Billie Eilish has never hidden her struggles with Tourette syndrome. But critics online brazenly accused her of making up her diagnosis as a “total PR activity” for attention.
“She’s so fake” and an “attention-seeking narcissist,” the internet snarked.
According to experts, this line of accusation shows how people have too many misconceptions about such disorders.
Billie Eilish has never hidden her struggles with Tourette syndrome, but critics brazenly accused her of making up her diagnosis
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Recently, a Billie Eilish interview with David Letterman resurfaced, showing the singer briefly experiencing tics on camera.
The disorder involves repetitive movements or unwanted sounds (tics) that are difficult to control and can sometimes interfere with communication, everyday activities, and overall quality of life.
“If you film me for long enough, you’re going to see lots of tics,” Eilish told the host on his My Next Guest show on Netflix in 2022.
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After Eilish was seen having tics on camera, netizens failed to show sympathy but accused her of faking it, claiming she “just loves to get sympathy points.”
“I find it funny how she hasn’t ticked once since this interview… Like I’ll never understand the obsession some celebrities have with convincing people they’re struggling with something,” one said.
“I’ve told everyone I know that this is performative fake bulllsh**,” another wrote. “She’s so desperate to be different.”
Others pointed out how it was extremely problematic to make assumptions, saying, “Funny how people only believe someone’s condition is real when it’s visible 24/7.”
One viewer asked, “Is she just pretending or it’s real issue? Or it’s just some PR activity”
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Michael S Okun, MD, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases and author of the book Tourette Syndrome: 10 Secrets to a Happier Life, said a celebrity “appearing well on camera” does not mean they are “free of disability.”
“A brief television interview is never a neurological examination. We should all be careful not to speculate about anyone’s condition without an in-person examination and permission of the person or family to discuss the details. This is the heart of the Goldwater rule,” he told Bored Panda.
The Goldwater Rule is an ethical guideline in psychiatry that says mental health professionals should not diagnose or offer a professional opinion about a public figure’s mental health without personally examining them.
A celebrity “appearing well on camera” does not mean they are “free of disability,” Dr. Michael S Okun said
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Eilish isn’t the first public figure to have her health scrutinized by the internet.
“We have seen this pattern before with Parkinson’s disease, including unfair speculation directed at Michael J. Fox and other public figures, where people assumed that because someone appeared well on camera, they must be exaggerating or fabricating their condition. That conclusion is not supported by medical science,” Dr. Okun said.
Celebrity confessions about mental health and ad**ction are also overly scrutinized by the public.
Viewers recently claimed there was “something very fishy” about Tom Holland’s storyline about his alcohol problem.
This pattern reflects people’s tendency to treat a celebrity’s personal health journey as their public property.
Additionally, this also reinforces harmful stereotypes about what an illness is supposed to look like. And if someone struggling with physical or mental challenges does not fit this mold, they may be left feeling like their experiences are dismissed or invalid.
“Tourette syndrome is dynamic, not constant. Symptoms can change from minute to minute,” Dr. Okun said
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When it comes to neurological disorders like Tourette syndrome, Dr. Okun said one must avoid drawing medical conclusions based on brief public appearances because symptoms can “fluctuate dramatically over minutes, hours, and days.”
Moreover, tics are not expected to be present continuously in people with Tourette syndrome, he explained.
“Many individuals with Tourette syndrome can voluntarily suppress tics for short periods, particularly in structured environments such as interviews or performances,” he said.
“Suppression often comes at a cost, with tics becoming more pronounced afterward,” he added. “The absence of visible tics during a brief interview tells us very little about the underlying diagnosis.”
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Eilish, who was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome at age 11, said she experiences vocal tics, but they’re “mostly just noises and [she] can keep them pretty quiet.” She also noted that she has gotten good at “suppressing” them.
“I go through phases of words becoming tics, but there’s a thing called suppressing, if you ever heard of it,” she said last month on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast.
“When I’m in an interview, I’m doing everything in my power to suppress all of my tics constantly,” she said. “And as soon as I leave the room, I have to let them all out.”
The Grammy winner said she does everything possible to suppress her tics when she is in public
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One of the biggest misconceptions about Tourette syndrome is that the symptoms look the same across all diagnosed individuals.
The reality is that they can vary from “person to person and from moment to moment,” Dr. Okun said.
“Excitement, anxiety, concentration, fatigue, familiarity with the environment, and social context can all influence tic expression,” he continued.
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“Some individuals experience fewer visible tics while intensely focused, whereas others may have more. The variability is part of the disorder itself,” he continued.
During her appearance on the Good Hang podcast, Eilish spoke about how she may get tics from the “top of her head to [her waist]” but does “everything” she can to “suppress every single tic that’s visible.”
Symptoms of Tourette syndrome can vary from person to person and from moment to moment
“If I start having a tic attack, like a lot of tics in a row, people are like, ‘Are you OK?’ This is very much normal,” the singer said.
“It’s like, if you didn’t see me tic today, you’re not looking at my knees, which are tic-ing constantly under this table, and my elbows that are like … I’m clenching my arms the entire time,” she continued.
“Seems like they fabricate issues just to raise their standing on the woke scale,” one commented online
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