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Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior

Currently, we are facing a new manifestation of functional neurological disorder presenting with functional Tourette-like behavior (FTB). This study aimed to show characteristics of this phenotype presenting as an outbreak of “mass social media-induced illness” (MSMI) and to explore predisposing fac...

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Autores principales: Fremer, Carolin, Szejko, Natalia, Pisarenko, Anna, Haas, Martina, Laudenbach, Luise, Wegener, Claudia, Müller-Vahl, Kirsten R.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9530444/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36203825
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.963769
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author Fremer, Carolin
Szejko, Natalia
Pisarenko, Anna
Haas, Martina
Laudenbach, Luise
Wegener, Claudia
Müller-Vahl, Kirsten R.
author_facet Fremer, Carolin
Szejko, Natalia
Pisarenko, Anna
Haas, Martina
Laudenbach, Luise
Wegener, Claudia
Müller-Vahl, Kirsten R.
author_sort Fremer, Carolin
collection PubMed
description Currently, we are facing a new manifestation of functional neurological disorder presenting with functional Tourette-like behavior (FTB). This study aimed to show characteristics of this phenotype presenting as an outbreak of “mass social media-induced illness” (MSMI) and to explore predisposing factors. Between 5–9/2021, we prospectively investigated 32 patients (mean/median age: 20.1/18 years, range: 11–53 years, n = 16 females) with MSMI-FTB using a neuro-psychiatric examination, a comprehensive semi-structured interview and aspects of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnostic System. In contrast to tics, numbers of complex movements and vocalizations were nine times greater than of “simple” symptoms, and of vocalizations one and a half times greater than of movements. In line with our hypothesis of MSMI, symptoms largely overlapped with those presented by German YouTuber Jan Zimmermann justifying his role as “virtual” index case in current outbreak. Typically, symptoms started abruptly at a mean age of 19 years and deteriorated gradually with no differences between males and females. In all patients, we identified timely-related psychological stressors, unconscious intrapsychic conflicts, and/or structural deficits. Nearly all patients (94%) suffered from further psychiatric symptoms including abnormalities in social behavior (81%), obsessive-compulsive behavior (OCB) (47%), Tourette syndrome (TS) (47%), anxiety (41%), and depression (31%), about half (47%) had experienced bullying, and 75% suffered from coexisting somatic diseases. Our data suggest that pre-existing abnormalities in social behavior and psychiatric symptoms (OCB, anxiety, and depression), but also TS in combination with timely-related psychological stressors, unconscious intrapsychic conflicts, and structural deficits predispose to contagion with MSMI-FTB.
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spelling pubmed-95304442022-10-05 Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior Fremer, Carolin Szejko, Natalia Pisarenko, Anna Haas, Martina Laudenbach, Luise Wegener, Claudia Müller-Vahl, Kirsten R. Front Psychiatry Psychiatry Currently, we are facing a new manifestation of functional neurological disorder presenting with functional Tourette-like behavior (FTB). This study aimed to show characteristics of this phenotype presenting as an outbreak of “mass social media-induced illness” (MSMI) and to explore predisposing factors. Between 5–9/2021, we prospectively investigated 32 patients (mean/median age: 20.1/18 years, range: 11–53 years, n = 16 females) with MSMI-FTB using a neuro-psychiatric examination, a comprehensive semi-structured interview and aspects of the Operationalized Psychodynamic Diagnostic System. In contrast to tics, numbers of complex movements and vocalizations were nine times greater than of “simple” symptoms, and of vocalizations one and a half times greater than of movements. In line with our hypothesis of MSMI, symptoms largely overlapped with those presented by German YouTuber Jan Zimmermann justifying his role as “virtual” index case in current outbreak. Typically, symptoms started abruptly at a mean age of 19 years and deteriorated gradually with no differences between males and females. In all patients, we identified timely-related psychological stressors, unconscious intrapsychic conflicts, and/or structural deficits. Nearly all patients (94%) suffered from further psychiatric symptoms including abnormalities in social behavior (81%), obsessive-compulsive behavior (OCB) (47%), Tourette syndrome (TS) (47%), anxiety (41%), and depression (31%), about half (47%) had experienced bullying, and 75% suffered from coexisting somatic diseases. Our data suggest that pre-existing abnormalities in social behavior and psychiatric symptoms (OCB, anxiety, and depression), but also TS in combination with timely-related psychological stressors, unconscious intrapsychic conflicts, and structural deficits predispose to contagion with MSMI-FTB. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-09-20 /pmc/articles/PMC9530444/ /pubmed/36203825 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.963769 Text en Copyright © 2022 Fremer, Szejko, Pisarenko, Haas, Laudenbach, Wegener and Müller-Vahl. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Fremer, Carolin
Szejko, Natalia
Pisarenko, Anna
Haas, Martina
Laudenbach, Luise
Wegener, Claudia
Müller-Vahl, Kirsten R.
Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior
title Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior
title_full Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior
title_fullStr Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior
title_full_unstemmed Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior
title_short Mass social media-induced illness presenting with Tourette-like behavior
title_sort mass social media-induced illness presenting with tourette-like behavior
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9530444/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36203825
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.963769
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