What is Tourette Syndrome? Billie Eilish Opens Up About Having Syndrome and Explains Her Tics
2 min read
Billie Eilish, May 2022 (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
Billie Eilish is a Grammy-winning singer, a fashion icon, a dedicated advocate, and a person with Tourette syndrome, and she says her diagnosis is part of what makes her unique.
The singer-songwriter spoke with the former late-night host about fame, music, and her upbringing in the special, which was filmed as part of the My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman series.
A change in the lighting in the room caused Billie Eilish to have a tic at one point.
“If you film me for long enough, you’ll notice a lot of tics,” she explained. “I don’t mind. It’s strange, I haven’t talked about it at all.
Billie Eilish suffers from physical tics
Billie Eilish had previously expressed dissatisfaction with her tics, but now she tells Letterman that they are “part” of her. “I’ve made friends with it, so I’m pretty sure of it now,” she says.
The 20-year-old singer claims that the tics go away when she concentrates on something and moves around, which is why she doesn’t have tics while performing. “I’m not even ticcing when I’m moving around,” she explained.
“I don’t tic at all,” Billie Eilish said, “because the main tics that I do constantly, all day long, are like, I wiggle my ear back and forth and raise my eyebrow and click my jaw… and flex my arm here and flex this arm, flex these muscles.”
While it is clear that Billie’s Tourette syndrome has not prevented her from achieving success, she does admit that she felt more alone in her diagnosis prior to becoming famous.
What is Tourette Syndrome?
According to the CDC, Tourette Syndrome is a nervous system condition that causes people to have repeated, involuntary twitches, movements, or sounds.
Letterman then admits that he “was guilty of that,” believing that “I said something that irritated you.” “Oh, she’s tired of me,” I thought.
“I’m delighted to talk about it,” she adds. “I actually enjoy answering questions about it because it’s both fascinating and perplexing to me.” “I don’t understand.”
While Eilish admits that she used to “hate” her symptoms, she now considers them to be “part” of her. “I’ve made friends with it, so I’m pretty confident in it now,” she says.
Ankita Khanrah
Ankita Khanrah is a second-year student of the Master of Communication and Journalism (Integrated) programme at the School of Mass Communication, KIIT Deemed University, Bhubaneswar.
