Transient Tic Disorder

The essential feature of Transient Tic Disorder is the presence of single or multiple motor tics and/or vocal tics.

Symptoms include:

• Single or multiple motor and/or vocal tics (i.e., sudden, rapid, recurrent, nonrhythmic, stereotyped motor movements or vocalizations).

• The tics occur many times a day, nearly every day for at least 4 weeks, but for no longer than 12 consecutive months.

• The onset is before age 18 years.

• The disturbance is not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., stimulants) or a general medical condition (e.g., Huntington's disease or postviral encephalitis).

• Criteria have never been met for Tourette's Disorder or Chronic Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder.

Transient Tic Disorder is not diagnosed if the criteria for Tourette's Disorder or Chronic Motor or Vocal Tic Disorder (both of which require a duration of at least 1 year) have ever been met. The other characteristics of the disorder are generally the same as for Tourette's Disorder, except that the severity of the symptoms and the functional impairment are usually much less.

Diagnostic criteria summarized from:

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.





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