PSYCHODYNAMIC CONSIDERATIONS IN GILLES DE LA TOURETTE'S DISEASE (MALADIE DES TICS)

Short therapy of a child with Gilles de la Tourette's Syndrome*

“…They have dealt with the development of the syndrome, have expressed many diverse pathogenic hypotheses (Ascher, 1948;Heuscher, 1950;Dunlop, 1960;Downing, 1964;Shapiro et al, 1973) and proposed various remedies (Ascher, 1948;Clark, 1966;Faux, 1966;Shapiro et al, 1973Tiller, 1978). We shall not review the literature at length, but shall merely refer to some of the authors in order to convey an idea of the etiopathogenic arguments advanced and to recall some of the therapeutic procedures suggested during the past four decades.…”

“…The chances of successful psychotherapeutic intervention seem to be increased when the treatment is started at an early stage. According to Ascher (1948), the best therapeutic results were obtained when treatment was inaugurated soon after the inception of the disease, i.e. within one or two years.…”

Tourette syndrome: A review and educational implications

“…Several case studies, however, were published (Johnson, 1905;Prince, 1906). There was a resurgence of interest in Tourette beginning in the late 1940s, which continues to the present (Fenichel, 1945;Mahler & Luke, 1946;Ascher, 1948;Michael, 1957;Kanner, 1957;Eisenberg, Ascher, & Kanner, 1959).…”

“…Tics are seen as expressions of emotional conflicts and are used by the patient to discharge tension (Fenichel, 1945;Mahler, 1949). Tourette is also seen as a response to at least one domineering parent (Ascher, 1948;Durham, 1964) and as an expression against authority (Ascher, 1948). Ascher (1948) suggested that psychotherapeutic efforts to treat Tourette are hampered by a central nervous system disorder.…”

Convulsive Tic Disorder Georges Gilles de la Tourette, Guinon and Grasset on the Phenomenology and Psychopathology of Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome

“…The element of compulsion links the condition intimately to the vast group of obsessions and fixed ideas". Ascher (1948) noted that all of the five GTS patients he reported had obsessive personalities, while Bockner (1959) commented that the majority of GTS cases described in the literature had obsessive-compulsive neurosis.…”