."
Tourette's syndrome symptoms
According to the NHS, tics are the main symptom of Tourette's syndrome. They usually appear in childhood between the ages of 2 and 14 (around 6 years is the average). People with Tourette's syndrome have a combination of physical and vocal tics.
Examples of physical tics include:
- Blinking
- Eye rolling
- Grimacing
- Shoulder shrugging
- Jerking of the head or limbs
- Jumping
- Twirling
- Touching objects and other people
Examples of vocal tics include:
- Grunting
- Throat clearing
- Whistling
- Coughing
- Tongue clicking
- Animal sounds
- Saying random words and phrases
- Repeating a sound, word or phrase
- Swearing
Swearing is rare and only affects about 1 in 10 people with Tourette's syndrome. Tics are not usually harmful to a person's overall health, but physical tics, such as jerking of the head, can be painful. Tics can be worse on some days than others.
They may be worse during periods of:
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Tiredness
People with Tourette's syndrome can have mood and behavioural problems, such as:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Depression or anxiety
Children with Tourette's syndrome may also be at risk of bullying because their tics might single them out.
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