Earlier this week, Billie Eilish appeared on the “Good Hang with Amy Poehler” podcast and for part of their discussion, opened up about her Tourette Syndrome. “I have vocal tics, but luckily for me, and for everyone else, they’re mostly just quiet noises, and I can keep them pretty quiet,” Eilish said.
Before I was diagnosed with a tic disorder, I assumed Tourette Syndrome was a disorder that made you say inappropriate things. This is partly because pop culture has loudly and obnoxiously misunderstood Tourette Syndrome to fuel controversy and comedy.
In 2022, Eilish spoke openly about her Tourette with David Letterman, and it was one of the first times I saw someone in mainstream media whose tics resembled mine, where they were subtle head movements and not consistently noticeable. Hearing her helped me see my tics outside the stereotypes that usually shape how we’re perceived.
Her interview with Poehler was yet another opportunity where I felt some type of nuanced representation in pop culture.
“There’s a thing called suppressing, if you’ve ever heard of it,” Eilish said. “And you know when I’m in an interview, I’m doing everything in my power to suppress all of my tics, constantly.”
